Political Quotes

“I rise today to propose three important amendments to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act. First of all, I want to make it very clear that I strongly oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline plan. I have serious concern about the effects this project would have on our health and safety; I have serious concerns about the environmental impact; and I am skeptical of the real, permanent jobs it could create. This project has many risks and very few advantages, and I will be voting against it. But if this legislation does pass the Senate, we should at least try to make it a better bill. There is no excuse why we cannot turn the Keystone XL Pipeline Act into an opportunity to protect our clean drinking water and ensure that polluters have to pay to clean up their own messes. First, I have offered amendment No. 48, which would remove the Halliburton loophole from the Safe Drinking Water Act and finally require gas storage and gas drilling companies to comply with our clean water laws. Every other industry has to do it. Our farmers have to do it. Construction companies have to do it. Yet our gas companies have been exempt for years. It should give my colleagues pause that fracking companies are allowed to ignore our clean water laws when they pump chemicals deep into the ground. In this country, when we turn on the tap for a glass of water, we need to know that our drinking water is safe.…”