Paul Tonko: “I am pleased we are holding this hearing on such an important topic.”

The Hudson River is the nation's largest Superfund site. Hazardous waste and legacy chemicals remain unacceptably high, threatening the health and safety of ecosystems, wildlife, and human health throughout the entire Watershed.

This is a very emotional journey, and in the words of Jennifer Wexton, this could happen to anyone, so any one of us could be touched by the impact of this legislation that will deliver efforts to search for better diagnoses, sounder…

I believe that leaves the individual of focus this evening, the chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers).

We know the human cost of inaction. To be precise, last year it was 109,680 lives we lost. Is that a cost we are willing to bear? With that in mind, our work is not done, and I hope we can find the will to truly meet the moment. This…