Paul Tonko

The tragic situation in Charleston, West Virginia demonstrates several failings of our chemical safety laws.

I rise this evening to recognize and congratulate the Albany Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Alan Miller for winning a coveted Grammy Award last night for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. It is the first accomplishment of its kind…

Yesterday, I and a number of our colleagues in the House asked for unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 3824, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, for a simple up or down vote. Time and time again, we were denied that…

the Affordable Care Act is here to stay and it is providing an enormous benefit already to the people of the 20th Congressional District of New York, which I have the good fortune of representing.

I have never heard them admit that this law helps the millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who can no longer be discriminated against.

The Affordable Care Act is literally going to be lifesaving for many, many, many Americans who without it would not have had the ability to get the health care that they need.

Thank you to the gentleman from California for yielding. I want to thank you, Representative Garamendi, for leading us in an hour of very important discussion which highlights the efforts of the Democratic Caucus within the House of…

I will just indicate that not far from the 20th Congressional District in upstate New York is the Women's Hall of Fame. And just recently, our leader, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, was inducted into that hall of fame. We think of the…

Sure. And I thank, again, the gentleman from California for yielding. The Make It In America program, the concept of that, is a very strong domestic agenda. In and of itself, it has great merit. But let's put that into the context of the…

With all of the recent reporting on snow and rain events, it is hard to imagine that water scarcity is one of the greatest threats from climate change, but it is. And water scarcity already imposes tremendous costs and suffering on some…

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) who has organized the Environmental Justice Advocates of his home State of Minnesota, and is also the chair of the Progressive Caucus in the House.

My amendment adds a savings clause to H.R. 2279 to avoid unintended consequences and detrimental impacts on current and future site cleanup efforts. We certainly know that the actual provisions of the bill trump the intended goals of the…

Our colleague and my friend from Ohio indicates that this bill will not increase litigation or increase costs or delay ongoing or future site cleanups, and so my amendment would not affect the measure before the House. So it really is a…

I demand a recorded vote. The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York will be postponed. Announcement by the Chair The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule…

I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Chair, H.R. 2279 is a deeply flawed bill that will increase costs, increase litigation, slow down the pace of cleanups, and, indeed, put the public at risk. It will do nothing to…

Before I yield, I would like to make a few comments. I keep hearing from the bill's supporters that the States need and want this legislation. I am a little confused by those statements. My staff called the Association of State and…

I now yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the former chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and a staunch defender in public policy and…

At a time when too many of our citizens are still out of work, our Nation's infrastructure is in need of repair, the Tax Code needs revision, and when the safety net that provides basic necessities for our citizens has a tragic number of…

I have an amendment at the desk. The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: At the end of the bill, add the following new title: TITLE IV--AVOIDING INCREASED LITIGATION AND DELAYS IN…

While the Environmental Council of the States may have supported some concepts of the bill, they have not moved to endorse the bill. I will stand by my statement. Next I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a…

Thank you, Representative Garamendi. Quickly, the infrastructure issues are heavy duty. It is not just traditional roads and bridges. It is airports and rails and subway systems, it is mass and public transit, but it is also…

Take a break, as they say. You can't have it both ways. You can't deny all these legislative bills that are advanced to the Congress or initiated by Members of the House that would speak to job growth. The President has sent forward on…

Thank you, Representative Garamendi, for leading us in this discussion for an hour of focus on solutions that are possible out there, within our grasp, easily within our grasp. As you and the gentleman from Nevada (Representative Horsford)…

I thank the gentlelady for yielding. And absolutely, those benefits have been exhausted, and I think that needs to be very clear here. Mr. Speaker, while this budget compromise is not perfect, I would like to highlight a provision that…

Well, here we go again. Our to-do list continues to pile up and Republican House leadership of this legislative body--if we can even use words like ``leadership'' and ``legislative'' to describe the House anymore--has officially cemented…