Paul Tonko

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding and for his leadership on this bill. We know the health effects of PFAS exposure can be severe: cancer, thyroid problems, birth defects, and immune system disruptions, amongst others…

I stand, again, in strong support of the en bloc amendment and, certainly, the measure to which we are amending. Basically, we have here an opportunity to address ills that we see across America, contaminants, forever dangerous elements…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Every life and every job depends on safe drinking water. Unfortunately, our water systems have been underfunded for decades, and the EPA has been unable to finalize new national standards since 1996…

Nearly 40 percent of Americans before COVID couldn't cover an unexpected $400 expense without selling belongings or going into debt. And no one pays a greater price for poverty than our kids. I am proud of our work to pass the American…

We cannot unravel infrastructure from climate. As we consider bold new investments in America's infrastructure, our choices will shape our climate future for better or worse. Failing to address climate pollution and clean energy in our…

New York State, and the Capital Region of New York, are strong examples of where these programs have helped facilitate the integration of innovation and technology throughout the region's economic development efforts.

Thank you for holding today's important hearing, focused on economic development and further involvement of regional innovation strategies.

Wind power will play an important role in achieving our clean energy goals, and as we look to increase clean energy on the grid, innovation is key to greater technical efficiency and economic growth.

I always say that every life and every job depend on access to clean drinking water.

This is unacceptable. And Congress knows it is unacceptable.

That $472 billion that has been calculated includes needs from systems of all sizes, does it not?

I hope we can all agree that is a problem.

If you do not believe that the Federal Government should be stepping up and doing its fair share for this essential infrastructure, what exactly should we be doing?

Because the needs are immense.

I always am quoted with 'every life and every job depend on access to clean drinking water.'

So if a local government cannot get support through perhaps a SRF loan, or a rare grant from EPA, or from the USDA, the full cost then is really being born by local budgets, municipal bonds, and water rate payers.

We must act swiftly and with boldness to renew America's failing water systems. We know the heartache of failing water systems all too well: lead, PFAS, disruptive water main breaks, and unaffordable bills. Yesterday, I introduced bold…

Responsible parties should foot the bill to clean up contaminated sites, not the taxpayers.

Superfund is critical to protecting Americans' health and the environment.

Hopefully, any future infrastructure bill considered in Congress will provide resources to accelerate this work.

The effects of climate change are already here and already impacting communities across our country.

I just think reinstating the taxes is the most important thing we can do to speed up the cleanup of sites and better protect environmental justice communities, in particular.

Climate mitigation, as proposed in the CLEAN Future Act, is critical to reducing these long-term risks.

I appreciate your previous comments, that the X waiver requirement should be removed.

I applaud the Department of Health and Human Services with their important step in moving forward with new buprenorphine practice guidelines that will save lives.