Sherwood Boehlert: “we did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children. Quite frankly, our stewardship…”

“we did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children. Quite frankly, our stewardship leaves something to be desired. Forty percent of our Nation's waterways are not swimmable or fishable. A much higher percentage of our waterways are not drinkable. In some communities in this richest, most technologically advanced Nation in the world, people have to get up and turn on their radio for a weather report to find out if it is safe to go out and breathe the air. Mr. Speaker, that is totally unacceptable. It is totally unacceptable on a bipartisan basis. Republicans as well as Democrats are concerned about our environment. Today we have an opportunity to do something to express our concern. It ends a 6-year campaign that I have waged to elevate EPA to Cabinet-level status. We have to give it a top priority. There are going to be some key votes this afternoon. The first vote is the rule. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that that is the key vote. Everybody, every thinking person, wants to elevate EPA to Cabinet-level status.”