Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Chairman, as a result of the action on the last amendment, which passed by the narrowest of margins, we are now…”

“Mr. Chairman, as a result of the action on the last amendment, which passed by the narrowest of margins, we are now confronted with a bill that will indeed create new points of order. I do not think it is a very good idea. But I strongly believe that if we are going to create new points of order, they should be balanced. It is that fundamental sense of fairness that lies behind the Waxman amendment. H.R. 350 would make it more difficult to pass laws that protect health and safety and the environment. If we are going to do that, we ought to create an additional point of order that will make it harder to pass bills that would weaken health and safety and environmental protections. The Waxman amendment would accomplish precisely that. For that reason, I rise in support of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment. To be frank, I preferred my approach to remedying this bill. Ideally, the House should not use points of order as a substitute for substantive debate. But my amendment was defeated. And so now we are confronted with a bill that will indeed create new points of order. And the Waxman amendment would have an additional benefit. The amendment would put an end to the use of riders to weaken environmental protections.”