Thomas R. Suozzi: “I applaud my colleague, Mr. Lipinski, for pulling this effort together this evening. Mr. Speaker, climate change is…”

“I applaud my colleague, Mr. Lipinski, for pulling this effort together this evening. Mr. Speaker, climate change is real, and I applaud my colleagues on the Climate Solutions Caucus for working together in a bipartisan effort to try and find common ground and to seek to work together to pass legislation to address this very real threat. I believe the greatest opportunity we have here is to include efforts to move our Nation toward a greener economy as part of a comprehensive infrastructure bill. We must address climate change for three reasons: first, the Earth is part of the divine creation, and we have an obligation to preserve and protect our precious gift; second, moving toward a green economy that retrofits homes and buildings and installs solar and wind farms will create good jobs at good wages that simply cannot be exported; and, third, the main topic I wish to address this evening, is moving toward a green economy, reducing our dependency on foreign oil, and addressing climate change is essential to our national security. {time} 2030 Americans rarely talk about it and sometimes forget, but we supported Osama bin Laden against the Russians in Afghanistan. We supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq after we lost the Shah after the Iranian Revolution. We supported the Assads in Syria. And we still maintain a close relationship with the Saudis, despite their support for Wahhabism. Why?…”