Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to this rule because it denies the House an opportunity to debate concepts that are critical to reforming the Nation's regulatory process--risk assessment and cost analysis. State and local governments, as well as many businesses, are pleading for objective and informed decisionmaking when it comes to issuing new environmental mandates. Last year, I received a letter from my constituent the mayor of Columbus, OH, Greg Lashutka, urging the House to adopt language to ensure that scientific worth and estimated costs are evaluated before new environmental regulations are imposed. Columbus has been a national leader in pointing out the consequences that cities face as a result of unfunded mandates from the Federal Government. A recent study by the city found that the cost to comply with 14 major environmental mandates would total more than $1 billion in 1991 dollars. "Unless environmental regulations are based on common sense and measured risk," the mayor wrote, "I fear that the waste of billions on misguided, one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington will cause a public backlash against legitimate environmental protection." And I could not agree more.”