On the recordApril 20, 2005
I enter my statement in the Record in support of the Solis amendment. Mr. Chairman, no one wants an oil refinery in their neighborhood. So in order to force one open, this bill encourages them to be established in neighborhoods with high unemployment or recent layoffs. The University of Texas and the Houston Chronicle studied the air near refineries in the Houston area. The paper wrote that they ``found the air . . . so laden with toxic chemicals that it was dangerous to breathe.'' Houston is not alone. Multiple penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars for environmental violations have been handed to refineries so far this year. And we surely have not forgotten last month's BP refinery explosion that killed 15 people. Let's employ the unemployed but not at the expense of their families' health and well-being. That is kicking them when they're down.
Source
govinfo.gov
