Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we had a very dear friend in Frank Lautenberg. He was a Democrat; I am a Republican. I chaired the committee he served on, and we had a very close relationship. The bill we just passed began with a meeting to gather stakeholders. It happened in my office with Frank Lautenberg. Senator Vitter and Senator Udall--whom we will hear from in just a moment--and their staff have put together the first reform of TSCA in 40 years, which will create more regulatory certainty for American businesses and uniform protections for American families. We have a real opportunity to enact reform to a major environmental statute. It is the result of over 3 years of work and negotiation, and I thank those responsible for spending countless hours to produce this product. Dimitri Karakitsos began working for me while I was ranking member, stayed with Ranking Member Vitter working on this bill, and then back with me as chairman of the committee. He has shepherded the drafting and negotiation of this bill the entire time. He is the guy in charge. I thank Jonathan Black in Senator Udall's office as well as Andrew Wallace, who took up the TSCA reform leadership following Senator Lautenberg. I thank Zack Baig in Senator Vitter's office, Colin Peppard with Senator Carper, Michal Feedhoff in Senator Markey's office, Adam Zipkin in Senator Booker's office, Adrian Deveny in Senator Merkley's office, and Emily Enderle with Senator Whitehouse. Thanks to all the staff.…”