Political Quotes

“When I saw that the legislative agenda for this week was going to deal with the beleaguered Superfund program, I was encouraged; but when I saw what my Republican colleagues actually proposed, I was saddened and disappointed. Across America, we are plagued by a variety of severely polluted hotspots known as ``Superfund sites.'' Many are the legacy of past reckless or clueless business behaviors; Government, itself, shares responsibility as well. Local governments failed to properly zone and regulate businesses with toxic byproducts. Sometimes government created problems with the way it operated sewer systems, solid waste management, and military operations. The Superfund law, created in 1980, with a Superfund tax on the petrochemical industry, which caused the problem, would provide cleanup funding. It was reasonable at that time, but it has been frozen in place for almost 20 years. In 1995, the excise tax expired. Neither the program nor the problems have gone away, and having fewer and fewer resources has not helped. Sadly, the proposals the House will be considering this week would actually reduce the overall amount of funding that is available, undercut standards, and slow cleanup. The Federal Government has created some of these problems, mostly caused by military operations, which is the largest single source of Superfund sites in the country, but there are also situations like the TVA and its coal ash disaster.…”