Political Quotes

“The Interior and Environment appropriations bill before us today represents an all-out assault on clean air, clean water, and land conservation efforts in our country. To be clear, passage of this measure is an absolute abandonment of this body's responsibility to provide for the general welfare of the United States. This bill seriously undermines the significant advances that we've made as a country as responsible stewards of our land and natural resources, our wildlife, our air, and our water. And perhaps most important, this legislation is a threat to the health and well-being of all Americans. Some have argued that the riders attached to this bill are sensible and an attempt to rein in what they call the excesses of the Environmental Protection Agency and job-killing regulations. This is an absurd claim. This legislation is nothing more than a complete caving in to special interests and Big Oil and some of our Nation's worst polluters. For the people I represent in the First Congressional District of Rhode Island, the stunning reductions to the EPA and the related policy riders that strike against the gains we've made to clean air and clean water are a threat to public health and the environment. Let me give you one example, Mr. Chairman: According to reports from Rhode Island Clean Water Action, Rhode Island has the third highest rate of childhood asthma in the Northeast and the fifth highest nationally.…”