Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise in strong opposition to the proposal by Senator Paul to preempt the implementation of the cross-state air pollution rule. We recognize throughout this country our extraordinary employment challenges--in Rhode Island particularly but in every State. These are challenging times. But our focus should not be on undermining protections for the public health, rather our focus should be on job creation, as the President has suggested through his jobs act. That is what we should be doing. This is one of a series of proposals--and I have seen many of them as the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior--to essentially eviscerate the ability of the EPA to protect the health of the country and its people. What has struck me during these debates is that we are, in a way, victims of our success. I am old enough to remember when the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was on fire because there was no control, effectively, of what was being dumped into rivers and streams throughout this country, and when clean air was something that was a sought-after goal, not a reality, in so many parts of the country. We can look at the experience of the State of California, Senator Boxer's State. In 1976, there were regular health advisories because of the poor air.…”