Political Quotes

“I am on the floor to say a few words about my amendment No. 29, which we will be voting on shortly after 3 o'clock, I am told. That is the simple amendment that says it is the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax. It is, perhaps, a telling coincidence that we are having this conversation on the floor of the Senate now on the fifth anniversary of the Citizens United decision, because before Citizens United came along, there was actually a pretty robust conversation between Democrats and Republicans about carbon pollution, climate change, and what needed to be done about it. For instance, Senator John McCain ran for President on a robust platform of addressing the carbon that causes climate change. Senator Collins worked with the current energy ranking member, Senator Cantwell, on a very robust climate bill that would have put a cap on carbon pollution and paid a dividend back to the American people. Senator Mark Kirk voted for Waxman-Markey when that bill was on the floor of the House, the famous cap-and-trade bill. Senator Flake wrote an article in his home State paper expressing the value and merit of a carbon fee when it is offset by reductions in other taxes as a way to help workers and address the pollution problem. Over and over again there were these joint actions all the way back to when I first came to the EPW Committee and Senator John Warner of Virginia was its then ranking member.…”