Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1633 because I coauthored this bill with my friend and colleague from Virginia (Mr. Hurt), and I did it to bring certainty, regulatory certainty to farmers and ranchers across this country. Farmers and ranchers have been working on this issue for a long time. We look forward to passing it off the House floor today. It's not a partisan issue. I introduced this with my colleagues Mr. Boswell and Mr. Kissell, and 121 of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle are cosponsors. The Clean Air Act has a worthy goal, but it's not a perfect law, and it does have unintended consequences. My bill would improve the current statute. It also makes permanent what the administrator has said, which is that she did not intend to regulate farm dust. As South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal said, ``If we don't deal with this issue today, it's going to be right back here 5 years from now.'' {time} 1140 I would like to reiterate why this bill is necessary. First, farm dust is already regulated. It is not a myth. It's very real to all of my constituents. We heard testimony from farmers in the hearing in committee that they're currently being regulated as a result of the EPA's standards. Regulation of farm dust is a problem today and will only continue to be a problem into the future if we do not pass this bill.…”