Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight a dangerous implication of this bill and urge my colleagues to vote against it. There is no disagreement that the Federal Government has a role to play in cleaning up the most heavily contaminated sites and establishing standards so that our water is safe to drink. We are united in this, both Republicans and Democrats. While this bill shares the spirit of that, frankly, it got hopelessly lost along the way. Instead, it creates a mess of lawsuits. We could have fixed this. Republicans have pointed out the pitfalls. Democrats say those pitfalls don't exist. Experts say, yes, they do. We could fix this. {time} 1315 In committee we discussed how this impacts a full suite of products, from medical devices to computer chips. But there is one element that is particularly concerning to me. Under this legislation, a police department that purchases one of the most popular bulletproof vests to protect its officers against rising crime would now be subject to environmental lawsuits. And here's why: A bulletproof vest becomes increasingly ineffective if it is exposed to moisture. As a result, it is protected by a waterproofing PFAS chemical to keep it dry and effective against bullets. By imposing a de facto ban--and it is a de facto ban--on all PFAS chemicals, even those that pose no risk to human health or the environment, this legislation will significantly reduce the availability of lifesaving equipment.…”