Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman very much and his good friend as well for yielding, and I appreciate their intent, but let me be…”

“I thank the gentleman very much and his good friend as well for yielding, and I appreciate their intent, but let me be very clear: What we have here is a complete collapse of a system that is attempting to save lives. Our administrative process, our administrative APA, these individuals are grounded with the expertise of the particular agencies that they are in. Under this legislation, what we would have is a complete politicizing of the Presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed appointees because that would be another monkey wrench, if you will, into why they should not be confirmed. In addition, this will encourage gamesmanship. If you think the confirmation process is slow, wait till this bill becomes law. Congress already has, and the Republicans have used it quite often, the Congressional Review Act so that we can determine whether or not rulemaking or a particular issue is one that is not only reviewed but should be changed. In the rulemaking process with experts that we oversee, because we have congressional hearings, we are dealing with clean air, clean water, safe toys, safe cars, and safe workplaces, but, more importantly, as I was sitting in a meeting today, we are dealing with a new initiative dealing with taking lead out of water.…”