Political Quotes

“I do thank you, Mr. Chair. My amendment would simply ensure the low-income communities and the public health generally of all Americans are considered in the bill's section on studies about the impact of this regulation. I offer this amendment, Mr. Chair, in hopes that we might have an honest debate, a debate that is inclusive of those most affected by the very policies that my colleagues are attempting to tie up and, in two cases, outright prevent. Let me be frank with you, Mr. Chair. I was born in 1951, and I grew up gasping for breath most of my life. I grew up in an industrial city, a manufacturing city in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I had my first asthma attack shoveling coal into a furnace and then gasping for breath because of the smog that was generated from manufacturing. Thank God for the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. We have seen tremendous health benefits over the years, thanks to the work of the Environmental Protection Agency, and not only the bureaucracy, but the courts that have made sure the deadlines are enforced and not simply thrown to the curb. According to a recent EPA study, we have substantial and hard scientific proof that protecting our Nation's air quality from hazardous pollutants is a very substantial benefit. In 2010, the reductions in fine particle and ozone pollution from the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments prevented more than 160,000 cases of premature mortality, 130,000 heart attacks, 13 million lost workdays, and 1.7 million asthma attacks.…”