Chris Stewart: “The motion to recommit offered by the opposition today is one thing and one thing only, and that is an attempt to stop…”

“The motion to recommit offered by the opposition today is one thing and one thing only, and that is an attempt to stop what is a reasonable and commonsense bill. I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I was taken aback, but I was not surprised by what I heard during today's debate. Contrary to what we just heard, no current member of the SAB can be a registered lobbyist. Mr. Grayson from Florida offered that as an amendment. We accepted that amendment. It is not a part of this bill. Asking for transparency is not gutting the EPA. Asking for public involvement is not gutting the EPA. You have to twist yourself into a pretzel to object to this bill for anything other than purely partisan reasons. If 60 percent of the members of the Science Advisory Board are receiving more than $140 million in direct government grants, then let's recognize that, and let's ask for transparency. If public comments are regularly ignored--if they are not even given the least or the barest of consideration--let's be honest, and let's try to fix that. If State, local, and industry experts are precluded from sitting and participating on these boards, then let's open the door for their participation and their experience. They have valuable expertise. We should take advantage of that. Transparency, public involvement, accountability--those are the only things that we are asking for in this bill. Improving balance and transparency in the EPA is not something that should be controversial.…”