Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Chairman, today I rise to urge support for my amendment, which would reaffirm and preserve the rights of the States to write their own water quality plans. My amendment simply prohibits the EPA from using its Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load and the so-called watershed implementation plans to hijack States' water quality strategies. Over the last several years, the EPA has implemented a Total Maximum Daily Load blueprint for the six States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which strictly limits the amount of nutrients that can enter the Chesapeake Bay. Through its implementation, the EPA has basically given every State in the watershed an ultimatum: either the State does exactly what the EPA says or it faces the threat of an EPA takeover of its water quality programs. Congress intended that the implementation of the Clean Water Act be a collaborative approach, through which the States and the Federal Government work together. This process was not meant to be subject to the whims of politics and bureaucrats in Washington. Therefore, my amendment instructs the EPA to respect the important role States play in implementing the Clean Water Act. I want to make it perfectly clear that this amendment would not stop the EPA from working with the States to restore the Chesapeake Bay, nor would it undermine the cleanup efforts already underway.…”