Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. He is quite right. This is very costly for the States. The State of Virginia has estimated a cost of over $16 billion to comply with the backstop requirements of the EPA. That is just one of the six States. Secondly, the EPA has been asked repeatedly, including in hearings conducted by the gentleman from Pennsylvania in his subcommittee and at my request and the request of others, to do a cost-benefit analysis to show us that the multi-tens of billions of dollars that these six States will collectively spend will be reflected in improvements to the quality of the Chesapeake Bay. They have never provided that cost- benefit analysis. Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would say to the gentlewoman from Maryland, she also is quite right that tremendous progress has been made in improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay, but almost all of it prior to the President taking his pen and signing the executive order that contains this backstop language that we need to stop and return the power to the State and local governments. Sedimentation, phosphorus, and nitrogen are all down more than 40 percent--sedimentation more than 50 percent going into the Bay. The Bay is improving in its health because of the work done by the States. They should have the authority to do this without having the EPA hold a gun to their head. Mr.…”