Political Quotes

“I would be remiss if I failed to note the irony of the legislation before us today. After 7 months of ranting and raving about the lack of regulatory certainty which causes economic stagnation, the Republican majority is now attempting to pass a bill which would replace a clear, predictable, national clean water standard with an utterly unpredictable patchwork of State standards. Chaos does not federalism make, nor is one State's ability to sully a downstream State's waters consistent with the commerce clause of the United States Constitution. {time} 1600 This legislation, with the Orwellian title the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act, would endanger watersheds all across America, including the precious Chesapeake Bay in our region here in the National Capital Region. As my colleagues are aware, the bay watershed encompasses six States and the District of Columbia. Logically, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other agencies work in tandem with States throughout the watershed to reduce pollution entering the bay. Since watersheds do not correspond easily to State lines, this kind of interagency cooperation is essential and efficient to restore America's largest estuary. H.R. 2018 would unravel that partnership, balkanizing water policy and undermining bay restoration. I have drafted a simple amendment, Mr.…”