Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today, I introduce the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act, ECEA, common sense legislation that will ensure that those who destroy the lives and livelihoods of Americans through environmental crime are held accountable. It has been 50 days since the collapse of British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig, which killed 11 men. Oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, and deadly contaminants are washing up on the shores and wetlands of Gulf Coast States. This catastrophe threatens the livelihood of many thousands of people throughout the region, as well as precious natural resources and habitats. The people responsible for this catastrophe must be held accountable; they, not the American taxpayers, should pay for the damage and the recovery. The bill I introduce today aims to deter environmental crime, protect and compensate its victims, and encourage accountability among corporate actors. First, ECEA will deter schemes by Big Oil and other corporations and industries that damage our environment and hurt hardworking Americans by increasing sentences for environmental crimes. All too often, corporations treat fines and monetary penalties as merely a cost of doing business to be factored against profits. To deter criminal behavior by corporations, it is important to have laws resulting in prison time.…”