Jay Inslee: “Mr. Chairman, when there was a discussion about rolling back arsenic standards some time ago, the American people went…”

“Mr. Chairman, when there was a discussion about rolling back arsenic standards some time ago, the American people went into basic revulsion. If we reject this amendment today, we will be heading in the same direction, rolling back standards designed to keep arsenic out of our streams and rivers, cyanide out of our streams and rivers, sulfuric acid out of our streams and rivers. I believe the American public made their position very clear on this during the last several months while people in this town were discussing going backwards on the environment. I stand here today to say that in this appropriation process, we should not go backwards on arsenic. We should not go backwards on cyanide. That history has given us 12,000 miles of polluted rivers and a problem with arsenic in our water. That is why the League of Conservation Voters is so keenly interested in this vote. That is why I hope we stand together on a bipartisan basis and make sure that we adhere to the existing standards on arsenic.”