Unanimous Consent Requests

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the Senators from New Mexico and Oregon for their leadership on this issue.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. .....

There is a certain Dickensian quality to the Senate floor today. We rarely have debate on environmental bills that enjoy not only token bipartisan support but overwhelming bipartisan support. Today is the best of times, the age of wisdom, and the epoch of belief because we can debate not just one environmental bill that has overwhelming bipartisan support but two bills that have overwhelming bipartisan support. Yet today is also the worst of times, the age of foolishness and the epoch of incredulity because a handful of Senate Republicans have just prevented both of these bills from even getting a vote.

First, we had a request to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program conceived of by John F. Kennedy, who presented Congress with draft legislation for it in 1963. I am proud to be counted among the more than 60 Senate supporters of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Next, we had a request to consider reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act that helps to protect the American people against these dangerous toxic chemicals. I am proud to be a supporter of the language the Senate is expected to vote on, and some have predicted upward of 85 Senate votes in favor of that environmental bill.

First, a handful of Senate Republicans will not allow a vote on the Land and Water Conservation Fund because they don't like the program, and then other Senate Republicans who do like the Land and Water Conservation Fund will not allow a vote on TSCA because we couldn't act on the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

This is nothing short of absurd. It is hard enough to reach a consensus in the U.S. Senate on any issues, much less environmental issues, but some of our colleagues seem determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Shouldn't we be able to make this the best of times on both of these bills while we have the chance to do so instead of perpetuating the worst of times view that Americans increasingly have of the ability of Congress to get its job done?

I hope all of my colleagues can come together so we can agree that here, where there are far more than 60 votes on the Senate floor for two historic environmental bills--that we do not allow for a small handful of Members to be able to stop both bills from being able to even be considered on the Senate floor.

Yesterday's agreement on the debt ceiling and on having the budget go forward is how Congress should be operating. We should take the big issues, try to work together, and understand that there are going to be differences of opinion, but when there is overwhelming support for legislation, we should be able to move forward.

I thank the Senator from New Mexico. I thank all who have worked on this issue on a bipartisan basis. This bill has vastly improved the TSCA bill from where it was months ago, and I highly recommend it to my colleagues on the Senate floor. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is something that goes back so many decades, and it is central to a continuation of the commitment that each and every State in our country is able to make on two environmental programs.

I hope we can find a way of resolving this issue because it is time for us to take action on the Senate floor on these two critical environmental issues.

I yield back to the Senator from New Mexico.

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