Blocking Regulatory Interference From Closing Kilns Act of 2017
Floor Speech
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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, my motion to recommit is simple and should garner the support of all Members who dislike government waste and abuse of power.
My motion goes to the heart of the costly ethical violations by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his penchant for flying first class in violation of Federal regulations and billing it to taxpayers.
He has done this at a time when he has supported cuts to EPA clean water and clean air initiatives in the communities we represent back home.
So my amendment is simple. It says: ``Nothing in this act may be construed to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to charter a flight, or travel in any class of air accommodation above coach class.''
See, Federal regulations right now require government officials to consider the least expensive class of travel that meets their needs. Now, agencies are allowed to travel first class in very rare instances, such as a flight of 14 hours or more, a medical disability, or for exceptional security circumstances if your life or government property is in danger.
Well, Administrator Scott Pruitt has abused these exceptions. This came to light after the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the EPA Administrator to explain his costly travel records, which showed he repeatedly booked first class flights at taxpayer expense, and he hoped no one would notice. There is no adequate justification for this wasteful spending and abuse of power by Scott Pruitt. If he enjoys flying first class and staying in luxury hotels, then he should pay for it himself and not ask the taxpayers to foot the bill.
Here is what we know per press reports and committee research: last June 5, Pruitt settled into his $1,641 first class seat for a short flight from D.C. to New York. The ticket cost more than 6 times that of the two media aides who traveled along with him and sat in coach. In Manhattan, Administrator Pruitt made two brief television appearances praising the White House's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement. He stayed in an upscale hotel near Times Square and returned to Washington the next day. That Wednesday, after traveling on Air Force One for an infrastructure event in Cincinnati, Pruitt and several staffers raced back to New York on a military jet, at the cost of $36,000, to then catch a plane to Rome. The transatlantic flight was part of a round-trip ticket for the Administrator that cost over $7,000, according to EPA records, several times what was paid for other officials who went.
In total, the taxpayer-funded travel for Pruitt and his top aides during that stretch in June cost at least $90,000, thanks to the Environmental Integrity Project, which got the records. His travel practices are quite different from previous EPA Administrators', who very rarely traveled first class and always announced their travel schedule to the public.
But Scott Pruitt's travel is different. It is secretive, it is costly, and it is frequent. In fact, we have come to learn that this year he plans to travel to Israel, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and possibly Canada. None of those have been officially announced, but we have been digging. Pruitt rarely discloses where he plans to be.
So, at the request of congressional Democrats, the EPA's Office of Inspector General is conducting probes of Pruitt's travel. He has attempted to justify his luxury travel by noting that he has been approached by people in the airport numerous times to talk about his environmental record. However, it is unclear why this justifies purchasing first class tickets.
These new justifications also contradict previous explanations of this questionable travel as a way of providing an opportunity to hear directly from people affected by the EPA. The Administrator simply prefers to be wasteful with taxpayer dollars.
We have asked about other conflicts of interest. He has continually sided with dirty energy and chemical companies, so it is no matter that members of the public would like to discuss these pressing issues with him. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, new travel records shared with the media show Pruitt and EPA employees spent up to $150,000 on premium commercial and chartered flights just in a 6-month period.
So, Mr. Speaker, Administrator Pruitt says he will start flying coach after all the attention it has garnered, but he hasn't promised to do so. Through this motion to recommit, we would like to make it permanent. We would like to hold him accountable.
And for anyone who would like to eliminate waste in government and make sure that our officials do not abuse their power, it is time to adopt this amendment, and I urge Congress to do so.
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