Providing for Consideration of H.R. Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Reducing and Eliminating Duplicative Environmental Regulations Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Foreign Emissions and Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability Act; and Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Expressing Support for Tax Policies That Support Working Families

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I don't even know if I can dignify a response to the things that I have heard here this morning. Perhaps we will do another showerhead resolution or utilities or something like that. But it is very clear that there is a war in the Middle East, runaway inflation, out-of-control costs, a partial government shutdown, and a madman in the White House. What are our colleagues across the aisle calling us here today to do? They are calling us here to gut the Clean Air Act. Mr. Speaker, this is why I rise in opposition today to all three of these bills and in the strongest defense of the Clean Air Act, which is the bipartisan legislation that has protected the health of the American people and our planet for more than a half-century.

It was passed in 1970 with bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. It was born out of necessity when smog choked our cities and our communities suffered from unchecked pollution. It has delivered on a promise to the American people that no matter who you are or where you live, you have a fundamental human right to breathe clean air. There is nothing more basic than that right.

It is a promise that has delivered. It has saved millions of lives, prevented countless illnesses, and improved air quality across the country. As we know, it is under a threat not just in this Chamber but by an administration that has rolled back standards, weakened emissions, undermined the authority of the EPA, and gutted our climate commitments.

Now, at a time, especially in the West when we are facing record drought, record heat, and dangerously low snowpack, what are you all doing with your time on the floor? You are trying to further gut the fundamental program that protects our communities and our planet.

That is why I rise today to oppose these bills. This is not permitting reform. This is gutting our right to breathe clean air. The FENCES Act strips the EPA's authority, the FIRE Act manipulates how air pollution is measured, and the RED Tape Act is perhaps the most alarming of all as it would silence communities and allow Federal projects to move forward without consideration to our public health and to the planet.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say this: The consequences of these bills are not abstract. They are measurable, and they will be measured in lives, in the well-being of our people, and damages to our planet.

The Clean Air Act exists to protect the fundamental right of every American, every human, to breathe clean air. That is why I oppose these bills unequivocally. For the sake of our children, our communities, and our future, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on these bills today.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source