Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I thank both of my colleagues. We will soon be joined by another colleague in this colloquy, my colleague and friend from Connecticut Senator Murphy.

I first want to thank the Senator from Rhode Island. He has been a constant and extraordinarily eloquent speaker on this subject. He has regularly been reminding us of our obligation even before the President outlined his vision of what we need to do today. I thank my friend, and I thank the President for his bold leadership and very effective and courageous action he is taking today.

Anybody who questions the need for action in this area need look no further than the shorelines of Connecticut which were devastated by Superstorm Sandy and have been repeatedly hit over this past year by a rash of unprecedented severe weather events. Connecticut has been through extraordinarily severe and serious weather events that may become the new normal.

We hate to think of these kinds of storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes as the regular order. In fact, that havoc may be the new normal for many States and, indeed, the new normal for all of America, which is why the President's leadership today is very important. Without action, we will suffer the effects of inertia and continued pollution contamination. Climate disruption is the result of human contribution, human inaction, and human failure to address these problems. In fact, inaction is unacceptable. Inertia is intolerable. This kind of leadership from the Senate, as well as from the President, is a moral obligation to protect the climate for our children and our grandchildren.

In the last 30 years asthma rates have doubled. In the last year alone our Nation has faced droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures in almost every corner of the country, which exacts a cost in dollars and in human lives as well as suffering. These kinds of extremes in climate are destructive and deadly. The health-related costs of climate change literally add billions more to our debt.

Connecticut has suffered major disasters six times since 2010. There have been six disasters in less than 4 years, and that compares with six disasters in a 30-year period from 1954 to 1985. So we know firsthand how climate disruption--it is not just climate change, it is climate disruption--can affect our daily lives.

We have an opportunity, as well as an imperative, to act now. We need to take simple steps, and we know what they are: upgrading and modernizing our existing powerplants so they emit less carbon, investing in clean energy research and development, and investing in fuel cells.

Connecticut is the fuel cell capital of the Nation and could be the fuel cell capital of the world. By doing what I just mentioned, combined with other measures that are easily within reach, we can help save lives and dollars in this effort. The investments we are making in infrastructure--the public investments--can also help us to go in this direction.

There are commonsense and necessary actions that we have an obligation and an opportunity to take now, and one of them is the appointment of Gina McCarthy to head the EPA. Her appointment is now stalled by the same paralyzing partisan gridlock that is all too common. This kind of partisan gamesmanship should stop. I know her well. I can assure this body of her qualifications, as I have done before.

She has worked in the Presiding Officer's State of Massachusetts, as well as my State of Connecticut. She has worked with Republican Governors. She has exemplified the kind of balanced, sensitive, and responsive approach to business needs and interests as well as to environmental protection.

She is well respected in the environment and business communities because of her dedication to developing practical solutions in facing this set of environmental challenges. Her leadership, along with the President's vision today, is so very important.

There is a group of us who are working together. I am proud to be a part of that effort. I have cosponsored legislation that would protect some of Connecticut's treasured bodies of water, including the Farmington River, the Salmon Brook, and Pawcatuck River as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

I have joined with members of the New England delegation to urge the Army Corps of Engineers to complete its study of the Connecticut River so we can better understand the human impact on that river and improve its system. All of these efforts will be for naught if America and humankind fail to address the fundamental challenge we now face, which is to end our contribution to climate disruption, stop the drift and inertia, accept that we must act and act now. The President's plan is only an example of the kind of bold approach we need to combat the impacts of climate change.

With the Presiding Officer's approval, and with the Senator from Rhode Island's acquiescence, I will yield to my colleague from Connecticut for his comments. We share a State, and we also share a view that our children--his two and my four--will benefit from what we do together as a body, as a group, and as a country.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source