EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. WEBER of Texas. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, it seems that some of the things that we are hearing
from the opponents of the bill are that the committee is going to be
stacked with people from industry, from the States. It is as if the
people from industry can't be trusted, people from States can't be
trusted.
Then we hear the theme that there was not a single Democratic vote to
get this bill out. It almost sounds like the Affordable Care Act to me
where people--recent revelations are one of the proponents has said
that Americans were too stupid to understand, so that's why the
Affordable Care Act had to be passed, and it couldn't have transparency
because it would never have passed Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1422. The Science
Advisory Board, called the SAB--I guess we would say this is a ``sad
SAB story''--was established by Congress to review the science behind
the EPA's decisions and to advise Congress and the EPA on science and
technical matters. Unfortunately, the SAB is no longer functioning as
designed, without the impartiality and expertise needed to be an
effective arbiter of EPA's use of science in its regulations.
Why no transparency, Mr. Speaker? That is what we have got to ask.
The American public deserves transparency. These are taxpayer dollars
we are talking about.
The membership of the SAB has excluded individuals from the State
agencies and private sector. Again, I would remind us that these are
the people who build communities and industries in neighborhoods, in
cities, in towns, and in States.
Can you say 10th Amendment?
States have all the rights reserved. They are the building block.
Communities, citizens, industry is the building block of this country.
This is a country that has a government, not a government that has a
country.
So, as the EPA continues its regulatory assault on America's economy,
it is critically important that Congress act to improve the quality of
EPA's use of science in its decisions. This bill, this legislation,
will do just that. It will improve the quality of SAB's membership. It
will increase public participation in its scientific reviews. It will
allow for dissenting opinions among its members and limit the SAB's
activities to questions of science, not policy.
And I want to say thank you to Congressman Stewart and Chairman Smith
for bringing this important legislation to the floor today. It is very
important that we get on top of this. The American people deserve
transparency, they deserve a seat at the table, and they deserve
nothing less.

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