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Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006

Date: May 24, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy Immigration


ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - May 24, 2005)

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AMENDMENT NO. 1 OFFERED BY MR. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague for yielding me this time, and I appreciate that we talked yesterday with the chairman about this particular amendment, but if he would just allow us to make a particular statement. I appreciate the time the chairman gave us, and I understand his point of order.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment helps to raise the clean air standards on the border. I am from Laredo, Texas, on the border. And if you would just take the border region and make it a particular State, you would see that it is one of the fastest growing parts of the country, and it is one of the poorest parts of the whole country. If the border region was its own State, it would rank last in access to health care, second worst in death from hepatitis, last in per capita income, and first in the number of schoolchildren living in poverty.

Air quality in the border region is just as important as in any other metropolitan area in the country. This particular amendment would help boost air quality by requiring sellers of electricity from the Mexican side to protect the consumers on the American side. We expect nothing less than corporate responsibility from our friends in the domestic corporations, and we expect the same stewardship from foreign companies that have a direct impact on our communities.

We live in a world that increasingly requires us to cooperate across the border to solve problems. Trade, commerce, and economic activity do not stop at the border, and the environmental problems that sometimes accompany economic growth do not stop at the border.

In conclusion, this amendment recognizes the simple truth that the border region is a community and that air pollution affects all the region's residents, American and Mexican alike.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleagues for their time and just ask that the chairman consider this particular amendment.

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