[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 125 (Monday, July 31, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
             INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2099) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Stokes/
Boehlert amendment.
  The VA-HUD bill drives a stake through the heart of our Nation's 
environmental laws. The new majority apparently doesn't think cutting 
EPA's budget by 34 percent is enough--they've weighed the bill down 
with restrictions on EPA spending which ties their hands in 
implementing and enforcing critically important programs for the 
protection of the American people.
  The riders on the bill would prohibit EPA from spending any money on 
programs which protect wetlands, control polluted runoff, prevent raw 
sewage from being discharged into our waters, implement the 1990 Clean 
Air Act amendments, and then proceed with new standards for arsenic and 
radioactive pollutants in our drinking water.
  Mr. Chairman, more than 35 million people would be exposed to 
significant levels of arsenic in their drinking water, heightening 
cancer risks across our Nation.
  And while the republicans are proposing that EPA's ability to protect 
the health of American citizens be decimated, they are giving special 
favors and granting exemptions to environmental laws to their friends 
in the oil and gas industry and cement kiln operators.
  The Stokes/Boehlert amendment strips the appropriations bill of these 
legislative riders and enables the EPA, with the limited resources it 
has left, to implement the laws that the American people want, need and 
support which protect their air, water, and overall health.
  I thank the gentlemen for offering this amendment and urge my 
colleagues to support it.


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