[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RESERVATIONS ABOUT OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER REGULATIONS

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WISE. Interesting note, Mr. Speaker. Does anybody think it a 
little strange that some of my colleagues from the other side, in 
protesting the President's veto of the disaster assistance bill, go 
through long explanations of the census and Government shutdowns? That 
is the problem. They are not supposed to be on a disaster assistance 
bill, but that is not why I rise today.
  I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about the Environmental Protection 
Agency and to express my concerns about the ozone and particulate 
matter regulations that are being proposed. My concern, Mr. Speaker, is 
not that I am opposed to clean air, and indeed I put my support for 
clean air legislation up there with just about anybody else's. My 
concern is that in this major legislation that will designate many of 
our areas as nonattainment that have previously been attainment areas, 
that in this important area of discussion there has been no discussion, 
or relatively little discussion, about the impact.
  I do not remember in my career in Congress such a change of great 
magnitude with so little public discussion. It certainly ought to be 
discussed more in the public, it ought to be discussed more in the 
Congress. That is why I have joined others in urging Administrator 
Browner not to proceed with these regulations as written, but to take 
the advice of many others, including, I might add, some of their own 
advisory bodies to the EPA that have expressed reservations about them.

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