[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 20, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H4681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SUPPORT LINDER-COLLINS AMENDMENT TO VA-HUD APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of an amendment the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) and I plan to offer later today to 
the VA-HUD appropriations bill. The amendment would simply ensure that 
Federal, State and local governments do not waste precious taxpayer 
dollars on air quality standards that have been rendered unenforceable 
by a Federal appeals court.
  This would not be the first time the Congress has done this. In 1998, 
the 105th Congress passed TEA-21 which included language that extended 
the designation time line for a year because the matter was in court. 
That time line has now run out. Two hundred ninety-seven Members of 
this House supported that language. This change recognized both the 
burdens placed on States and localities by these standards and the need 
to stop any process that would interfere with litigation surrounding 
the standards.
  The gentleman from Georgia and I bring our amendment before the House 
today in the same spirit. We have no interest in preventing reasonable 
clean air standards from being enforced. We just want to make sure that 
the Supreme Court has an opportunity to rule in the case first. 
Continue the congressional tradition of holding harmless our 
constituents while the lawyers and bureaucrats debate the merits of 
policy. Support the Linder-Collins amendment today.

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