[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               URGING CONGRESS TO LIMIT TRASH IMPORTATION

  (Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, news came last week that 
the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island that has taken municipal 
waste from New York City is scheduled to be closed in a couple of 
weeks, a few months ahead of what was expected. Now that Fresh Kills 
will soon be closing, the problem of municipal waste being hauled 
interstate becomes all the more acute.
  Virginians are certainly not fond of the trash trucks coming down I-
95, bringing out-of-state garbage through their communities to dump 
sites in the State. Not only is the trash unwanted, but the added 
large-truck traffic has made many local rural roads unsafe.
  State legislative efforts to stem this invasion of garbage into the 
Commonwealth have been frustrated by Federal courts labeling trash as 
``commerce,'' and thus subject to only Congress' regulation pursuant to 
the commerce clause of the Constitution.
  This morning I am urging my colleagues in Congress to pass tough 
legislation that will empower States to limit the amount of trash being 
brought within their borders. The closing of Fresh Kills makes this 
legislation all the more urgent, since New York is apparently counting 
on exporting even more of their trash. Virginians do not want this 
garbage coming into their communities, and I ask Congress' help in 
getting action on this problem.

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