[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H1343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PROTECT THE CLEAN AIR ACT

  (Ms. McCOLLUM asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, the current administration is proposing a 
rollback of what has been called the centerpiece of our environmental 
agenda. Instead of fighting hard to protect the Clean Air Act, this 
administration wants to eliminate clean air programs that control new 
sources of pollution and regional haze.
  What does this mean? It means that harmful emissions released from 
these old power plants will continue to cause asthma attacks and 
increase hospital visits. Haze will continue to blanket our cities and 
continue to spread out, obscuring views at our national parks and 
monuments. It also means that companies that own and operate our oldest 
and dirtiest coal-fired power plants can continue to escape strict 
pollution controls.
  We can do better. Monday is Earth Day, a time to celebrate past 
progress we have made in cleaning up our environment while leading our 
Nation to a cleaner tomorrow. It is not the time to eliminate tools 
that can help us clean our air.

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