[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BUSH'S WAR ON ENVIRONMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, we see the Iraq war in the newspapers 
every morning and on the television every evening, but we are not 
seeing reports on the administration's undeclared war on the 
environment.
  It is a war. It is being fought on our own soil, and the polluters 
are winning. This Earth Day this administration has launched a full 
frontal assault on the environment. The assaults include the air we 
breathe, the water we drink, the land we cherish, the fish in the sea 
and the people themselves.
  I am a doctor. My medical training and experience taught me you have 
to treat illness by curing the problem, not by treating the symptoms. 
This administration does neither. We could write a prescription, but it 
will not be filled while this President is in office.
  Air pollution shortens the lives of thousands of Americans, and air 
pollution worsens the lives of millions more. Breathing polluted air is 
bad enough when you are in good health. It can be catastrophic when you 
suffer from any one of a number of respiratory illnesses.
  When I was a kid, I had asthma. It is a respiratory illness which can 
clog or even close the bronchial tubes which carry air to the lungs. In 
other words, asthma can impair the ability to breathe. In severe cases, 
asthma can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. 
An asthma attack can be triggered by smoke and by environmental 
pollution. And we have seen the enemy, and it is the administration.
  The environmental pollution this administration has let loose on 
America saves the polluters millions of dollars, but costs individual 
Americans dearly. Do not take my word for it. Ask anyone with asthma or 
any other person with a respiratory condition in this country.
  Respiratory problems are just one area of medicine impacted severely 
and negatively by pollution. There are others, from skin disease, to 
chronic allergy, to a host of medical problems hurting Americans, young 
and old. Polluters have poisoned water supplies. They have contaminated 
rivers and streams. And worst of all, they are getting away with it. 
They are changing the rules.
  This country is more in danger at 5 o'clock on Friday than at any 
other time environmentally during the week because that is when the 
administration puts out the new regulations under the radar, no press 
conference, no anything, just give the polluters an open door. They 
invite them to secret meetings to craft America's energy policy. This 
administration does not look the other way. Instead they hold fund 
raisers.
  The President cannot remember making a mistake the other day on 
television. I cannot remember the President doing anything right about 
the environment. The record is that abysmal. And unless we change 
administrations this November, it will only get worse.
  In my home State of Washington, it takes committed local 
organizations like the People for Puget Sound and others to monitor the 
regulators. In my home State of Washington, we now fear new 
environmental actions Republicans openly hint about that may harm or 
kill whales, porpoises and dolphins.
  No one and nothing is safe from the undisclosed war of this President 
on the environment. Now, whales cannot vote, but we can. Porpoises 
cannot vote, but we can. Dolphins cannot vote, but we can. Children 
cannot vote, but we can. Lakes and streams cannot vote, but we can. The 
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge cannot vote, but we can. The water, the 
air, and the Earth cannot vote. We must vote on their behalf.
  This is Earth Day. Sadly, the Earth is in grave danger, much greater 
than it was in 1970s when this first was put on the calendar. We know 
who was responsible, and we know why. It is all about money, about 
greed. Energy producers are saying, we cannot clean up the air.
  In the President's own State, the major city is one of the most 
polluted in the country. When he was Governor, he did nothing. When he 
is President, he does nothing. Houston might as well not have a 
President or a Governor.
  We must save the planet before it is too late, and the sand is 
quickly flowing out of the hour glass. Today is the day we decide to 
vote for the planet and vote this President out of office in November.

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