Congressional Record, Volume 159 Issue 71 (Monday, May 20, 2013)

[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 71 (Monday, May 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3605-S3609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FACING THE ISSUES

Mrs. BOXER. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are focused
on several issues, which they call scandals. I would like to address
those and then talk about issues that seem to be falling through the
cracks while they focus on ``gotcha'' politics; they are going to get
the President.
I think we will start with the IRS. It is wrong to target any group
for scrutiny whether they are on the right or on the left, if it is a
tea party group or a liberal church. We have seen this with the IRS
over the years. As a matter of fact, I looked back to see how many of
my Republican friends stood up and talked about going after the IRS and
straightening them out when they went after the NAACP or when they went
after a liberal church in Pasadena in Congressman Schiff's district.
The fact is they got exercised when they went after the tea party. OK.
I hear you. I am with you. What is important is so is the President.
If this President says: I agree with you, they say: We didn't hear
you.
They just want to fight. I have friends where sometimes we are having
a debate, and all of a sudden a bright light goes on and I will say,
you know what, I think you are right. Sometimes they keep on arguing.
The President said this is an outrage, and he has already made sure
people are being fired. We are going to make sure we straighten things
out at the IRS.
Let's focus on how to fix it, not how to make it into a ``gotcha''
political issue. We also have Republican outrage over the Justice
Department seeking the phone records of the Associated Press.
I, myself, believe freedom of the press is one of the most important
freedoms we have. I don't like to see phone records of reporters
subpoenaed in secret.
I was once a reporter and had a lot of confidential sources. I wrote
for a very good weekly magazine called the PacificSun. I did indepth
stories on all kinds of issues. People would talk to me, and they knew
I would never say who they were and who was giving background.
The thought of having the government take a look at these records
without telling the press is bad. Guess what. The President agrees it
is bad. The President said we need a law, a media shield law. Guess
what else. We had a vote on this in 2008. It was 51 to 43 with all
Democrats supporting the media shield law and all Republicans, save 5,
voting to filibuster, so the bill was killed.
How do they then say this is horrible when they themselves,
Republicans, blocked us from protecting the media?
I believe this is an important issue we should work on together, but
it shouldn't be made into a political ``gotcha.'' We should fix it and
move on. Let's take up a media shield law again. This time the
Republicans shouldn't filibuster since they are all over this question,
and let's get going.
Then we look at Benghazi. I am on the Foreign Relations Committee. I
sit next to the chairman. I sat next to John Kerry. I sat through all
the hearings where Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, said: This
was a tragedy. These were my friends who were killed. I take full
responsibility.
She ordered an independent investigation. It came back and guess what
it said. We need to spend more defending our outposts.
Guess who started cutting embassy security, who initiated it. The
Republicans in the House.
I think if they are looking to blame someone, why don't they look in
the mirror for starters.
Again, let's fix the problem. I am supporting a bill that will
authorize funding for key items identified by the independent review
board Secretary Clinton put together. It will deal with a number of
pieces they recommend. It requires, among others, detailed reports from
the State Department on how they are progressing toward implementing
the recommendations, and it requires the identification of the most
high-security threats.
I understand why we would look at losing four brave Americans as a
tragedy. It is a tragedy. Don't politicize it.
Where were the Republicans when we lost 4,000 Americans in Iraq,
injured 10 times as many. Where were they? Where was their indignation
at that? Based on false premises, that war was a war of choice, not a
war of necessity.
We have all of this swirling around Washington and we look at the
American people and we say what is it they want us to do. Sure, we
should conduct oversight. I am all for it. Let's solve those problems,
but let's move to the issues that matter.
I will tell you what matters most in California: jobs, jobs, jobs,
the economy, the economy, the economy. We just moved off a double-digit
unemployment rate. For the first time in a long time we are below 10
percent. It means we have to keep our eye on this economy. We have to
make the investments that matter. Restore some of the mindless cuts
that were made with the sequester while we see this deficit going down.
That is another point. All the howling from the Republicans about how
this President doesn't care about deficit reduction, we are witnessing
deficit reduction. We are witnessing the housing market come back. We
are witnessing a lot of good. Just think of what we could witness if we
came together, sat down with this President and inked a whole new plan
for this economy, for deficit reduction.
We have to do the farm bill. We just did the water resources bill.
Let the House get it done. We did the Marketplace Fairness Act. Let the
House get it done.
Republicans, I say to them--they are not here--rhetorically, help us
pass a budget. They are blocking the budget. They went around the
country campaigning against Democrats saying we didn't pass a budget.
Then we passed a budget and now they will not finish the job, which
means making sure we get conferees appointed. Bring the two bills
together, the House and the Senate, compromise on that, and get the
budget done. There is no budget. They will not let us do it.
Endlessly, they bash the President. Immigration reform, my colleagues
are doing an incredible job in the Judiciary Committee, very
difficult--sensible gun laws, background checks, things that matter to
people.
Working on the farm bill, I hope we get it done this week. Last time
it died in the House. I have a message for my House friends. Please, do
your oversight but do something for the people that they are asking us
to do. Get a budget, get a farm bill, get a Marketplace Fairness Act.
Work on restoring the mindless cuts so we can have more jobs. These are
the things that have to be done. Background checks. We didn't get it
here. It was very close. It would be great if they did something in the
House.
This week I believe we are voting on Richard Cordray to head the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We have to protect the middle
class.
Today I read the paper about some new instrument that has been
thought of by Wall Street that would go to people and say give us the
proceeds of your pension plan, and we will give you a lump sum. Maybe
that is great, but it sounds risky to me. We need someone who is out
there protecting the consumers, particularly in banking and housing. I
hope we get Richard Cordray done.
I thought Senator Menendez was brilliant the way he explained why
Thomas Perez deserves to be head of Department of Labor.

[[Page S3606]]

I wish to spend a couple of minutes on Gina McCarthy. She has a
history of bipartisanship. She worked for not one, not two, not three
but four Republican Governors: Republican Governor of Connecticut Jodi
Rell, Republican Governor of Massachusetts Paul Cellucci, Republican
Governor of Massachusetts Jane Swift, Republican Governor of
Massachusetts Mitt Romney. She worked for four Republican Governors.
She is not enough qualified for my friends on the other side. She was
confirmed here without a dissenting vote for her current position. What
more do they want? She worked for four Republicans and one Democrat,
Barack Obama. What more do they want?
This is what Christie Todd Whitman said about the Republican boycott:
They walked out. They have since returned to the table. I was happy,
but when they walked out of that meeting, they didn't come to the
meeting, and we couldn't mark her up the first time we tried. She said:
They looked like sore losers when they walked out. If they don't object
to the person and what they have done in the past, and they don't with
Gina, then they have even less grounds to hold up this nominee.
Jane Swift, who was a former Republican Governor of Massachusetts,
said it was disgraceful.
I don't get it. Ms. McCarthy answered 1,000 of their questions. Then
when I approach my friends on the other side and say, you asked her a
thousand questions, their answer was: Well, we only cared about five.
Then why did you ask her a thousand questions? She had to sit there,
exhausted, answering every single question.

Now Senator Vitter says I don't know what I will do. I might let it
go and not filibuster, but then I might filibuster or I might wind up
voting for her. Well, you know, the time for all this contemplation has
passed. The woman is qualified. The President deserves his Cabinet, he
deserves an EPA Administrator. He made a bipartisan choice in Gina.
Gina was brilliant when we had our hearing. Enough already. Please, it
is time to have a vote up or down on Gina McCarthy.
We have a lot of work to do. I mentioned a few. How about the latest
threat from the Republicans? They decided they are not sure they are
going to raise the debt ceiling so they now have a bill where they lay
out who would get paid first when we default on our debt. And guess
what, America: It is not you. It is China. Before we pay America's
business or American bondholders, we are going to pay China.
So when you look at where we are going with this debt ceiling, the
last time they held it up it cost us $19 billion--$19 billion over 10
years--because they played games, even though when Ronald Reagan was
President he said: Don't even go there. Of course, I am paraphrasing.
But he said even the thought of not raising the debt ceiling and not
paying our debts is dangerous for our Nation.
Yet now the Republicans have a bill that we call ``Pay China First.''
That is what it is about. They would pay China and other foreign
bondholders before we pay our troops, our disabled and retired
veterans, doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare patients, and
before we pay American businesses that are contractors.
I understand they had a meeting to discuss this further, and they
were so excited about it--what hostages they could hold--they talked
about proposals that threaten a woman's right to choose, tax breaks for
the wealthy, and repealing ObamaCare. They have already tried it 37
times. And cutting Medicare.
What are they thinking over there? Pay our bills. Don't let this
country's credit be downgraded again.
I tell you something, if that is what they do, they do not deserve to
get their salary. I have a bill that would say if we default on our
obligations by not raising the debt ceiling we should give up our pay.
I don't know what they are doing over there other than playing
politics, and it is dangerous.
We know they do not care for our President, but he is the President.
Show a little respect for the office. Show a little respect for what he
has on his shoulders. Show a little respect for what he has already
accomplished, and accept the fact that when there is trouble he doesn't
hide in the corner. He says: You are right, I want to fix it. Let's fix
it together.

Climate Change

I have gone over just some of the issues we have to look at, but I am
going to close with one very big issue that no one, except a handful of
Senators, seems to care about, and that is climate change.
I have to say it is shocking to me that as this planet enters a
planetary emergency, where we are as close as we can be to carbon
concentrations of almost 400 parts per million, which is the danger
zone, I still don't see anyone here saying to me, as chairman of the
Environment and Public Works Committee, let's get a bill to the floor.
Oh, no. Oh, no. So we are burning up.
I am going to read a little bit from what I thought was a very well-
done piece in Politico, and I am going to read parts of it, but I ask
unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the entire Politico
article I am about to read from.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

[From Politico Pro, May 10, 2013]

Scientists Alarmed As CO2 Passes Threshold

(By Andrew Restuccia)

The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere passed a symbolic milestone this week, scientists
announced Friday, reaching levels that haven't prevailed on
the Earth since long before human civilization began.
The long-expected announcement by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration--that CO2 concentrations had
finally hit 400 parts per million at a key measuring station
in Hawaii--means little by itself. But it's a sign that time
is slipping away to head off or lessen the rising sea levels,
worsening storms, species die-offs and other fallout from
global warming, scientists and climate activists warned.
Still, there are few signs that Washington will emerge from
its deep snooze on the issue.
Congress remains unable to pass serious legislation to
tackle climate change. Efforts to reach a major binding
international climate change treaty have sputtered. And while
the Obama administration has made some strides in lowering
greenhouse gas emissions, including increasing fuel-
efficiency standards for cars, climate experts say much more
needs to be done--and fast.
``We've never been here before, certainly not while human
beings were on the planet,'' said Melanie Fitzpatrick,
climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists,
estimating that it's been 3 million-5 million years since the
planet has had such high carbon dioxide levels.
``The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is
like the thermostat in your house. Every time you turn it up,
we are essentially turning up the heat in the planet,'' said
Jon Hoekstra, chief scientist at the World Wildlife Fund.
``We're essentially baking ourselves in, perhaps quite
literally.''
NOAA said the daily mean CO2 concentration was 400.03 ppm
on Thursday at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the world's oldest
continuous carbon dioxide measurement station. That was the
first time the figure had crossed 400 ppm there since
measurements began at the site in 1958, the agency said.
NOAA said last year that sites in the Arctic had already
reached 400 ppm, but measurements from the facility in Hawaii
are closely watched as an indicator of broader trends on the
planet.
``It's unprecedented,'' said James Butler, director of the
Global Monitoring Division of NOAA's Earth System Research
Laboratory. ``Hitting 400 is just saying, ``Folks, we haven't
addressed this yet.' ''
Butler said the planet hasn't seen atmospheric levels of
carbon dioxide this high since the Pliocene era, between 2.5
million and 5 million years ago. He said the global average
temperature will probably reach 400 ppm in one or two years.
Scientists warn that continued increases could result in
catastrophe. A federal report released earlier this year, for
example, said 5 million Americans living in low-lying areas
could be affected by sea-level rise in the coming decades.
And global emissions appear poised to continue soaring. Not
only has the CO2 concentration risen over the decades, NOAA
said, but the rate of increase has been accelerating--``from
about 0.7 ppm per year in the late 1950s to 2.1 ppm per year
during the last 10 years.''
``Before the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century,
global average CO2 was about 280 ppm,'' NOAA said in a
statement Friday. ``During the last 800,000 years, CO2
fluctuated between about 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm
during interglacial warm periods. Today's rate of increase is
more than 100 times faster than the increase that occurred
when the last ice age ended.''
The surge in atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions shows
that federal and global policies to curb global warming
aren't even close to adequate, said Dan Lashof, director of
the climate and clean air program at the National Resources
Defense Council.
``It's a very black and white record of what we're doing to
the atmosphere. The bottom line for climate policy can be
measured by

[[Page S3607]]

the CO2 concentration we're observing in the atmosphere,''
Lashof said.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org--an activist group that
has led the call for lowering carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere to 350 ppm--called the measurement ``one more grim
milestone.''
``Somewhere between 350 and 400 ppm the Arctic melted, and
the ocean turned 30 percent more acidic,'' he said. ``And the
country's political leaders took no action even remotely
commensurate with the scale of the crisis. Let's hope we can
build this movement strong enough that that changes before we
add another 50 ppm.''
Environmental groups used the 400 ppm milestone to revive
their long-standing demands for action.
``What we're looking at is really an opportunity for a
wake-up call for people,'' Fitzpatrick said. ``We really need
to come up with solutions. And they're out there. We just
need to implement them.''
But bitter partisanship in Washington has proven that
policymakers face massive hurdles in their push to tackle the
problem. Brad Johnson, campaign manager of the climate
activist group Forecast the Facts, painted a bleak picture of
the political landscape.
``We must respond with urgent resolve to end this
uncontrolled experiment on our only home,'' he said in a
statement. ``Yet the Republican Party maintains climate
change denial as a central tenet of their party platform, and
President Obama refuses to admit the threat projects like the
Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline pose to our future survival.''
Still, some expressed hope that recent events like the
droughts that hammered much of the country and Hurricane
Sandy will build support for action.
``At what point do we as a society say this is more than we
can put up with?'' Hoekstra asked.

Mrs. BOXER. This is from an article dated May 10 from Politico:

Let me say that again. Is anybody listening to this? Scientists said:

The amount of heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere passed
a symbolic milestone this week, reaching levels that haven't
prevailed on the Earth since long before human civilization
began.

Do you know who said that? NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.

. . . CO2 concentrations had finally hit 400
parts per million at a key measuring station in Hawaii. . . .
Still, there are few signs that Washington will emerge from
its deep snooze on the issue.

How right on. They are all sleeping, except for a handful of us. Wake
up to this.

Congress remains unable to pass serious legislation to
tackle climate change.

Melanie Fitzpatrick, climate scientist at the Union of Concerned
Scientists, was quoted in the article saying:

. . . it's been 3 million to 5 million years since the
planet has had such high carbon dioxide levels. We've never
been here before, certainly not while human beings were on
the planet.

She goes on. Oh, no, this is Jon Hoekstra of the Wildlife Fund.

The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is like
the thermostat in your house. Every time you turn it up, we
are essentially turning up the heat in the planet.

James Butler, Director of Global Monitoring of NOAA's Earth System
Research Lab, was quoted as saying:

It is unprecedented. Hitting 400 is just like saying,
``Folks, we haven't addressed this yet.'' The planet hasn't
seen atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide this high since the
Pliocene era, between 2.5 million and 5 million years ago.
The global average temperature will reach 400 parts per
million in 1 or 2 years.

The article continues:

Scientists warn that continued increase could result in
catastrophe. . . . 5 million Americans living in low-lying
areas who could be affected by sea level rise.

It goes on and on. Hoekstra ends his quote with:

At what point as a society do we say this is more than we
can put up with?

I will tell you why we are not doing anything. Special interest: Big
oil, big coal, big polluters. They do not want to address this. For
their short-term profit they do not to want address this. It is sad,
the control they have here. Special interests have a lot of control,
whether it is the NRA stopping us from doing something 90 percent of
the people want, such as background checks, or it is big polluters--big
polluters who don't want us to do anything about this issue for their
short-term benefit.
When they are all gone and people are suffering in our country, our
grandkids and great-grandkids are going to say: What was my great-
grandma thinking? What was my great-grandpa doing? We see what is
happening in the weather. Just look out the window. We see it.
Mr. President, I have discussed the latest scientific information
that is available to us, including a front-page story in USA Today, on
March 1, that spotlighted the impacts of climate change unfolding
around us. The story was part of a year-long series called ``Why You
Should Sweat Climate Change,'' and it described how climate disruption
is happening all around us.
I have also talked about a report entitled the ``2013 High Risk
List'' that was released by the Government Accountability Office--GAO--
a government watchdog agency. That report told us how climate
disruption and the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather
events, such as Superstorm Sandy, threaten our Nation's financial
security.
Another aspect of climate change that I have discussed is its impact
on public health in the U.S. and China, which has experienced the
harmful health effects from air pollution due to its rapid
industrialization over the past few decades.
Today I will discuss how climate disruption poses a risk to our
national security in several ways. It has serious implications on
national security planning, it places additional burdens on the U.S.
military, and it affects our military readiness.
We have been told by a number of military leaders and defense
experts, such as former Secretary of State George Schultz under
President Reagan, that climate change is a fact and we must address it
as a national security priority.
It is a priority that we simply cannot ignore. An open letter was
signed by 38 former high-ranking Republicans, Democrats, and
Independents--including 17 former Senators and Congress members, 9
retired generals and admirals, and Cabinet officials from the Nixon,
Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton, and Bush (43)
administrations. The letter was turned into an ad highlighting that.
Look at this chart.
``The cost of inaction will be staggering.'' This is a February 25,
2013, Partnership for a Secure America ad.
Some of our most senior military leaders have already told us that
climate disruption will have significant impacts on national security.
According to the Chief of U.S. Pacific forces:
The significant upheaval from climate change `is probably the most
likely thing . . . that will cripple the security environment . . .
Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III, ``Chief of US Pacific forces
calls climate biggest worry,''
That is from the Boston Globe, March 9, 2013.
There are a broad range of risks associated with the impacts of
climate change, such as drought and lack of drinking water supplies,
which can contribute to military crises around the world. These threats
must be factored into our national security planning and operations.
According to President Obama's National Security Advisor, the
environmental impacts of climate change are clear:
[T]he danger from climate change is real, urgent, and severe. The
change wrought by a warming planet will lead to new conflicts over
refugees and resources; new suffering from drought and famine;
catastrophic natural disasters; and the degradation of land across the
globe.
That is from Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor, April 24, 2013.
In March, the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper,
reported to the Senate that climate change and extreme weather will
create water scarcity, disrupt food supplies, and harm energy
infrastructure in ways that will raise global risks of instability and
aggravated regional tensions.
This is from the March 12, 2013, Worldwide Threat Assessment of the
U.S. Intelligence Community, report to the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence.
While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it can accelerate
instability, increase the threat of international military crises, and
hinder our ability to combat terrorism. According to the Department of
Defense's Defense Science Board:

[[Page S3608]]

Climate change effects, particularly those related to water and food
and security, can erode the legitimacy of fragile states and create
conditions terrorists and extremists seek to exploit. Therefore, they
are significant factors in combating terrorism.
This is from ``Trends and Implications of Climate Change for National
and International Security,'' Department of Defense's Defense Science
Board, October 2011.
Climate disruption is also placing an additional burden on our
military, because it impacts the type of missions that must be planned
for and undertaken. Climate change is increasing the frequency and
intensity of extreme weather events, and when a weather disaster
occurs, our Armed Forces mobilize to provide humanitarian assistance to
local communities and families in need.
We saw this happen with Superstorm Sandy, which wiped out entire
communities in just a few hours. In response, our soldiers came to the
rescue of people on the east coast who were impacted by Sandy's storm
surge. These types of humanitarian missions--whether it is in the U.S.
or overseas--place additional burdens on our brave men and women in
uniform.
Disasters such as Sandy that harm our civilian infrastructure, such
as airports, ports, and electric grids, also create national security
issues, because they can affect military readiness.
In addition to civilian infrastructure, Superstorm Sandy caused
tremendous damage to our military facilities. A portion of the $60
billion Sandy emergency relief package that Congress passed earlier
this year went toward repairing and replacing damaged Federal military
assets, including: Fort Dix in New Jersey; Norfolk Naval Station in
Virginia; Dover Air Force Base in Delaware; and the Coast Guard Academy
campus in Connecticut.
The U.S. military has almost 300,000 buildings valued at $590
billion--much of which is at risk because of climate change. In
January, DoD stated:
In many ways, coastal military installations have been on the front
lines of climate change.''
In fact, 10 percent of DoD coastal installations and facilities are
located at or near sea level. According to the National Intelligence
Council, more than 30 U.S. military installations were already facing
elevated risks from storm surges and rising sea levels. These
installations include
Eglin Air Force base, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida
panhandle--this facility faces storm surges and sea level rise; and
Norfolk Naval Station and the neighboring Newport News shipyard--the
location where we build aircraft carriers. These facilities are also
threatened by storm surges and sea level rise.
The U.S. military is not alone in viewing climate change as a threat.
A recent study found that over 70 percent of nations surveyed around
the world view climate change as a national security threat.
This is from the American Security Project: Global Security Defense
Index on Climate Change, March 21, 2013.
Countries around the world recognize that climate change is a
national security threat, but it is the U.S. military that must take a
leading role. As one of America's retired military leaders, former U.
S. Navy Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, stated:
Climate Change poses a clear and present danger to the United States
of America . . . The imperative, then, is for leadership and action on
a global scale. The United States must act. The United States must
lead.
This is from the November 1, 2012, ``Climate Change and the
Homeland,'' American Security Project.
I could not agree more. We must follow the analysis and advice of our
Nation's military leaders and national security experts to protect the
American people by addressing the dangerous threat posed by climate
disruption.
I want to show a few charts about what people are saying, and then I
will stop.
``The cost of inaction will be staggering.'' This ran in March.

The effects of climate change in the world's most
vulnerable regions present a serious threat to American
national security. Countries least able to adapt to or
mitigate the impacts of climate change will suffer the most,
but the resulting crisis will quickly become a burden on U.S.
priorities. Both the Department of Defense and State
Department have identified climate change as a serious risk
to American security and an agent of instability.

This is a very bipartisan group. It is actually mostly Republicans on
this, of people saying do something about this. Our national security
is at stake.
When there are refugees who are run out of their country, what is
going to happen to the world? There already are climate refugees. There
is a movie called ``Climate Refugees.''
``Danger from climate change is real, urgent and severe.''

The change wrought by a warming planet will lead to new
conflicts over refugees and resources; new suffering from
drought and famine; catastrophic natural disasters; and the
degradation of land across the globe.

That is a quote from Tom Donilon, National Security Adviser. So this
is a national security issue.
How could the polluters have so much power to overwhelm our national
security people? But that is where it is. That is where it is.
``Climate change can hinder ability to combat terrorism.''

Climate change effects, particularly those related to water
and food and security . . . can create conditions terrorists
and extremists seek to exploit. Therefore, they are
significant factors in combating terrorism.

That was the Department of Defense, October 2011. Department of
Defense. National security advisers. The CIA has been telling us this
for a long time. We have to act. We have to act.
I have to say there are a number of my colleagues here--a small
number--who feel the way I do. We are all pushing hard. Senator Sanders
and I have a bill, the Sanders-Boxer bill, that would put a price on
carbon. Carbon could cost us the planet. The least we can do is put a
little charge on it so people move to clean energy--clean energy.
Take the issue of the Keystone Pipeline. It is a big controversy.
People say, let's just do it. Well, you ought to see what will come out
of that in terms of carbon pollution. It will undo all the good we did
from fuel economy. And the oil won't stay here. They have a waste
disposal problem with it. But it is a little bit inconvenient.
Remember when Vice President Gore wrote the book ``Inconvenient
Truth.'' It is a little inconvenient for us. We don't want to know
about it because it is hard to deal with. But we can do it.
In California, we are beginning to see more and more solar rooftops,
more and more clean power, and the jobs that are coming with it are
extraordinary. We can do this. This is the greatest Nation in the
world, but we are kind of held hostage to the big polluters. We have to
say that we have to act for the safety of the people.
We are hearing it. We are hearing it from our national defense
department, we are hearing it from George Shultz, who was the former
Secretary of State under President Reagan. He says it is a national
priority that shouldn't be ignored. Cabinet officials from the Nixon,
Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush--41 from Clinton and 43 from Bush--wrote
a letter to us. And Navy ADM Samuel Locklear, III, Chief of U.S.
Pacific Forces, calls climate ``our biggest worry.''
That is what he said.

The significant upheaval climate change ``is probably the
most likely thing . . . that will cripple the security
environment. . . . ''

This is a Navy man.

There are a broad range of risks associated with the
impacts of climate change, such as drought and lack of
drinking water supplies, which can contribute to military
crises around the world.

This is what the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper,
said:

. . . extreme weather will create water scarcity, disrupt
food supplies, and harm energy infrastructure in ways that
will raise the global risks of instability and aggravated
regional tensions.

It goes on. The entire national defense establishment is speaking
with one voice. We also wanted them to tell us what would happen to our
military facilities. Many of them--300,000 buildings valued at $590
billion are at risk because of climate change. Those are coastal
military installations.
We are dealing with a lot of infrastructure. Norfolk Naval Station,
neighboring Newport News shipyard where they build the aircraft
carriers, they are threatened by storm surges and sea level rise.
I have come to the floor now three or four times to keep raising
these different issues. Tonight I am talking about national security,
but we also

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saw terrible tornadoes in Oklahoma--horrible. I send my condolences to
the people who lost loved ones. This is climate change. This is climate
change. We were warned about extreme weather--not just hot weather but
extreme weather.
When I had the gavel years ago--it has been a while--the scientists
started to agree that we would start to see extreme weather. People
said: What do you mean? Do you mean it is going to get hot? Yes, it is
going to get hot, but we are also going to have snow in the summer in
some places. We are going to have terrible storms and tornadoes and all
the rest.
We need to protect our people. That is our No. 1 obligation. We have
to deal with this threat that is upon us. It is going to get worse and
worse through the years.
I certainly hope--and I pray over it--that people will wake up to
this and we will start to have support for moving together and at the
end of the day it is a win-win-win. We will help save our planet. We
will create good-paying jobs right here in America as we move toward
clean energy. We will see fewer people with asthma, and we will have a
more healthy population.
At the end of the day we will help those in the transition who have
to pay a little bit more for their energy. We have it all figured out,
how to do that, and no one will be hurt. But right now--I am a very
straight from the shoulder person--I can tell you it is not happening,
but I feel an obligation to my grandkids to be here every Monday I can
be here to put in the Record the problems we are facing.

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