[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 82 (Tuesday, May 24, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2975-H2981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2576, TSCA
MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2015, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 897,
REDUCING REGULATORY BURDENS ACT OF 2015
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 742 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 742
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R.
2576) to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act, and for
other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and to
consider in the House, without intervention of any point of
order, a motion offered by the chair of the Committee on
Energy and Commerce or his designee that the House concur in
the Senate amendment with an amendment inserting the text of
Rules Committee Print 114-54 modified by the amendment
printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying
this resolution in lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted
by the Senate. The Senate amendment and the motion shall be
considered as read. The motion shall be debatable for one
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The
previous question shall be considered as ordered on the
motion to its adoption without intervening motion or demand
for division of the question.
Sec. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in
order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 897) to amend
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify
Congressional intent regarding the regulation of the use of
pesticides in or near navigable waters, and for other
purposes. All points of order against consideration of the
bill are waived. An amendment in the nature of a substitute
consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 114-53 shall
be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be
considered as read. All points of order against provisions in
the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall
be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any
further amendment thereto, to final passage without
intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally
divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure;
and (2) one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia is recognized for
1 hour.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to my friend from Colorado (Mr. Polis), pending
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration
of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, you heard the Reading Clerk read. Sometimes it is tough
to follow what we do up there in the Committee on Rules. I would remind
folks that rules.house.gov has the copy of the rule, and folks can get
into all of the details. I am real proud of the work that we did up
there yesterday. I am glad to be down here on the floor today
representing it.
House Resolution 742, Mr. Speaker, is a standard rule for
consideration of a House amendment to the Senate-amended H.R. 2576.
That is the Toxic Substances Control Act Modernization Act. It also
provides a closed rule for consideration of H.R. 897, the Zika Vector
Control Act.
Mr. Speaker, the year was 1976. That was the last time the Congress
and the White House dealt in a serious way with the Toxic Substances
Control Act. In fact, that is when the bill was first passed.
For the intervening four decades, science has changed, technology has
changed, consumer demands have changed, and yet the way that we
regulate these chemicals has not. And it is not for lack of trying.
For Pete's sake, Mr. Speaker, long before I arrived in this Chamber 5
years ago, Members were trying to find an agreement on how to deal with
the Toxic Substances Control Act, how to update that for late 20th
century or early 21st century technology.
In fact, the late Senator Lautenberg, Mr. Speaker, was probably the
largest champion for this reform that we had on either side of Capitol
Hill. He passed away 3 years ago next week. Three years ago next week,
many thought that the opportunities we had to succeed here passed away
with him.
Despite the headlines, Mr. Speaker, that read that gridlock controls
Washington, D.C., despite the 1-minutes that you hear down on the
floor, Mr. Speaker, where it is their fault and it is their problem or
it is his fault and it is his problem, there really are a serious group
of Members on both sides of this Capitol who want to get the people's
business done. What we have today is one of those efforts, an effort 40
years in the making that culminates here today.
It happened with a lot of serious, hard work on both sides of the
Hill, Mr. Speaker. It happened because folks didn't give up when people
said it couldn't be done. It happened because nobody said: It is my way
or the highway. But they said: How can I work with folks who may
disagree with me in order to reach an end that is going to be better
for the folks that I serve back home?
We have that product today, Mr. Speaker. In fact, I have it right
here. It is also available. It is the Rules Committee print. It is
available at rules.house.gov if folks want to give it a read.
I won't confess it is a short read. I won't even suggest that it is
an exciting read. But what I will suggest is it is the product of
negotiation and consensus building.
You may remember, Mr. Speaker, that when we first dealt with this
issue on the House side, it passed 398-1--398-1. It passed by unanimous
consent on the Senate side. Now here we are today, having bridged those
two bills. Mr. Speaker, that is the TSCA legislation.
[[Page H2976]]
The Zika Vector Control Act, Mr. Speaker, is designed to bring those
pest control technologies that we have, those pest control
opportunities that we have, to bear in the name of public health as
soon as safely possible.
Mr. Speaker, for years the EPA has had in its understanding of how to
regulate in this country that, as long as it had already certified a
pest control as being safe, they did not have to go back and run it
through the Clean Water Act approval process as well.
The law of the land, strictly speaking, says, yes, you need to do
that. Folks thought it was duplicative. They hadn't been doing it.
This bill today clarifies that. It says: For Pete's sake, the law of
the land is the law of the land. You ought to follow the law of the
land. The law of the land ought to bring solutions to market as quickly
and safely as we possibly can.
Mr. Speaker, we get one bite at this apple. We get one bite at Zika
control. We get one bite at making this a public health risk that does
not balloon here in the United States of America. This bill gives us an
opportunity to put our best foot forward in terms of pest control.
Forty years, Mr. Speaker. For 40 years we have been working as House
Members, as Senate Members, as Republicans, as Democrats, trying to
look for the next effort to make sure that the chemicals we use in
everyday household products are as safe as they can be, as viable as
they can be--40 years, Mr. Speaker--and that process culminates here
today.
This is a rule that all Members can support, and I would encourage
them to do exactly that.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30
minutes. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My friend from Georgia mentioned a Web site a couple times. I want to
make sure that you are aware, Mr. Speaker, of
democrats.rules.house.gov. That is the Web site that tells what is
really going on in the Committee on Rules and in the House.
Democrats.rules.house.gov talks about the fact that there are more
closed rules in this Congress than any Congress that precedes it. What
does that mean? It means that Republicans have chosen to allow fewer
amendments and have had more rules that allow more bills with no
amendments than in any prior Congress. That is the kind of facts, Mr.
Speaker, that we want to bring to your attention on
democrats.rules.house.gov, an excellent Web site.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to rise today--this is the last rule that I
will have the opportunity to manage in conjunction with our current
Democratic staff director, Miles Lackey, who, after 25 years of public
service, will be leaving at the end of this week.
As a member of the Committee on Rules, I have deeply enjoyed the
opportunity to work with Mr. Lackey these last several years. Really,
there are few who know the institution and its rules as well as Miles
Lackey, and I personally will miss him.
Mr. Lackey is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. He joined the House of Representatives staff back in 1987.
In addition to his work in the House, he has been chief of staff to two
United States Senators and a senior official in the Clinton White
House. He has contributed to many pieces of landmark legislation over
the last three decades.
I join my colleagues in wishing him well as he begins his new
adventure on the staff at the historic Trinity Church, an Episcopal
parish in New York City.
I want to express my profound gratitude, Mr. Speaker, for having had
the opportunity to work with somebody of Mr. Lackey's caliber, as I
join my colleagues in wishing him well in his future adventures.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise in opposition to the rule and the first of
the two underlying bills, the Zika Vector Control Act, H.R. 897. It has
changed its name. It is now called the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act
of 2015.
What it should be called, perhaps, is the Pesticide Trojan Horse Act,
which would be a more apt name for what this bill actually does, which
I will talk about in a minute.
The second bill that is covered under this rule is the TSCA
Modernization Act, which is the product of years of negotiations. It
certainly has both bipartisan support as well as bipartisan opposition.
It has problems especially regarding State preemption, which I will
talk about, as well as several important attributes that have solved
issues that have been facing our country with regard to chemical
regulation for some time.
Now, first, with the first bill, we have a bill that, apparently, the
Republicans thought they could change the name of and then bring to the
floor again. They figured, presumably, that with ``Zika'' in the title
it would be harder to vote against.
In reality, this bill has very little to do with the Zika epidemic.
It is really another attack on the Environmental Protection Agency and
the Clean Water Act. It is really just a pesticide industry Trojan
horse bill.
I am very disappointed that we are considering a rule on this bill
when there is a very real threat of Zika on our shores. There are
already many Americans who have encountered Zika abroad, been infected,
and have returned to our country. It is only a matter of time, Mr.
Speaker, especially with the changing climate, that Zika will be
endemic and will be spread in our own country by mosquitoes.
I had the opportunity to visit the Centers for Disease Control
facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, in my district. In the CDC facility
in Fort Collins, they conduct all of the vector-borne illness research
for the CDC. That is the nexus of vector-borne illness.
What does that mean? It means diseases that are spread by ticks and
mosquitoes and fleas, everything from Lyme disease to Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, in this case, Zika.
The CDC had been tracking Zika for some time. For close to a decade
they knew that Zika existed. However, when it spread in South America
and the link was recently made to birth defects, it jumped to the top
of their agenda.
Unfortunately, they lack the abilities they need and the resources
they need to try to find an effective way to eradicate Zika and provide
a vaccination against Zika that would then be made globally available.
That is the kind of Zika bill the Democrats would like to bring
forward. It is the kind of Zika bill that Americans expect from a
public health perspective. It is the kind of Zika bill that will save
lives and prevent a public health catastrophe.
I think there is a better way to do business on the floor of the
House of Representatives. It wasn't too long ago that our new Speaker
was touting dedication to regular order, but here we are again dealing
with secretive, smoky backroom deals with very little time given to
open, transparent discussion or amendments.
As you can see at democrats.rules.house.gov, there have been a record
number of closed bills in this Congress. Last night in the Committee on
Rules, we had a partisan vote where the Democrats sought to open up
this rule for amendments and the majority unanimously--the Republicans
all sided together--shot down any chances for real discussion.
Unfortunately, the Republicans are preventing an open discussion of
ideas.
They also know the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act--that is the
pesticide bill or the Zika bill, whatever you call it--won't become
law, but they are deciding to bring up yet another partisan attack on
the Environmental Protection Agency, somehow saying that actions to
keep us safe from harmful pesticides is what has anything to do with
Zika or public health.
In fact, the EPA is acting to protect public health by regulating
toxic pesticides that not only can hurt humans, but can damage our
environment.
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I am glad to see we are finally having a busy week on the floor of
the House. But the fact is one of these bills was already defeated on
suspension last week, and we have so much work to do. There are only 24
days of business in the House of Representatives before Congress gets
sent home for a summer break. It shows me that we can use our time
better. We can pass immigration
[[Page H2977]]
reform, we can address our Nation's infrastructure, we can prevent the
tax incentives that encourage corporations to offshore jobs, and we can
reform our broken tax system.
There is a lot that we could be doing during these limited 24 days
besides passing a Trojan horse for the pesticide industry. We have a
list of must-do items before July, as well. Congress has to pass an FAA
reauthorization. We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform. It
won't get any better if Congress doesn't act. We need to address the
student debt crisis and make college more affordable.
Mr. Speaker, I--and I believe the American people--would like to see
all of these things happen before Congress gets another day or week or
2 months off, as Congress is expected to get in just 24 days.
TSCA reform is long overdue. The law is 40 years old. It has never
really been updated, frankly, throughout its history. It has failed at
controlling toxic substances, as the title has indicated it was
supposed to do.
I am glad to see that a bipartisan, bicameral compromise was struck,
which, for the most part, will strengthen the reform in a way that will
protect our communities and public health.
There is a broad range of support for the bill, from supporters in
the environmental community to labor, to the EPA, to industry groups.
However, there are some serious concerns that I think we should take
into account, particularly around an issue very near and dear to my
heart: State preemption.
For the last 40 years, the EPA has had their hands tied in trying to
regulate chemicals, which is why TSCA is considered to be the least
effective environmental law out there. This bill will make it more
effective and give it some more teeth. But to get any improvement on
this law wouldn't take much raising of the bar, as it was the least
effective environmental law out there.
The current law requires a cost-benefit analysis by the EPA which is
far too high a bar to meet when it comes to protecting our children's
safety. When we are talking about chemicals, we need to focus on
health. And that is what this bill does. It requires that a minimum
safety threshold be met by new chemicals before they are able to enter
the marketplace. It makes sense.
It specifically focuses on the health of vulnerable populations like
children and pregnant women who are at elevated risk of chemical
exposure, which the current law does not.
Most astonishing about the current law is it actually grandfathered
in over 60,000 chemicals in 1976. Today they are joined by hundreds of
thousands of additional chemicals and many household products and
industrial uses. This legislation would require safety reviews for all
chemicals currently in use that people are exposed to.
As an example of how ludicrous the current system is, of the 62,000
chemicals on store shelves before 1976, the EPA only has studies on a
few hundred. That means there are over 61,000 chemicals currently on
store shelves that the EPA has not done any study on their
environmental impact or human health impacts.
Even more ridiculous, the EPA's attempted ban on asbestos was struck
down in 1991, due to the EPA having such a high standard for
unreasonable risk. Yet we know asbestos has killed 107,000 people. It
couldn't be banned under the current law, even when the EPA tried. This
law will make the burden lower and, consequently, our make communities
safer by reviewing far more chemicals.
I should add that the asbestos issue has largely been dealt with by
liability and litigation--court cases that have lasted decades. If we
could have a regulatory system that prevents unsafe chemicals from
being brought to the market and sold, it will also save hundreds of
millions of dollars in legal fees and awards that would ensue if the
chemicals were brought to market and actually harmed people.
So in addition to preventing the harm, these types of safety
regulations can actually save both plaintiffs and defendants, both
companies and consumers, significant amounts of resources.
To review these chemicals, the EPA will need funding. This bill
collects a fee for new and existing chemicals, which is important to
make the program work. The implementation of this new framework will be
extremely important for TSCA to work.
There are several other positive aspects of the bill, but the other
significant one I want to mention is that it reduces the use of animals
for chemical testing, which is why I am proud to say the Humane Society
has endorsed the bill.
Unfortunately, however, it is not all good news. There are some
negative aspects to the bill that I was hoping we would have the
opportunity to address through amendment, but due to this very closed
process, we have not.
There are problems with provisions limiting the States' ability to
act in an aggressive and proactive manner. There are many States around
the country that have or are working to enact strong provisions to
protect their residents from exposure to dangerous chemicals.
So, again, in the absence of a meaningful Federal system, many States
have taken it upon themselves to protect their citizens from harmful
chemicals.
The argument here is, now that the Federal Government does it, we can
have some kind of preemption. I personally would like to see the
ability of State governments to go above and beyond the Federal
regulations without being cumbered by this issue of preemption. Now, it
is a nuanced preemption. I am going to talk a little about it.
There have been some improvements to the State preemption language
over the last few weeks and compromises written. As drafted, States
will not have has much flexibility to protect their residents from
unsafe chemicals as they do today. And that is absolutely true, and it
is very unfortunate.
This so-called preemption pause period means that States seeking to
protect the public from unsafe chemicals may have to wait up to 3 years
for the EPA to finish its review. There are also concerns with the
ability of the EPA to regulate imported products.
So I believe there was an opportunity to do even more to protect the
health of American people and our environment under this bill.
With regard to State preemption standards, the bill can actually take
us backward by preventing thoughtful health and safety standards at the
State level. But in other ways, by empowering the Federal Government
and finally putting teeth in TSCA, it is a good step forward.
So I urge Members to balance the important new authority the EPA is
receiving with the negative parts of the bill around State law
preemption. I know this bill will have both bipartisan support and
opposition.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I sometimes wonder why folks have such a negative
opinion of Congress. And then sometimes I listen to my colleagues speak
and I understand why folks back home have a negative opinion of
Congress--because the folks who serve in this institution seem to have
a negative opinion of Congress.
I would say to my friend from Colorado, I am not thrilled about
everything in TSCA reform either. Generally speaking, when it takes 40
years to get something done; generally speaking, when Democrats ran the
entire show and they failed to get it done, and when Republicans ran
the entire show, they failed to get it done; generally speaking, those
are really hard things to get done.
It takes serious, serious people working serious, serious hours,
struggling with serious, serious issues to come to a conclusion. And
candidly, Mr. Speaker, if I loved everything in this bill, I would
wonder why we didn't get it done sooner. The easy things have already
been done. All that is left for us are the hard things. Candidly, we
have a good team on the field to do those hard things.
Mr. Speaker, I hope when we get into the debate on the underlying
bill, you are not just going to hear from the Republican chairman of
the committee about the good work here, but you are going to hear from
the Democratic ranking member about the good work done here.
[[Page H2978]]
I am hoping you are not just going to hear from the Republican
subcommittee chairman about the good work here, but that you are going
to hear from the Democratic ranking member on the subcommittee about
the good work here because that is how this bill came before us.
Mr. Speaker, there has been a discussion of partisanship. I hold in
my hand a report from the Congressional Research Service. That is the
nonpartisan, academic research arm of the United States Congress. The
title of this report is ``Congressional Efforts to Amend Title I of the
Toxic Substances Control Act,'' the House-and Senate-negotiated bill.
I agree with my friend from Colorado. If he and I were to sit down
here and be able to write the bills ourselves--not just this one, but
all of the bills ourselves--we would come up with some really great
solutions; oftentimes, different solutions from the ones that are
presented on the floor.
But the reason no amendments are allowed to this bill is because we
have been working on it for 40 years because we couldn't agree. We
already passed a bill in the House. They already passed a bill in the
Senate. They were different bills. We had to come together and agree on
the same language.
Now, to all of my friends who would like to offer their great ideas
here at the eleventh hour, I would just tell you there were times
before the eleventh hour that those ideas could have been offered,
there were opportunities before the eleventh hour to come together.
This is the final language. We don't want amendments to the final
language.
I believe in an open process. I believe in an amendment process. I am
proud that this is a closed rule on this topic because the amendments
and the process have gone on in the past. This is the final product
here today. That is TSCA, Mr. Speaker.
Now, the Zika Vector Control Act. My friend from Colorado, again,
describes smoke-filled backroom deals when he describes this bill.
Again, why do folks have such a negative opinion about what we do?
One man's smoke-filled backroom deal is another man's 30 years of
common practice. That is right. This is the bill that codifies what the
EPA has been doing for 30 years. This codifies what the EPA, under
Democratic administrations and Republican administrations, has already
been doing.
They got sued, Mr. Speaker. Folks sued them and said: Hey, we don't
think you are doing it right. We don't think that is what the rules
allow.
So what did the EPA do?
The EPA came out with a rulemaking process and said: Just to make it
clear, this is the way we think we can best protect the public health.
They got sued again. And the court said: No, EPA, you can't make
those decisions. Yes, you have been doing it for 30 years, but no, you
can't make those decisions. Congress needs to make that decision.
So what did Congress do?
We made that decision, and that bill is before us here today.
It is not a smoke-filled backroom deal, Mr. Speaker. It is light-of-
day, common sense, common practice, trying to align the laws of the
land with the expectations of our constituencies back home.
Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, every day of the week we could show up in
this institution and we could run out somebody about something that is
not going the way it is supposed to go. But together, we are succeeding
today where previous Republicans and previous Democrats have failed.
Together, we are succeeding today where previous Congresses found it
too hard. Together, we are about the business that our constituents
sent us here to do.
This is not a day to denigrate the institution, Mr. Speaker. This is
a day to celebrate those things that we are able to do when we come
together in the best traditions of the United States House.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Georgia's remarks have very little to
do with anybody who is denigrating the institution. I think he
profoundly misunderstands the reason that the American people think
that Congress isn't doing its job.
Let's talk about what Congress is doing. Today it is great. We are
working. We are debating. We will probably be here until midnight.
Well, guess what?
After 3 more days of work, on Thursday, Congress will actually go on
an 11-day vacation. It is working until Thursday, and then an 11-day
vacation. We then come back in June, and I think Congress works for 12
days. Of course, in July, I think Congress works an amazing 8 or 9 days
out of the entire month. August, zero days.
So what the American people expect is for us to be here hammering
away at these issues 5 days a week, 6 days a week, and, if necessary, 7
days a week. That is the kind of work ethic that I brought to the
companies that I worked for. When I was starting companies, I was
working hard. Whether it was 5 days a week or 6 days a week, we worked
as long as we needed to to get the job done. And that is the opposite
of the work ethic of this Congress, because there are enormous tasks
that this Congress is not doing.
This Congress hasn't worked at all towards balancing the budget.
There are deficits of close to half a trillion dollars, thanks to the
Republican tax-and-spend Congress. This Congress hasn't done a thing to
fix our broken immigration system. Not a thing. It hasn't passed a
single immigration bill in the entire Congress.
Let's stay here rather than go on vacation for 11 days. Let's make
college more affordable for American families. Let's reduce the
deficit. Let's fix our broken immigration system and secure our
borders.
Those are the kinds of things I would be proud of as a Member of a
Congress. I would be proud to be here 5 days a week working hard on
those issues. I would be proud to compromise and work with my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to create a work product that the
American people would be confident with and, of course, would increase
the confidence of the American people in this institution and both the
Republicans and Democrats who have the honor to serve in it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Gene Green).
{time} 1300
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank my Colorado colleague
on the Rules Committee for allowing me to speak.
I rise to oppose this rule but in support of the amendment to H.R.
2576, the TSCA Modernization Act.
This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will reform our Nation's
broken chemical safety law for the first time since 1976 and directly
addresses the Toxic Substance Chemical Act's fundamental flaws.
Congress has worked on reforming TSCA for over a decade, and, as a
member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I have personally been
working on fixing the statute since 2008.
Though not perfect, the proposal before the House today is, in the
words of President Obama's administration, ``a clear improvement over
current TSCA and represents a historic advancement for chemical safety
and environmental law.''
The most notable improvements in the bill are replacing the current
TSCA's burdensome safety standard with a pure, health-based standard--
that makes sense--explicitly requiring the protection of vulnerable
populations like children, pregnant women, and workers at chemical
facilities like the district I represent; requiring a safety finding
before new chemicals are allowed to go onto the market; giving EPA new
authority to order testing and ensure chemicals are safe, with a focus
on the most risky chemicals.
This legislation responds to the concerns of industry to provide
regulatory certainty for the job creators throughout our economy.
This legislation is a win for our congressional district in Eastside
Houston and Harris County, home to one of the largest collection of
chemical facilities in our country.
The reforms contained in this proposal have protections for the
workers at our chemical plants, the fence line communities next to
these plants, and benefit chemical manufacturers who will have
certainty in a true, nationwide market.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in
supporting this
[[Page H2979]]
amendment and help pass the first major environmental legislation in a
quarter of a century.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about the worst of these two
bills that we are considering under this rule, a bill that has very
little or even perhaps no Democratic support, a bill that nearly 150
health, environmental, and fishing groups have made their opposition
to. That is the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act.
It came up last week and failed. They had rebranded it last week as
the Zika Vector Control Act. Now they are removing the pretense that
somehow this deals with Zika and are just renaming it the Reducing
Regulatory Burdens Act. This is the insecticide Trojan horse bill.
This is really a changing game where it is the same bill week after
week. It failed last week, and they are bringing it back under a
different procedure this week.
Last week, apparently, they tried to use the threat that the Zika
virus has posed to attack a very important law that actually protects
our health and the health of our environment.
Now, of course, vector control, mosquito control, tick control, et
cetera, is a very important part of managing any health crisis. But
this bill really isn't about that. It is a thinly veiled ploy to
undermine the Clean Water Act.
Certain pesticides are considered by the EPA to be pollutants because
they are. They kill fish. They kill birds. They hurt people.
This bill would eliminate the regulatory step of requiring a permit
to use these dangerous pesticides near water, effectively undercutting
our primary means of protecting our water system.
Once again, if you want to use a pesticide that is considered by the
EPA to be a pollutant near a water source--a river or a lake--you have
to apply for a special permit. As part of that procedure, you talk
about what precautions are made to make sure that it doesn't
contaminate the water supply.
Under this bill, were it to become law, you would no longer have to
receive a permit and it endangers the water supply.
Coming from the great State of Colorado, we always like to say that
water is for fighting over. We value our precious water resources for
agriculture, for our residents, and for our environment.
Anything that risks contaminating it is absolutely detrimental to our
interests as a State. That is why so many sportsmen and fishermen have
also come out against this bill. Zika is the enemy, not the
Environmental Protection Agency. We have our priorities all mixed up.
The Centers for Disease Control is not asking for this bill. The
entity charged with battling Zika is not. This is just a backdoor
attack on the EPA. Public health experts are not asking for this bill.
This bill removes the EPA's ability to regulate pesticide application
that is intended to protect water supply when pesticides can, in fact,
be one of the worst threats to a community's water, especially for
vulnerable mothers and newborns.
Instead of wasting our time with red herrings like this bill, we
should be talking about how we can support the world-class research and
doctors we have and need to tackle the threat that Zika poses.
So far, Zika has been found in 30 countries throughout the Western
Hemisphere. As we head into the summer months, the number of Zika cases
will only increase.
Evidence has indicated Zika is linked to microcephaly, which causes a
baby's head to develop smaller than normal, which is going to have
devastating implications for potentially an entire generation in
countries that have been hit hardest by Zika. And, of course, we fear
when it reaches our shores.
There are already cases in the U.S. The CDC is monitoring almost 300
pregnant women for cases of microcephaly. We need to prepare for the
eventuality that, unless we act, which this bill does not do, there
will be more people infected with Zika.
We need to work quickly and aggressively to mitigate the lasting
effect. The President has a proposal to do that. The President has
requested $1.9 billion to address Zika.
I am offering an amendment to bring up legislation that would provide
this funding if we defeat the previous question.
Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an
amendment to the rule to bring up legislation that fully funds the
administration's effort to mount a robust response to the growing Zika
crisis instead of just paying lip service to this public health
epidemic through cleverly named bills that keep changing their names
and very short-term funding commitments.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the
amendment in the Record along with extraneous material immediately
prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I hope that we defeat the previous question.
That will allow the President's proposal to actually defeat Zika to
come forward for a vote.
This month I had the opportunity to visit the Division of Vector-
Borne Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control in Fort Collins. Now,
the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases is an HHS-funded laboratory that
studies vector-borne diseases, including Zika.
They are an important part of the fight against Zika. We should be
supporting their efforts, not wasting precious floor time on a bill
that literally endangers our waters, our environment, and our health.
Adequate preparation for and, ultimately, a vaccination for Zika will
save lives.
The House needs to act. We need to defeat this previous question.
That is why we should be voting on comprehensive Zika legislation, not
legislation that is a Trojan horse for the insecticide industry that
undermines clean water and the health of our children.
Whether it is the impact on the water ecosystem or the fact that
water treatment plants spend millions of dollars to clean up surface
water from pesticides, Congress has an obligation to fight to keep our
waters clean so that pregnant women, children, and all Americans can be
healthy.
That is why we need to vote this bill down. That is why we need to
defeat the previous question, to actually bring up a real Zika bill to
address this public health crisis before more families are affected.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and defeat the
previous question and vote ``no'' on the rule.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, before I go through all of the things the gentleman from
Colorado got wrong, I want to talk about what he got absolutely right,
which is that this institution is going to miss Miles Lackey when he
leaves at the end of this week.
We are going to have more time to talk about Miles' contribution
here. But folks like Mr. Lackey we don't need here on the easy days. We
need them here on the hard days. We don't need them here to get the
little things done. We need them here to get the mammoth things done.
We have a lot of mammoth things left on the calendar, and it is going
to be harder to make those happen in your absence, Mr. Lackey. It has
been a great, great joy serving with you these 5\1/2\ years, and I
appreciate your commitment to this institution.
We are what we are here, Mr. Speaker, because of the commitment of
individual Members, individual staffers, individual constituents back
home, who will not allow us to fail. The two bills that we have before
us today are examples of exactly that.
It is hard to cut through the rhetoric sometimes, Mr. Speaker. If we
went up to the gallery right now, Mr. Speaker, and polled folks about
whether or not this Zika Vector Control Act had failed on the floor of
the House, whether we had brought this to the floor and it had failed,
I suspect everybody up there would say: Absolutely it failed. I have
been hearing about it all morning.
The truth is, Mr. Speaker, because it is Washington, D.C., and
sometimes the rules don't work here like they do elsewhere, the
definition of failure in this House means that it got 262 votes
[[Page H2980]]
``yes'' and 159 votes ``no.'' Let's make that clear.
The bill that we are voting on today that is, apparently, the
controversial of the two, is the one that last week when we voted on it
got 262 bipartisan ``yes'' votes and 159 solely partisan ``no'' votes.
Now, why is that true, Mr. Speaker? Why can a bill get 262 votes, a
clear majority of this institution, and not pass? Well, because it was
on the suspension calendar, that calendar used for completely
noncontroversial bills to try to move things to conclusion faster.
Why is this a completely noncontroversial bill, Mr. Speaker? Because
this has been the practice of the land for three decades, because this
has been the EPA's intention for three decades, because this has been
the EPA's goal through its rulemaking process.
But courts being what courts are, EPA couldn't get the finality on
what it wanted to do by itself, so it needs Congress' approval.
I am in favor of that, Mr. Speaker. I celebrate that. Thank goodness
we finally found an Agency downtown in this one very isolated
circumstance that doesn't think it can just do whatever it wants to do
without Congress' approval.
I am glad we have come together today to give it that approval--262
``yes'' votes, bipartisan; 159 ``no'' votes, partisan--to codify what
has been the practice of the land in the name of safety, in the name of
clean water, in the name of trying to do the very best we can for our
constituents back home.
I am proud that this bill is a part of this rule today, and I hope
the House will move it quickly forward.
The second bill that we are talking about, Mr. Speaker, is the TSCA
bill, the Toxic Substances Control Act. TSCA is what folks call it in
the industry.
Not a single amendment is being allowed today, Mr. Speaker. Why?
Because we have already done the amending, because we have already done
the negotiating, because we have already done the heavy lifting that
was required to do what no Congress and no White House has been able to
do since 1976, the heavy lifting that was started 10 years ago and
folks could not get it across the finish line.
We have a group of men and women here today, Mr. Speaker, of House
Members and Senate Members today, of Republicans and Democrats today,
who wouldn't take ``no'' for an answer.
It is outrageous that we would regulate chemical safety in 2016 in
the exact same way we contemplated it in 1976. It is outrageous, but it
is hard. It is hard to bring people together.
It is easy to tear people apart, Mr. Speaker. I can come down here. I
can lay down the fire and brimstone. We can tear folks apart. That is
easy.
We have all been on those home improvement projects, Mr. Speaker. It
is tearing out the drywall that is fun. Putting it back up is hard.
Today we are in the construction business. We are in the building
business. We are in the bringing people together and making possible
what folks thought was impossible.
My friend from Colorado is right, Mr. Speaker. Every day is not the
same here in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some days are better
than others. This is a good day.
This is a good day not because there is something special about this
particular day of the week, Mr. Speaker, but because it is the
culmination of days, weeks, months, and years of folks fighting hard
for what they believed in, folks fighting hard for what their
constituents sent them here to do, folks fighting hard for what they
thought was right and finding a way to come together and making a
difference for the American people.
{time} 1315
Mr. Speaker, I hold here in my hand a Statement of Administration
Policy, the President urging Congress to move this bicameral,
bipartisan compromise to his desk for his signature.
This isn't a day about show; this isn't a day about politics; this
isn't a day about a November election. This is a day about making a
difference for the folks who sent us here. With the passage of this
rule and the passage of this bill, we will do together what others
found too hard to accomplish.
I am proud of that, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 742, the special order of business
governing consideration of H.R. 897, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens
Act of 2015, included a prophylactic waiver of points of order against
its consideration, and it was described as such in House Report 114-
590. The waiver of all points of order now includes a waiver of clause
9 of rule XXI which requires the chair of each committee of initial
referral to disclose a list of congressional earmarks, limited tax
benefits, or limited tariff benefits to be printed in the Congressional
Record prior to its consideration. However, it is important to note
that one of the two committees of initial referral submitted the
required statement and the second committee is expected to submit the
required statement prior to the bill's consideration.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Polis is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 742 Offered by Mr. Polis of Colorado
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
sections:
Sec. 3. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution the
Speaker shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R.
5044) making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2016
to respond to Zika virus. The first reading of the bill shall
be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration
of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to
the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided among
and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on Appropriations and the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on the Budget. After general
debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the
five-minute rule. All points of order against provisions in
the bill are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without
intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or
without instructions. If the Committee of the Whole rises and
reports that it has come to no resolution on the bill, then
on the next legislative day the House shall, immediately
after the third daily order of business under clause 1 of
rule XIV, resolve into the Committee of the Whole for further
consideration of the bill.
Sec. 4. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the
consideration of H.R. 5044.
The Vote on the Previous Question: What It Really Means
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the Democratic minority to offer an alternative plan. It is a
vote about what the House should be debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
The Republican majority may say ``the vote on the previous
question is simply a vote on whether to proceed to an
immediate vote on adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no
substantive legislative or policy implications whatsoever.''
But that is not what they have always said. Listen to the
Republican Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in
the United States House of Representatives, (6th edition,
page 135). Here's how the Republicans describe the previous
question vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally
not possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule. . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee
[[Page H2981]]
on Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I
move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hardy). The question is on ordering the
previous question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________