[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4697. Mr. McCAIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 4685 proposed by Mr. McConnell (for Mr. Shelby (for 
himself and Ms. Mikulski)) to the bill H.R. 2578, making appropriations 
for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related 
Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other 
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. ___.  It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Attorney General should investigate the 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     (referred to in this section as the ``Administrator'') and 
     the employees and contractors of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency for violations of criminal law in connection with the 
     Gold King Mine disaster, including at a minimum--
       (A) any criminal violation of Federal environmental law;
       (B) criminal negligence;
       (C) obstruction of proceedings under section 1505 of title 
     18, United States Code;
       (D) obstruction of a Federal audit under section 1516 of 
     title 18, United States Code; and
       (E) false statements under section 1001 of title 18, United 
     States Code;
       (2) on August 5, 2015, the activities of the Administrator 
     at the Gold King Mine in the State of Colorado caused a 
     3,000,000-gallon acidic plume of lead, mercury, arsenic, and 
     other metals to flow into the Animas River in Colorado and 
     the San Juan River near Farmington, New Mexico;
       (3) the Gold King Mine disaster devastated an estimated 
     1,500 farms located within the Navajo Nation because the 
     spill contaminated and interrupted water supplies and damaged 
     the crops, soil, livestock, wildlife, irrigation, and 
     drinking water that are critical to the Navajo Nation;
       (4) a technical evaluation of the Gold King Mine disaster, 
     led by the Secretary of the Interior and dated October 2015--
       (A) found that the Administrator failed to conduct 
     necessary water pressure testing on the Gold King Mine;
       (B) was initially rejected by a peer reviewer based on 
     reservations of the peer reviewer regarding the chronology of 
     key events and internal communications provided by the 
     Administrator; and
       (C) was amended 2 months after the date on which the 
     technical evaluation was initially rejected with a statement 
     by the Administrator that contains an inconsistent account 
     relating to the actions of employees of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency; and
       (5) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the resources 
     and reimbursements provided by the Administrator to the 
     Navajo Nation are insufficient to address the devastation of 
     the economic, agricultural, and cultural centers of the 
     Navajo Nation caused by the Gold King Mine disaster.
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