[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2266-S2267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

SENATE RESOLUTION 473--EXPRESSING NO CONFIDENCE IN THE ADMINISTRATOR OF 
   THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE 
                    RESIGNATION OF THE ADMINISTRATOR

  Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Carper, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
Booker, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Cortez Masto, 
Mr. Durbin, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
Whitehouse, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Nelson, Mr. 
Schumer, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Hassan, Mr. 
Wyden, Ms. Smith, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Casey, Ms. Harris, Ms. Cantwell, 
Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Brown, Mr. Coons, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Warner, 
Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Reed) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works:

                              S. Res. 473

       Whereas the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``Administrator'') is a key position in the Executive Branch;
       Whereas the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     (referred to in this preamble as the ``Agency'') is to 
     protect human health and the environment;
       Whereas the Agency is vested by law with the principal 
     responsibility for controlling and abating pollution in the 
     areas of air, water, land, hazardous waste, noise, radiation, 
     and toxic substances;
       Whereas Scott Pruitt, as Administrator, has misused 
     taxpayer dollars by spending those taxpayer dollars on 
     excessive personal conveniences and unnecessary office 
     enhancements while dramatically cutting budgets and staff for 
     critically important enforcement, research, and 
     implementation activities;
       Whereas, under Administrator Pruitt--
       (1) the Agency is hemorrhaging staff and experts needed to 
     protect the health, safety, and livelihood of millions of 
     people of the United States, with more than 700 employees of 
     the Agency having left or been forced out of the Agency 
     during his tenure as Administrator;
       (2) the Agency is seeking to shrink staff of the Agency by 
     3,200 employees (or roughly 20 percent of the workforce of 
     the Agency of about 15,000), which would make it difficult to 
     implement the mission of the Agency; and
       (3) top officials of the Agency have been granted 
     permission to also work for private companies while employed 
     by the Agency, creating major conflicts of interest with 
     their positions at the Agency;
       Whereas, by delaying the effective date of regulations, 
     easing enforcement of existing regulations, and delaying 
     implementation of new regulations, Administrator Pruitt is 
     helping polluters at the expense of the health, safety, and 
     livelihood of millions of people of the United States;
       Whereas Administrator Pruitt has failed to exercise the 
     enforcement authorities of the Agency, which are necessary to 
     the fulfillment of the mission of the Agency, and has 
     hampered career officials and experts from efficiently doing 
     their jobs without political interference by issuing a 
     memorandum that required regional offices of the Agency to 
     first seek permission from Agency headquarters before--
       (1) investigating potential pollution violations;
       (2) requesting information from potential violators; or
       (3) requiring additional monitoring from companies 
     suspected of violations;
       Whereas Administrator Pruitt has continually overridden the 
     recommendations of the scientists of the Agency in order to 
     provide relief to industry, leaving in place the use of 
     harmful chemicals, pesticides, and policies that are directly 
     impacting the health and well-being of millions of people of 
     the United States;
       Whereas the Agency is expected to maintain and uphold 
     unbiased scientific credibility, but Administrator Pruitt--
       (1) has undertaken actions directly counter to the science-
     based mission of the Agency by working to undermine and 
     censor science, scientists, and researchers;
       (2) has skewed the membership of all advisory committees of 
     the Agency by removing and barring highly qualified, 
     independent scientists from those advisory committees if the 
     scientist has received grants from the Agency, while allowing 
     individuals who receive funding from industry to serve on 
     those advisory committees; and
       (3) is attempting to paralyze the ability of the Agency to 
     set health-based pollution standards by restricting the use 
     of scientific research by the Agency unless that research 
     complies with criteria that are intentionally nearly 
     impossible to meet;
       Whereas Administrator Pruitt--
       (1) has shielded his actions from the people of the United 
     States, including by refusing to make his schedule public or 
     provide justifications for his policy and rulemaking 
     decisions, in a way not done by any previous Administrator; 
     and
       (2) has claimed unprecedented exemptions on the few 
     requests under section 552 of title 5, United States Code 
     (commonly known as the ``Freedom of Information Act''), from 
     outside groups that the Agency has responded to, masking all 
     but the most basic information about meetings, travel, and 
     spending of Administrator Pruitt from the public;

[[Page S2267]]

       Whereas Administrator Pruitt has lost the faith of the 
     public through his continued undermining of basic ethics, 
     particularly the ethics of impartiality (such as by renting a 
     below-market priced room in a condominium owned by an energy 
     lobbyist with clients who had interests that are regulated by 
     the Agency), and is tarnishing the reputation of serving in 
     public office at the Agency; and
       Whereas, for the reasons described in this preamble, Scott 
     Pruitt, as Administrator, has failed to faithfully discharge 
     the functions of that office: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Scott Pruitt should resign immediately from his post as 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
       (2) the President should appoint to the office of 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency an 
     individual who will be committed to the fulfillment of the 
     mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and who is 
     able to fully and faithfully discharge the public duties 
     entrusted to the office of the Administrator of the 
     Environmental Protection Agency.

                          ____________________