[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6270-H6271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CORPORAL JOSEPH MACIEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Corporal Joseph 
Maciel, who was killed July 7 from injuries sustained while in 
Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.
  Corporal Maciel was only 20 years old and is remembered by those who 
loved him for his infectious smile and love for his country. According 
to his father Jose, Corporal Maciel knew in high school that he wanted 
to serve his country. And when he enlisted in the Army, he made his 
family proud.
  Corporal Maciel was a beloved member of our community, admired by his 
family and those he served alongside. He gave his life for freedom, and 
we are forever indebted to his service and to him.
  I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of 
Corporal Joseph Maciel's friends and family in South Gate, California, 
in my district, and I thank him for his service and his family for 
their sacrifice.


                          Cuts to EPA Funding

  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, for the last year, in my congressional 
district, California's 44th District, which includes the communities of 
Compton, Watts, South Gate, and the Port of Los Angeles, we have been 
fighting to make sure we have access to clean air and to clean water.
  We learned several months ago that there is something called 
chromium-6 in the air, which is a deadly chemical that causes 
respiratory problems and can lead to cancer.
  Now, who oversees to make sure that these polluters are cracked down 
on and that we make sure that polluters are held accountable? The EPA, 
the Environmental Protection Agency.
  This week this House is expected to consider FY 2019--fiscal year 
2019, the Interior-Environment appropriations bill as part of a two-
bill minibus. Now, this Republican bill puts the health and safety of 
American people at risk.
  What does it do? It is going to cut the Environmental Protection 
Agency by $100 million. You heard me right. They are going to cut 
funding for the EPA.
  This is the agency that oversees at making sure that polluters are 
held accountable. That, my friends, will put the American people in 
jeopardy, and those polluters that are going around, across the country 
and polluting things, like chromium-6 that is killing our kids and our 
seniors and causing asthma and respiratory problems, it is going to 
make it easier for them to pollute.

[[Page H6271]]

  


                              {time}  1045

  What else does it do? It slashes clean water grant programs by $300 
million. In my community in Compton, California, we recently had a 
brown water crisis. It is still going on. There is brown water coming 
out of the faucets. We don't have to think too far back as to what 
happened in Flint, Michigan.
  To think that we are having a vote this week that is going to cut 
$300 million--money that is used to invest in America's water 
infrastructure--is appalling. When I heard about it this week, I 
thought it was important that the American people know about it. This 
is what should be on the front page of the newspapers. This is what the 
media should be reporting on, what is happening in this Congress and 
how the American people are put at risk when such cuts are happening to 
the very agencies that are put there to protect us, so that we ensure 
that we have clean air and clean water.
  As somebody who serves as the chair of two environmental task forces 
here in Congress, we cannot allow this to continue to happen without 
raising our voices, calling our elected officials, calling our offices, 
and speaking out about what the American people want. And this is one: 
Clean air and clean water is a basic right that everybody is entitled 
to.
  I believe this bill is going to take us backward. It is going to hurt 
us. And it really hurts our ability to make sure that we continue to 
look at things like climate change.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this, and I urge 
the American people to have their voices heard.

                          ____________________