[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 113 (Monday, July 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, President Trump's hypocrisy and his 
diving into mistruths over and over again reared its ugly head once 
again. We can't become used to it because it is such a bad thing for a 
President to be so abjectly dishonest about so much of what is 
happening and so much of what he does. It happened again.
  Today, amazingly enough, President Trump tried to claim credit as a 
leader on environmental protection, of all things. This is laughable. 
The same President who pulled us out of the Paris Agreement, who has 
filled his administration with oil and coal cronies, who has slashed 
protections for clean air, clean water, and protections for public 
lands, and who has denied basic science now wants to call himself a 
leader on the environment. Give me a break.
  Try as he might say otherwise, President Trump has proved himself 
probably the staunchest ally of the worst polluters of any President we 
have ever had.
  On climate change, the President's record is particularly egregious. 
In 2 years, his government has gutted oil, coal, and pollution 
standards, has erased climate data from government websites, and even 
censored words like ``climate change'' from appearing in official 
government documents. This is somebody who is a leader of environmental 
protection? How gullible does he think the American people are? Even 
Trump supporters may agree with him on this issue, but to say he is 
protecting the environment is ludicrous.
  Some of these things are just the tip of the iceberg. Would someone 
who is a leader on environmental protection hire oil and coal lobbyists 
to run the EPA and Department of Interior and cripple the National 
Climate Assessment? He completely caves to the oil and gas industry. 
Every time they say jump, he says how high. Now he has the temerity--
the gall--to say he is the leader of environmental protection. Again, 
give me a break.
  To be fair, President Trump's speech does have one silver lining. The 
mere fact that he even spoke today on the environment forces us to an 
unavoidable conclusion: Climate change is real. It is a serious problem 
that deserves action, including action in this Chamber.
  The Republican majority, Leader McConnell, could take action on this 
issue at a moment's notice, but, for now, they are happy keeping their 
heads in the sand. They have not brought a single measure to the floor 
that would deal with the issue of climate, even as their views grow 
increasingly out of step with most Americans.
  They cannot continue to keep their heads in the sand as our planet 
faces serious problems today and even far more serious problems for our 
children. It is an issue that can't wait a day longer, and yet the 
masters of this legislative graveyard refuse to act. I fear the 
majority in this body will refuse to act until either they are no 
longer the majority or, even worse, it is too late.
  I yield the floor.

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