[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 151 (Thursday, September 19, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7819-H7824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITH AGGRESSIVE ACTION AND GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Tlaib). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from California (Mr. Levin) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by
saying that the issue of climate change is very personal to me. I have
a 5- and a 7-year-old at home, and like any parent, there is a lot that
I worry about for their future. One of the things I worry most about is
the planet that we are going to leave behind for them and for their
future children.
The path we are on right now leads to a grim future for our planet.
We have burned fossil fuels like coal and oil at unsustainable rates,
releasing extraordinary amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the
air. We have destroyed forests and other carbon sinks around the world
that previously absorbed some of those emissions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a collection of 1,300
independent scientific experts from countries all over the world,
concluded there is a more than 95 percent probability that human
activities over the past 50 years have warmed our planet.
As a result, the last 5 years were the hottest ever recorded,
according to the Trump administration's own weather and space agencies.
Over the past century, average global temperatures have increased
steadily. Sixteen of the last 17 years have been the warmest ever
recorded by human observations.
In my home State of California, the indicators of our rapidly
changing climate are unmistakable. Our summers are hotter, our droughts
are more severe, and our land is drier, creating fuel for year-round
wildfires that have wiped out entire communities.
According to the Trump administration's own report on climate change
compiled by more than 300 experts across 13 Federal agencies, the
impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across
the country and will become increasingly devastating over a short
period of time.
The President would be well served to read the report of his own
agencies.
We are having more frequent and extreme weather, like hurricanes and
floods. We are experiencing sea-level rise and coastal erosion. Our
national security agencies have warned us that unless we take
aggressive action to combat climate change, we will see a deterioration
in global stability caused by food and water insecurity, worsening
public health, economic distress, and damage to military infrastructure
as a result of sea-level rise and more extreme storms.
Climate change is a defining issue of our time. If we don't take bold
action to address this crisis now, our children and grandchildren will
suffer the worst consequences.
Unfortunately, this President and many in the Trump administration
are content with inaction or worse. In fact, some refuse to admit
climate change is real, instead pushing policies that would exacerbate
the problem, catering to the fossil fuel industry and corporate
polluters at the expense of our air, land, and water.
While we should be taking aggressive action to combat climate change
and pushing countries around the world to do the same, the White House
gladly surrenders our standing as a global leader.
My colleagues and I are here to say that we will lead. We will
continue to fight for action. My colleagues that you will hear from,
they are leading right now.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Hill),
my friend from California's 25th District.
Ms. HILL of California. Madam Speaker, I am both a millennial and one
of the youngest Members of Congress. I joined Congress at a moment when
communities from California to the Bahamas are enduring the effects of
climate change. In my own community, we are experiencing lengthening
fire seasons and longer droughts.
As the climate crisis grows, those of us who have refused money from
Big Oil and who will be the ones who have to live with the effects of
climate change have to take it upon ourselves to fight for our
generation and the generations to come.
Tomorrow, young people across the world will begin a week of climate
action with the Global Climate Strike. We may not have made this mess,
but we will fight to clean it up.
That is why I sent a letter to Donald Trump, along with 110 of my
fellow Members of Congress, to call for a renegotiated NAFTA deal that
meaningfully addresses the climate crisis. From moderates to
progressives, we are coming together to call for binding climate
standards and a recommitment to the Paris climate agreement in the
updated NAFTA.
So far, that is not what Trump has in mind. The current NAFTA 2.0
deal that Trump negotiated with Mexico and Canada fails to mention
climate change.
We cannot afford to pass another trade deal that is on the wrong side
of our historic fight to tackle climate change.
With 76 percent of Americans now saying that climate change is a
crisis or a major problem, it is common sense that our trade deals
should support, not undermine, climate action. In fact, this is a
longstanding demand, one that leading environmental organizations,
labor-environment coalitions, climate economists, and Members of
Congress have been elevating over the last 2 years of NAFTA talks.
The fact of the matter is that the climate crisis threatens our
communities and our future every single day. While we are fighting to
tackle the crisis, we are seeing corporate polluters pad the pockets of
too many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to protect
their bottom lines. I see colleagues in both Chambers of Congress who
won't have to deal with the repercussions of their actions bargaining
with my future and the future of generations to come.
This cycle must end now. It is past time for rhetoric and empty
promises. We need new policies that offer real solutions to the climate
crisis. That doesn't include just H.R. 9, which, to be honest, has very
little chance of being taken up in the Senate. It also has to include
our trade policies.
The reality is that this moment is too important to throw away. This
is an unprecedented opportunity to put our money where our mouth is on
climate. We should ensure that any renegotiated NAFTA prioritizes
climate
[[Page H7820]]
by including binding climate standards and getting a guarantee from
Trump himself that the United States will remain a member of the most
universal and basic worldwide climate agreement for our health, for our
safety, for our future, and for the people.
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Hill,
and I very much appreciate her leadership.
Over the next several days, the eyes of the world will turn to the
climate crisis with the Youth Global Strike for Climate set to take
place in over 150 countries just before the United Nations holds a
Climate Action Summit in New York City.
While millions of people across the globe call for action on climate
change and world leaders come together to show how they will honor
their commitment to the Paris Agreement, it is safe to say that the
White House won't step up to lead, let alone take any meaningful
action. Instead, the Trump administration is pulling us out of the
Paris Agreement, which nearly 200 countries from Afghanistan to
Zimbabwe and all in between have signed.
Where President Obama created a leading role for the United States on
the world stage, the Trump administration has retreated.
The U.N. Secretary General has called on all leaders to come to the
Climate Action Summit with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their
nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade and to net
zero emissions by 2050.
The United States has an important opportunity to show leadership and
to push other countries to follow us, and that is how we should
evaluate all of these measures, on the basis of followership. That
requires that we lead.
That is critically important, the work that we do. The amount of
collective action that will be needed must start with leadership from
the United States. That is the only way we are going to combat the
climate crisis.
I was very proud to help introduce, among other bills, the Climate
Action Now Act, the first major climate change legislation that we had
in the 116th Congress, in fact, that we have had for a number of years
in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would prohibit the
administration from withdrawing the United States from the Paris
Agreement and would also call on the President to develop and make
public a plan for how the Nation will meet the pollution reduction
goals in the Paris Agreement.
The bill isn't just about staying in Paris. It is about creating
good-paying, green jobs right here in America. It is about public
health. It is about protecting our air. It is about protecting our
water. It is about defending our national security from the threats
that climate change poses. It is about again leading in the world.
That is how the United States should be leading. We should set the
example.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore),
my friend.
{time} 1815
Ms. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr.
Levin) so much for yielding.
Madam Speaker, 12 years, we are told that we have 12 years to limit
the effects of climate change on our planet and ensure a better world
for our children, our grandchildren, and future generations to come--12
years.
I mean, it really seems like a long time, but now scientists are
saying that the actions we take in the next 18 months will determine
our ability to meet our climate goals by 2030.
In 18 months, we will experience two more winters and another summer,
each bringing with them more extreme weather and more catastrophic
natural disasters. The stakes are so high.
Less predictable climates produce lower crop yields, drive up the
costs of healthy food; meanwhile, extreme weather events and heat waves
resulting from a changing climate may worsen a growing array of public
health problems like waterborne diseases, asthma, mental illness, heart
disease, stroke, and more.
In Wisconsin, from where I hail, we still remember the deathly chill
of the polar vortex this past winter, matched only in intensity by the
summer's record-setting heat, heavy downpours, and flooding. Our storm
in July produced severe enough damage that several counties across
Wisconsin received Federal disaster relief funding.
But do you know what, Madam Speaker? Disaster funding can help
rebuild communities, but it cannot prevent them from being torn apart
by climate change.
As we debate which urgent actions must be taken within the next 18
months to prevent further decay of our climate, we must work not only
to support a swift transition away from fossil fuels to renewable
energy sources, but also to fortify our communities.
The fact is climate change has a disparate impact on low-income and
minority communities. Indeed, these communities are already
disproportionately impacted by other environmental hazards, and we are
just piling on.
Air pollution from both stationary and mobile sources are a primary
source of environmental health risks, particularly in urban areas. Low-
income, high-minority population communities, which unfortunately are
highly segregated, tend to be closer to industrial sources of
pollution, including chemical plants, steel mills, oil refineries, peak
load power plants, and hazardous waste incinerators.
One study found that Blacks, the poor, and people with low
educational attainment were substantially more likely to live within 1
mile of a polluting facility, and that within urban areas, racial
disparities were particularly evident in the Midwest and the West.
As it pertains to our warming climate, another study found that, as
urban areas heat up, so-called urban heat islands, low-income and high-
minority communities will boast higher heat indexes during extreme heat
events, thereby compounding the already dire and deadly impacts that
heat waves have on urban populations. Or, just to put it bluntly, the
urban poor in dozens of large U.S. cities will actually experience more
heat than the wealthy simply by virtue of where they live.
With climate change, extreme heat is expected to become more common
and more severe for the poor and already vulnerable communities. This
will likely result in increases in heat-related illnesses, including
cardiovascular and respiratory complications, kidney disease, and can
be especially harmful to outdoor workers, children, our elderly, and
low-income households.
It is also worth mentioning that these communities, which already
suffer resource deficits, cannot simply relocate out of flood zones.
They also face challenges adopting new clean energy technologies.
Now, while this administration continues to fiddle when it comes to
taking the threat of climate change seriously and exercising
leadership, while they ignore the admonition of science that if we
don't do something within the next 18 months we may not be able to
reverse these impacts within 12 years, I will tell you something. In
June, my city of Milwaukee announced a comprehensive action-based plan
to meet the U.S.' commitment under the Paris climate accord, despite
what this administration is doing. We are moving forth to create green
infrastructure and to create jobs.
In August, our Wisconsin Governor, Tony Evers, signed an executive
order aimed at eliminating the use of carbon-based fuel in Wisconsin by
2050. We also created a diverse task force comprised of city and county
officials that will chart a path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 45 percent of 2015 levels by 2030 and eliminate them altogether by
2050, a goal which I wholeheartedly support.
But let's just keep this real, Madam Speaker. While actions by State
and local officials are welcome and necessary, we know they can't do it
alone. On such a vital issue, the Federal Government should not lead
from behind. The Federal Government cannot be missing in action and
absent from the table, and it will be absolutely critical for them to
ensure that we protect and help the most vulnerable populations so that
they have access to adequate healthcare, clean drinking water, healthy
food, quality air, and affordable housing.
[[Page H7821]]
But leading from behind is exactly what this administration is doing.
Besides pulling out of the Paris climate accord without any plan or
alternative for addressing climate change, this administration has
moved to roll back the Obama era Clean Power Plan and other efforts to
address greenhouse gas emissions.
We must not only make sure that we recognize the disparate impacts of
climate change as we act, but we must also bring our most at-risk
citizens to the table and educate them and discuss the actions that we
will take together to address climate change.
We need to do right by our fellow human beings and by our beloved
shared planet and protect ourselves and our planet against the threats
we face today and in the future. Even if this administration wants to
turn its back, this House must not. We must continue to
pass legislation that will help us meaningfully address climate change.
Twelve years from now? Eighteen months from now? How about right now?
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Moore
for those powerful words.
Madam Speaker, I also want to address something that has been in the
news, and that is the President's announcement yesterday that he will
revoke California's waiver under the Federal Clean Air Act to set its
own auto emissions standards. This is something, as a native southern
Californian, that is near and dear to my heart.
So many southern Californians have had to endure poor air quality
over the years, and this, honestly, is something that has never been
partisan. Since the late 1960s, California has been able to set its own
air quality standards, because the standards that we set when Ronald
Reagan was Governor of California in the late 1960s exactly preceded
those standards set by the Federal Government.
Clean air is not a partisan issue. This is absolutely ridiculous that
the administration would want to go after California once again in this
manner.
So another thing to refute are the claims made by the President about
vehicle safety and cost--completely baseless. Fuel-efficient cars meet
the same exact safety standards as any other passenger vehicle and have
proven to be more cost-effective. The auto manufacturers want to
accelerate the transition to more electric vehicles, more sustainable
vehicles.
Everybody wants California to be able to have its own standards, with
two exceptions: President Trump and Big Oil. Those are the only two
exceptions. So it is pretty clear to see whose direction the President
is taking when it comes to this decision.
We also need to acknowledge that his decision here flies in the face
of established climate science. Transportation is the largest source of
greenhouse gas emissions in our country. The science tells us that
greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change, so we should be
doing everything we can to reduce those emissions from transportation.
The Clean Air Act clearly gives California the authority to set its
own emission standards, and this authority has been repeatedly
confirmed by the courts, the Congress, and previous administrations,
Republicans and Democrats alike.
Again, this is not a partisan issue. Even the auto companies want to
see this happen.
So why are we still here? Why are we fighting over this ridiculous
assumption by the President that he can roll back five decades of
progress for cleaner air in California?
We are not going to let it stand. I will do everything in my power as
a Member of Congress, as I know my colleagues will, and California will
prevail.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Huffman), my friend and the Representative from California's Second
District.
Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, from the Representative of the
northernmost district on the coast of California, I really do want to
thank my friend from southern California for yielding to me. San Diego
and Orange Counties are so well-served by his intelligent, principled
leadership, and especially on this issue, this existential crisis that
we are trying to confront of global climate change. The gentleman's
leadership on this issue has certainly been noted.
Madam Speaker, our leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, did a very unusual
thing in reaching out and choosing a freshman Member of Congress, and
it is because of Mr. Levin's background and clarity on these issues
that she put him on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis,
where I am proud to serve with him. So I thank the gentleman so much
for that leadership.
And, Madam Speaker, he is doing more than that. He is putting great
bills into the hopper. He is leading this debate this evening. So we
are well served with Mr. Levin's leadership in southern California.
Now, one of the previous speakers mentioned that we are gathered here
on the eve of this global climate strike tomorrow. Tens of thousands of
students all over the United States, 800 different sites, are working
in harmony with 156 other countries where young people are doing the
same thing worldwide. This is a week of action.
These are high school kids, and even younger in some cases. They
understand what is at stake here. The part of their message that I
think we really need to hear is that we don't have time.
There is an extreme urgency to confront this crisis, and they
understand that the longer we wait, the harder it is going to be to
preserve a livable future for their generation. Of course, if we wait
too long, it is game over.
They are scared, and they ought to be scared. We all ought to be
scared about the fact that we are running out of time to address this
crisis.
Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with a few of these young
leaders. I am super grateful that four of those that Chairman Grijalva
and I met with for a couple of hours were from Sonoma County in my
district. So I want to thank Olivia, Kate, Christian, and Jonah. They
were from the National Children's Campaign and also Schools for Climate
Action. They came all the way to Washington, D.C., to make sure that
the country heard their story.
That story, of course, involves the terrible firestorm of October
2017 that the folks in the North Bay had to live through. These young
people had their lives uprooted and impacted in profound ways, and it
helped sharpen their climate activism. They brought that story to a
very important, urgent conversation that Chairman Grijalva and I were
part of yesterday.
More and more people like them are living the very real impacts that
climate change is having right now. This is not some abstract thing in
the future. It is happening now, and it is going to get worse as we go
forward, especially if we don't act.
So this message of urgency, clearly the public understands it.
Congressman Levin and I were just in the Cloakroom, and MSNBC showed a
brand-new poll that shows that 65 percent, I believe, of the American
people understand this is a crisis.
It is not just an important issue. It is a crisis.
{time} 1830
The public gets it. The rest of the world gets it. In fact, on
Monday, the nations of the world will gather in New York to map out the
next steps on climate action. They will be building on the Paris
climate agreement. They will be working together to figure out how we
can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade.
But if the American people get it and all of these young people all
over the world get it, it is fair to ask: Where is American leadership
right now? Where is this administration right now? Unfortunately, Mr.
Levin alluded to the worst of it: this fight over California's clean
car authority. They are trying to take us backward in the wrong
direction. We just don't have time for that if we are serious about
this crisis.
Mr. Levin talked about the fact that our authority under the Clean
Air Act goes back to 1967. I think it was a Governor named Ronald
Reagan, actually, who got us started on this critical authority. It has
been so successful. California has used it to protect clean air over 50
times.
Madam Speaker, I would ask Congressman Levin if he knows how many of
those times, the 50 times that we have used that Clean Air Act
authority, how many of those were revoked?
[[Page H7822]]
Zero. It has never been revoked. It has always been upheld, and it has
been wildly successful in helping California improve air quality,
reduce smog, and improve public health. We have added jobs and the
economy has continued to grow.
We have been able to do all this in a way that helped stimulate the
auto industry, to innovate, and to bring new and very desirable models
of vehicles to market that wouldn't be there if it weren't for
California's leadership on clean car standards, and, of course, more
than a dozen other States that have followed suit and joined us as
clean car States.
What President Trump is trying to do is absolutely unprecedented in
American history and it is legally dubious. He is wrong on the law and
he is wrong on the policy. It is the most serious assault on State
authority and on public health that you could imagine. And yet, with
this administration, hey, it is just another day in the Trump White
House, unfortunately.
This House, of course, the people's House, gets it. We have already
started to take action. We are working to block the Trump
administration's worst climate rollbacks.
Just last week, a bipartisan majority of this House voted to approve
my bill to protect the Arctic refuge from this crazy ``drill
everywhere'' mandate that they put into the Republican tax scam in
2017. We also passed bills to protect the Pacific, Atlantic, and
Florida Gulf Coasts from these plans to do more offshore drilling.
These are important steps in the fight to confront the climate crisis.
And, of course, there was H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which
would block President Trump's attempt to take us out of the Paris
climate agreement.
Let's keep working together in the people's House. Let's keep working
with this energized, motivated, incredibly passionate new generation of
leaders that we are seeing all over the country and all over the world.
Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Levin for his leadership.
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Huffman
for his friendship, for his mentorship, and for all the work that he
does. He is a true environmental champion. I am really, really grateful
to call him a friend. We have got a lot of work to do.
I think it is really important that, as we think about this issue, we
begin to address some of the myths and the misconceptions that are out
there. One of the biggest that I hear from my friends across the aisle
is that we cannot combat climate change without destroying our economy,
when exactly the opposite is true.
If we invest in the clean energy jobs of the future, we will see
incredible economic growth and we will protect the environment at the
same time. Nowhere has that been more true in the United States than in
our State of California, where I am proud to tell you that we have the
most clean-energy jobs in the United States.
If you look at this chart, there are over 500,000 jobs in the clean
tech sector. I am proud to have come from the clean tech sector. I am
proud to have started a trade association in Orange County, California,
which historically has been seen as one of the most conservative places
in the United States. We created a booming clean tech industry that is
growing stronger than ever before. The same is true in San Diego
County, where we have some of the leading clean energy companies in the
United States. We can protect the environment and we can grow the clean
tech economy at the same time.
In California, it has never been a partisan issue. When we passed AB
32 in 2006, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the Governor, Republican
Governor. Then when we passed cap and trade, we had nine Republican
legislators who helped get that passed in the California legislature.
Governor Schwarzenegger and those Republican legislators at the time
understood that if we made climate change a primary focus, if we
reduced greenhouse gas emissions, that not only was it the right thing
to do for our State and for the planet, but it was the right thing to
do for our economy. That is exactly what has happened.
My friend, Marshall Burke, is a researcher at Stanford University, my
alma mater. He has studied the costs of action on climate change, but,
more importantly, the costs of inaction. There is an inherent cost to
doing nothing. My friends across the aisle always like to tell you
about the cost of doing something. They will say bold and aggressive
measures will cost too much. Well, Mr. Speaker, the costs of inaction
are even greater.
My friend, Marshall Burke, has said that if we don't take substantial
action to mitigate the climate crisis, it will cost the U.S. economy
$25 trillion to $35 trillion over the coming decades. That is with a T:
$25 trillion to $35 trillion.
The good news is that we can take the steps we need to in order to
act. We can combat the climate crisis, and we can create those clean
energy jobs.
I have introduced bipartisan legislation to reduce our dependence on
fossil fuels by promoting development of renewable energy on public
lands.
We can expand those technologies that grow our economy and protect
the environment by extending important tax credits like the solar
investment tax credit, which drives job creation, reduces greenhouse
gas emissions, and helps level the playing field for clean energy. And
we need it for things like battery storage, as well.
I have introduced legislation that presents an ambitious plan for
transitioning the United States to 100 percent zero-emission vehicles,
which will also have an enormous health benefit to the United States of
America.
According to a 2016 report issued by the American Lung Association,
transitioning to zero-emission vehicles would deliver $33 billion in
total health and climate savings by 2050. The 90 percent reduction in
the pollution that causes smog and soot would translate to 195,000
fewer lost work days, 96,000 fewer asthma attacks, and 2,200 fewer
premature deaths.
And I have introduced legislation, as well, to expand electric
vehicle charging on public lands across the United States and convert
National Park Service and United States Forest Service fleets to zero-
emission vehicles.
This commitment will also help the United States lead the world in
developing and manufacturing innovative zero-emission vehicle
technology.
Since California first instituted a zero-emission vehicle requirement
in 1990, the overall economy has flourished, cutting-edge companies
like Tesla have generated billions of dollars in economic activity for
our State, and leading automotive companies across the country and the
world have done everything they can to invest in the cleaner technology
of the future zero-emission vehicles.
Alternatively, if we fail to act, if American car companies don't
lead, and if we don't have a supportive Federal Government helping them
to lead the way in these zero-emission vehicles of the future, we will
allow other countries to take the lead. China, India, and nations in
Europe will reap the economic rewards that should be staying right here
in the United States of America. We will find ourselves purchasing
foreign vehicles that should have been made right here in the USA.
Many of my colleagues are doing great work. They have introduced or
passed legislation that addresses the climate crisis in many different
ways and promotes the clean energy jobs of the future. You just heard
from a few of them.
Mr. Speaker, I want to wrap up here by pointing out one more key
fact. The American people overwhelmingly support aggressive action to
combat climate change.
Public opinion polling shows that the majority of Americans say that
it must be addressed, and it has got to be addressed now. The majority
of Americans overwhelmingly believe this is a crisis, and they are
right to believe that.
Unfortunately, our President right now calls climate change a hoax.
He says that it was brought on by China to undermine American economic
competitiveness. He is not willing to listen to the science. He should
listen to the scientists from his own agencies. He should just take the
half hour necessary to even read the executive summary from his own
scientists' report. That is all I would ask.
He should think about climate change when he makes appointments.
Unfortunately, he has been appointing climate science deniers like
William
[[Page H7823]]
Happer, a gentleman who once said that if the plants could vote, they
would vote for coal. He said that more CO2 in the atmosphere
is a good thing. This is a person advising the President of the United
States on climate science.
And it is not that the administration is too close to the oil and
coal industry, it is that they are the oil and coal industry. It is
literally a revolving door between 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, those coal
companies, and those oil companies. The American people demand better
than that.
This complete rejection of established science is dangerous, and it
is irresponsible.
It is dangerous and irresponsible for the White House to pressure the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, into
supporting the President's false claims about Hurricane Dorian. You
don't see any Sharpies on this chart.
It is dangerous and it is irresponsible that the White House refuses
to accept climate science and act on it. It is dangerous. It is
irresponsible. We must embrace science. We must embrace facts.
As I said in the beginning of this, this is about our children and
our grandchildren. I am thinking today about my own two children: my
daughter, Elizabeth, who is 5, and my son, Jonathan, who is 7. Maybe my
wonderful wife, Chrissy, will cue up C-SPAN and play this for them.
My son, who is 7, just started second grade. We have 12 years. By the
time my son is ready to graduate high school, according to the best
science, we better have gotten this crisis figured out or we are going
to have irreparable damage as a result. It is on us.
When I am done with my service in the House of Representatives, which
I hope comes many years from now, I want to be able to look back, as I
know so many of my colleagues do, and know that we gave it everything
we had to try to address what we believe is the most pressing issue
facing the United States of America and the world.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).
Tribute to Michael Preadmore
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in tribute to the city of
Melvindale and the city of Dearborn Fire Department Captain Michael
Preadmore, who, today, retires after 23 years of service. He knows
safety doesn't take a day off, so he maintained a perfect attendance
record since becoming a firefighter in 1996. He has also received such
awards as the Fire Chief Life Saving Award and the department Medal of
Valor Award for his bravery in the line of duty.
Please join me in saluting Captain Preadmore in wishing him a happy
retirement.
Honoring General Motors Workers
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, today, I stand with the United Automobile
Workers by honoring General Motors workers on day 4 of their strike.
This is Grayson Riley Poland, a child of a General Motors worker. She
is only 5 years old. She periodically gets treatment for her cerebral
palsy that keeps her legs from scissoring due to her muscles tightening
up. Her next treatment, Mr. Speaker, is on October 1. Her father is on
strike right now and worried about whether or not he has healthcare
coverage anymore.
Mr. Speaker, the General Motors CEO makes $22 million, 281 times the
median income of their workers. Yet, workers are being asked to pay
more for healthcare.
General Motors workers gave up so much to keep the company afloat.
They didn't abandon GM during their toughest time, but now they are
asking for fair wages and coverage for their healthcare.
Mr. Speaker, I am urging my colleagues and the country to join me in
solidarity with them today.
{time} 1845
Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), my friend.
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for leading this
discussion about climate. What I really love about so many of our
freshman Members, like Congressman Levin, is that they say how urgent
the need is right now to act, a sense of urgency.
I am on the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, and we
had a hearing yesterday. We had nice people testifying, but we still
heard, particularly from our Republican colleagues, that it is a
decision between jobs and a clean environment. Are you kidding me?
We have known about this crisis, which it is, for decades. We knew
about it even in the Johnson administration, long ago.
We have had this debate about jobs and environment as if you have to
pick one or the other. As Representative Levin went over and over,
about how good for the economy, how good for workers, how good the jobs
are, we are now wasting time in addressing this problem. It was really
frustrating to me that we continue to go over this.
In the meantime, the forests are burning in California. The fields
are flooding in Illinois, where I am from. The hurricanes are
destroying islands, Florida, and all up and down the coast--except for
Alabama, not really.
It is really so important that we are listening to the children.
Yesterday, we had this amazing young woman, Greta Thunberg, who is from
Sweden. She is 16 years old, but she is also a veteran fighting
worldwide, an international figure calling for us to act.
This is one of the things that she said yesterday when she was here
in Washington. This is Greta, now 16 years old, who said: ``Please,
save your praise. We don't want it. Don't invite us here to just tell
us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it,
because it doesn't lead to anything.''
Greta is fierce, but she is not the only one. I am hoping that I am
going to be able to get home in time to my district to join my grandson
outside of his school tomorrow afternoon at one of the demonstrations,
the many demonstrations that are going to be taking place across the
country on climate where young people are telling us: We can't wait.
This is our century. This is our time. We are going to take the lead.
I think it is our job now to follow them. There is a court suit right
now where 21 young people have sued the Government of the United States
of America for violating their constitutional rights by ignoring this
issue of climate and the crisis that we are creating.
Our species is in danger. Every species living on Earth today is in
danger. This is truly a matter of life and death.
We already are seeing climate refugees, people who can't live in
places because they can't grow crops anymore. We are seeing the
spreading of the Sahara desert. We are seeing the Amazon rainforest
burning. Every fifth breath that every person takes on Earth is because
of the oxygen that comes out of the rainforest in the Amazon.
What are we doing? We are still debating this. We are still talking.
We are having conversations about it and way too little action.
I am really happy that, last week, we passed a bill, at least in the
House, to stop offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Pacific
Ocean, and in the Gulf. I am really happy that we are trying to reverse
the drilling in ANWR up in Alaska.
But we have to do big things. We have to take action together with
countries around the world.
We have to listen to the children. They are begging us. They are
acting, and they are speaking out. All we really need to do is follow.
Again, I thank Representative Levin and so many of the freshmen who
have come here to the Congress and said: This is urgent. We can't wait
anymore. We can't dawdle anymore. We must act.
I really appreciate the opportunity to come down here today.
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative
Schakowsky for coming.
It is a great honor to sit on the new Select Committee on the Climate
Crisis under the chair, Kathy Castor from Florida. I serve with many
other great Members, and we have an honest dialogue about the action
that we are going to need to take to combat this crisis.
Of course, I thank our great Speaker Nancy Pelosi for creating that
select committee as part of the 116th Congress.
Governor Jay Inslee said: ``We're the first generation to feel the
sting of climate change, and we're the last who can do something about
it.''
I couldn't agree more with Representative Schakowsky. We have to
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listen to the children, our own children and the children we see here
in Washington. When we go back home to our districts, we have to listen
to those voices. We have to make those changes. They are counting on
us.
In these walls, right here, they are counting on the 435 people who
are so honored to serve as United States Representatives to get this
right for future generations.
I am honored to be one of those Members trying to fight the good
fight. We have so much work to do.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________