[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 73 (Thursday, May 1, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E380-E381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HOUSE REPUBLICANS SENSELESS ATTACKS ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND OUR 
                              ENVIRONMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 2025

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans just wasted another week 
in Washington with no legislation to show for it that would address our 
shrinking economy or rising cost of living.
  Instead, they launched a series of attacks on a national park, an 
endangered species, and the ability of states to set strong standards 
to protect the air that we breathe.
  H.J. Res. 60 would prevent the National Park Service from regulating 
motor vehicle use in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where 
just 6 percent of the roads had safeguards put in place to restrict the 
damage that off-road vehicles had caused. This was a narrowly focused 
rule to target protections in sensitive areas for the cultural sites, 
native wildlife, and other natural resources that the Park contains.
  H.J. Res 87, H.J. Res. 88, and H.J. Res. 89 all attempt to misuse the 
Congressional Review Act (CRA) process to overturn decisions at the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce air pollution. Under 
the Clean Air Act (CAA), California can apply for waivers to set its 
own vehicle emissions standards, and other states can adopt 
California's exact regulations under certain circumstances. The law 
explicitly grants these states the ability to protect their citizens 
from air pollution and address climate change with stronger standards, 
and in doing so they are saving Americans $89 billion in fuel costs 
through 2040.
  These Republican resolutions would make the air dirtier, raise costs 
for drivers, and also violate the law. The Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) and the Senate Parliamentarian have already made it clear 
that CAA waivers do not qualify as a target for a CRA. These decisions 
are not rules subject to review, but House Republicans are ignoring the 
law to try to set a precedent for drastically expanding what other 
protections for the American people they can undermine with a CRA.
  As if all this wasn't enough, Republicans wrapped up the week with an 
attack on an endangered species of smelt in the San Francisco Bay-
Delta. Delisting a fish won't solve the water shortage problems of the 
West; it is a distraction from the real issues of climate change, 
outdated infrastructure, and competing water allocations. Furthermore, 
this smelt is a critical part of the foodweb in an ecosystem on the 
verge of collapse. H.J. Res. 78 would not only overturn the current 
listing of the longfin smelt but prevent it from ever being listed in 
the future, no matter how much the threat to this species and its 
estuary increased.
  I voted against all five of the Congressional Review Act resolutions 
that were brought to the floor this week, and I urge the Republican 
House Majority to stop bringing these harmful and nonsensical attacks 
on our public health and the environment to the House floor. Stripping 
away protections for our wildlife, for our national parks, and for the 
very air in our lungs doesn't improve Americans lives.

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