[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 18034]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFE CLIMATE CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Waxman) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, on February 15, a small group of Democratic 
Members of the House joined together to form the Safe Climate Caucus. 
We vowed to come to the House floor every day to talk about the 
defining environmental challenge of our time: climate change. Today 
marks the 100th day we have spoken on the House floor.
  The Safe Climate Caucus is composed of Representatives from across 
this country. We come from the west coast, the east coast, the North, 
the South, and the Midwest. We come from coastal regions, urban areas, 
and rural communities. We represent a cross-section of America.
  We started the Safe Climate Caucus because of the enormous disconnect 
that exists between what scientists are telling us about the dangers of 
climate change and the conspiracy of silence and denial that exists in 
this House. There is a mountain of evidence that climate change is a 
real and dangerous threat to the future of our children and 
grandchildren. Yet this body refuses to accept the scientific reality.
  I wish my Republican colleagues would open their eyes and escape 
their congressional bubble. Firefighters across the West know that 
fires are getting bigger and more dangerous. Farmers in the Midwest 
know that droughts and floods are becoming more common and more 
intense. Coastal communities know that rising sea levels and extreme 
storms threaten their very existence. And just last month, a 
supertyphoon--perhaps the strongest ever recorded--demolished entire 
cities in the Philippines.
  Extreme weather, sea level rise, heat waves, droughts, flooding, 
wildfires, pests--that is what climate change looks like. So what is 
this House doing? Denying, obstructing, and weakening the Clean Air 
Act.
  In June, the International Energy Agency warned that, if we don't act 
now, avoiding catastrophic climate change will cost trillions of 
dollars. In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
concluded that the evidence that the Earth is warming is 
``unequivocal.'' This is the same level of confidence that scientists 
have that smoking causes cancer. Last month, the World Meteorological 
Association reported that the levels of heat-trapping gases in the 
atmosphere set new records, reaching concentrations higher than any in 
the last 800,000 years. Yet this House endures it all.
  We challenged the Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee to 
come to the floor and debate us, to defend their record of inaction. 
They never showed up. The committee won't even hold a hearing to listen 
to the scientists. Democrats are in the minority, so we can't call 
hearings. But we won't be muzzled.
  Since February, the members of the Safe Climate Caucus reported on 
the alarms that the scientists are sounding.

                              {time}  1045

  In fact, today marks the 100th legislative day that members from the 
Safe Climate Caucus have spoken out. Except during the Republican 
shutdown of the government, our members have come to the floor every 
day we have been in session. It has not always been easy to keep this 
streak of speeches alive, but we have come because of the commitment of 
our 31 members to take action before it is too late.
  We are speaking out because we know we have a duty to our neighbors, 
to our children, and to our grandchildren. We know that when future 
generations look back at these times, they won't remember the debates 
we have had on the deficit. They won't remember the debates we have had 
on boosting oil drilling. What they will want to know is whether we 
acted to protect the world from catastrophic climate change while we 
still had time, and they will want to know whether we made the 
investments we need to make the United States the world leader in the 
clean energy technologies of the future.
  We are at a critical juncture. I urge all Members to join with the 
Safe Climate Caucus in ensuring we make the right choices for our 
future and for our economy.

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