[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11867-11868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE REALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page 11868]]


  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. The future damage 
that will be done if we fail to address it is foreseeable and 
predictable.
  We are living through an extended period of radical weather. The 
weather systems of 2012 produced the secondmost damaging infliction to 
the economy in the history of our country--$115 billion--much of it 
from Hurricane Sandy, much of it from an extended drought. Sea levels 
are rising. This is measurable. This is not debatable. It is fact.
  What we are doing in this Congress is arguing about energy policy, 
but we are having that argument in the context of denying that the 
failure to address climate change won't have serious economic and 
social implications. Sea levels are rising. The damage to our Treasury 
is rising. The suffering of our people is real. So it is absolutely 
essential that the House of Representatives acknowledge the reality of 
climate change and include that in its debate on energy policy.

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