[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFE CLIMATE CAUCUS

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, last week's Energy and Water Appropriations 
bill provided another glaring example of an opportunity squandered. We 
could have invested more in clean energy and certainly weaned our 
Nation off its heavy dependence on fossil fuels. We could have heeded 
the warnings of the scientific community and taken greater steps to 
reduce emissions and adapt our dams and ports and coastal 
infrastructure to new conditions. We did neither. Even worse, the bill 
contained riders to prevent the modeling and study of climate change.
  The climate deniers are condemning us to a future of crisis 
management. Organizations, including global manufacturers, governments, 
aid organizations, and the insurance industry are examining risks to 
key infrastructure of supply chain disruptions, water shortages, and 
increased political unrest.
  Instead of suing our President for taking action, we should be 
joining him and organizations around the world in the effort to 
understand and meet this formidable challenge. Failure to do so will be 
costly, and failure to do so will be tragic.
  We must do better. We should start by doing something.

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