[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8795]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                          PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend President 
Trump on his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
  For emphasis, the Paris climate accord is not now and never has been 
an agreement that binds the United States of America because it was 
never ratified by Congress.
  More specifically, the Paris climate accord, a treaty, was never 
ratified by the Senate pursuant to Article II, section 2 of the United 
States Constitution.
  Rather, in yet another example of disdain for America's 
constitutional Republic, the Obama administration refused to seek 
Senate approval of the treaty.
  By declining to move forward on a poorly negotiated bad deal, 
President Trump kept his promise to the American people to put America 
first.
  Lest there be any doubt, the Paris climate accord intentionally hurt 
America to the benefit of competitor nations. In a global 
redistribution of the wealth scheme, the Paris climate accord called 
for America to give away tens of billions of dollars to other 
countries. That is tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars on 
top of America's existing foreign aid giveaways. That is money America 
does not have, has to borrow to get, and cannot afford to pay back. 
That is nuts.
  America must stop borrowing money to send overseas to help other 
countries take jobs from Americans. Is that really so hard for the left 
to understand?
  The Paris climate accord undermined America's economy by putting 
American employees at a competitive disadvantage. By way of but one 
example, a comprehensive new study prepared by NERA Economic Consulting 
estimates that the Paris climate accord could cost the American economy 
$3 trillion in gross domestic product and 6.5 million industrial sector 
jobs over the next two decades.
  President Trump is right. America must lead by putting America's 
national interests first. The Paris climate accord failed to do that.
  By way of example, under the Paris climate accord, China and India, 
two of the biggest and worst polluters on Earth, have no new air 
pollution control obligations until 2030, at the earliest.
  Contrast the abysmal environmental record of China and India with 
that of America. And let's be clear, without a Paris climate accord, 
America's carbon dioxide emissions have been and are being reduced. For 
example, between the years 2000 and 2014, the United States reduced its 
carbon dioxide emissions by more than 18 percent.
  Further, over the past 50 years, America has been the world's 
environmental leader. No country on Earth has done more to reduce 
pollution by cleaning our air, cleaning our water, and properly 
disposing of hazardous waste. That 50-year record is compelling 
evidence that America's focus on being good environmental stewards will 
continue, with or without the Paris climate accord. That is world 
leadership.
  I know of nothing that says we are going to stop being the world's 
environmental leader. That 50-year record is also compelling evidence 
that America can and will lead on our own without hamstringing 
ourselves with a badly negotiated, one-sided Paris climate accord that 
reduces America's wealth while costing struggling American families 
their jobs.
  In summary, I am proud that President Trump puts America first. 
America should not and must not yield even a smidgen of our national 
sovereignty to the dictates of other, lesser nations.
  Despite liberal climate-scare and socialist Democrat hysteria to the 
contrary, America has been and is, by almost every standard, the 
greatest Nation in world history.
  With an America First attitude, America will continue its 75-year 
streak as the greatest Nation in the history of the world, second to 
none.

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