President Bush Accepts Chairman Boxer's Proposal to

Press Release

President Bush Accepts Chairman Boxer's Proposal to
Convene Summit of Largest Emitters

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today made the following remarks regarding the President's statement on global warming this morning.

Senator Boxer said: "Earlier this year, I wrote to the President and proposed that he bring together the world's largest emitting nations to address the great challenge we now face - global warming.

I have written to the President twice this year - on February 7, and again on April 18 - to ask him to convene a summit of the world's largest emitting nations. Today he has accepted that challenge. I stand ready to assist him with the summit and continuing negotiations in any way I can.

Global warming is an issue that will not go away without decisive action. The United States has always been a leader in protecting the environment, and we must resume our leadership role in the international negotiations on global warming.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has collected a strong body of expert testimony on global warming and recommendations for action on the part of individuals, companies, communities and the government in the 11 hearings we have held on this subject since the start of the year. Key parts of any plan include a mandatory cap on global warming pollution and a mechanism for engaging the free market to set a price on carbon emissions. No lasting progress on global warming can happen without mandatory caps on global warming pollution.

I am offering to share with the President the information we have gathered, in a briefing prior to the summit. Since taking the gavel, I have been in frequent contact with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and I will work with CEQ and the President to forge new partnerships for action to address this challenge."

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