Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 2996, Department Of The Interior, Environment, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I strongly urge opposition to this undemocratic rule. The majority is apparently unwilling at best or afraid at worst of debating whether the Environmental Protection Agency should have the authority to change the Clean Air Act without congressional opinion.

I went to the Rules Committee last night and asked them to make in order my amendment that would prohibit the EPA from using funding to implement or enforce its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking finding six greenhouse gases constitute a threat to the public's health and welfare. On April 24, 2009, the EPA issued a proposed rulemaking that it had found six greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride--pose a significant threat to the public's health and welfare. This endangerment finding is a precursor for the EPA to regulate these gases' emission, with or without explicit authority from Congress to do so.

My amendment would have simply returned this explicit authority to Congress to regulate greenhouse gases. Without this amendment, the EPA could threaten sweeping changes without giving any consideration whatsoever to its effects on the economy since the EPA's mandate is environmental and public health. Passing this amendment could have removed a threat so that we can consider climate change legislation in an open, deliberative process.

If the majority's national energy tax scheduled for debate later this week gets signed into law, eventually the EPA can move forward on enforcing this explicit action by Congress. But there has been no action taken yet. Rather, the courts have decided the EPA has the authority to make such a determination, which is hardly what Congress intended when it passed the Clean Air Act.

Unfortunately, the Rules Committee blocked this amendment. Furthermore, Congressman Lewis and Congressman Blackburn had similar amendments, and the Rules Committee denied all three. If we had an open rule, we could not be debating all three of our amendments. We would be debating one. Unfortunately, because of the Democrats' unprecedented lockdown rule, we don't get a chance to debate at all. This is a travesty for democracy.

I urge all Members to reject the Democratic leadership's attempt to stifle debate and impose its will on the House by defeating this embarrassing rule.

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