Rush, Waxman and Dingell Send Speaker Boehner a Letter Signed by Rush, Waxman and Dingell Send Speaker Boehner a Letter Signed by More Than 150 House Democrats in Support of the Clean Air Act
Press Release
Earlier this afternoon, in an unprecedented show of support, the three leading Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee--Ranking Member Henry Waxman, Energy and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Rush and Chairman Emeritus John Dingell--sent a letter where they and 152 House members urged House Speaker John Boehner to support the Clean Air Act. In their letter, these leaders point out that this landmark legislation has always enjoyed strong bipartisan support--when it was first enacted in 1970 and, again, in 1990 when it was significantly amended. In both instances, the Clean Air Act gained support on both policy and scientific merits.
In part, their letter to Speaker Boehner said this, "We worked across party lines to enact a law that would protect public health and the environment, as well as our economy. We were successful. Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has reduced key air pollutants by 60 percent while, at the same time, the economy grew by over 200 percent. Air pollution is costly. It increases asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases and lung cancer, and causes premature deaths, hurting our families and burdening our economy. Congress has consistently rejected efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act and must do so again."
Rush added that he is particularly concerned about efforts to undermine the Act because of the disparate impact of airborne carcinogens on low-income and minority children in our country. In 2007, community health centers reported that 20 percent of their pediatric patients had asthma. In addition, compared to white non-Hispanic children, asthma is 60 percent higher among African American children and nearly 300 percent higher among Puerto Rican children.
Rush added, "My bottom line is that this legislation is not only good policy but, in many respects, it helps save lives. Surely bipartisan commonsense should prevail when the public's health, especially vulnerable children, is at stake."
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