Environment - Appropriations Bill Riders

Appropriations Bill Riders

Anti-Environmental Riders Press Conference
September 29, 1998

By Henry A. Waxman

The next week may turn out to be a polluter's dream and a nightmare for families across our country--the Republican leadership has decided it´s open season on environmental safeguards.

Today we are telling Newt Gingrich and the Republicans that we are paying attention and we won't stand for this assault on the environment or the public's health.

The House's EPA spending bill contains numerous provisions included at the request of polluters and special interests.

These provisions are intended to:

Kill any efforts to address global warming
Block controls of dangerous mercury air pollution
Prevent the cleanup of cancer-causing PCB contaminated sediments
Stall implementation of our pesticide safety laws
Prevent adequate cleanup of old nuclear facilities
Interfere with programs to cleanup air pollution in our national parks
And the list is growing every day. Just last night we learned of a new Republican proposal that would make it harder for families to know about chemical facilities near their homes. I can't even guess what other rollbacks the Republicans will pick from the polluters' wish list later today.

Today we are calling on the Republicans to strip these damaging provisions out of this "must-pass" legislation, and if they don't we call on the President to the veto all these provisions. We will support him and sustain his veto.