“If [Trump] and Senate Republicans get their way in the coming days, our nation and our air will be on a trajectory back to 1955, alright. We will again make an America where our ‘spacious skies’ will be clogged and smoggy.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), delivered remarks on the Senate floor to warn Senate Republicans against overruling the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s independent and nonpartisan referee, as they reportedly weigh ignoring independent rulings and moving forward with measures to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waivers.
Schiff joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the Senate floor.
Watch his full remarks HERE. Download remarks HERE.
Key Excerpts:
On calling attention to Senate Republicans’ plans to go nuclear:
[…] If the Senate goes nuclear, overruling the parliamentarian, there is no telling where the Congressional Review Act will be used in the future. By Republicans or Democrats. Could the Senate merely vote to wipe out an entire 4 years of actions taken by a previous president? Will your state’s regulations be next? What about your state’s funding? Your state’s ability to administer programs like the Clean Water Act? Precedent can be a hard thing to make tangible. But this is our history. This is what awaits us if we go down this dangerous road. Air like this. We will not stand idly by as this administration fights to Make California’s Air Unhealthy Again. We will fight this. We must.
On the obligation for all lawmakers to protect their states’ families:
[…] We are a body of lawmakers, many of whom – like me – served in state legislatures before coming to Congress. If you saw your state’s schoolchildren being choked by smog like this, wouldn’t you see it as your job to step up, regardless of party politics? That is the fundamental right of any state and its legislature. In the face of threats against your own kids, your own parents, you do something. And that is what California did. And has continued to do so often setting the standard for the rest of the country. We in California are 1 out of every 10 Americans. We have a right to protect our citizens, our environment, and our ability to live. After all: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are all impossible if we cannot breathe.
On the dangerous precedent overruling the parliamentarian sets:
[…] It was the Post-War era – with the rise of the personal automobile, the Baby Boom, and the rapid expansion of American cities and suburbs in the West. Suddenly millions of families were experiencing firsthand, and for the first time, the most serious environmental impacts of unchecked industrial and manufacturing activity. Many could not walk through the streets of our cities without handkerchiefs to their face. The iconic Ford and Chevy automobiles of the 1950s and 60s kept their roofs shut. And in some cases, the smog was so bad that people mistook it for a chemical weapons attack. And here’s the thing – it got worse, not better, over the coming decades.
President Trump often speaks of restoring America. Of Making America Great Again. Taking us back to that Post-War period, with the rapid economic expansion and runaway prosperity of the Wonder Years. Well, his tariff wars have ended any hopes of an economic boom. And he now has the country headed in exactly the wrong direction — towards an economic bust instead. If he and Senate Republicans get their way in the coming days, our nation and our air will be on a trajectory back to 1955, alright. We will again make an America where our ‘spacious skies’ will be clogged and smoggy. And our ‘purple mountain’s majesty’ will be hidden behind a haze that comes with letting oil companies call all the shots in Washington.
Read the transcript of his remarks as delivered below:
Mr. President, this is downtown Los Angeles in 1955.
It was the Post-War era – with the rise of the personal automobile, the Baby Boom, and the rapid expansion of American cities and suburbs in the West.
Suddenly millions of families were experiencing firsthand, and for the first time, the most serious environmental impacts of unchecked industrial and manufacturing activity.
Many could not walk through the streets of our cities without handkerchiefs to their face.
The iconic Ford and Chevy automobiles of the 1950s and 60s kept their roofs shut.
And in some cases, the smog was so bad that people mistook it for a chemical weapons attack.
And here’s the thing – it got worse, not better, over the coming decades.
President Trump often speaks of restoring America. Of Making America Great Again.
Taking us back to that Post-War period, with the rapid economic expansion and runaway prosperity of the Wonder Years.
Well, his tariff wars have ended any hopes of an economic boom. And he now has the country headed in exactly the wrong direction — towards an economic bust instead.
If he and Senate Republicans get their way in the coming days, our nation and our air will be on a trajectory back to 1955, alright.
We will again make an America where our ‘spacious skies’ will be clogged and smoggy.
And our ‘purple mountain’s majesty’ will be hidden behind a haze that comes with letting oil companies call all the shots in Washington.
Back then, in reaction to these horrific air conditions, as well as devastating oil spills and other environmental hazards, California helped launch the modern environmental movement.
In 1966, California became the first state to regulate tailpipe emissions, to tackle this smog head on.
In fact, some of our biggest achievements and biggest actions took place under Republican Governors.
And wouldn’t you take action? Look at this. If this was your city, your state, wouldn’t you take action to deal with air pollution this bad where you can barely make out the skyline, the skyscrapers.
We are a body of lawmakers, many of whom – like me – served in state legislatures before coming to Congress.
If you saw your state’s schoolchildren being choked by smog like this, wouldn’t you see it as your job to step up, regardless of party politics?
That is the fundamental right of any state and its legislature. In the face of threats against your own kids, your own parents, you do something.
And that is what California did. And has continued to do so often setting the standard for the rest of the country.
We in California are 1 out of every 10 Americans.
We have a right to protect our citizens, our environment, and our ability to live.
After all: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are all impossible if we cannot breathe.
In the 1960s, through the Clean Air Act, Congress granted California the ability to set standards for itself when it comes to air pollution.
Under Republican President Richard Nixon, we even formed the Environmental Protection Agency.
Through Democratic and Republican administrations and Congresses, that authority and promise has been upheld.
Nearly 60 years of environmental protection has made the Golden State the gold standard for protecting our planet.
But now, Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump are willing to ignore their own promises to punish California, and reward Big Oil.
They are trying to break the Senate rules to make California’s air dirtier – to make it harder and less safe for Californians to breathe. All to please the oil industry.
That’s just wrong. And don’t take it from me: “We can’t go there.” That’s what the Senate Majority Leader said about the prospect of overruling the parliamentarian, merely 5 months ago.
As did his Republican predecessor, who said, “Abiding by the ruling of the parliamentarian is central to the functions of the Senate.”
The Senate parliamentarian, he said, is the “final” word.
And please, if they try to tell you that this is not them overturning the parliamentarian – you must not believe them.
The parliamentarian has ruled — This devise, this mechanism cannot be used to overturn California’s waiver and its ability to set its own air standards.
This ruling from the Senate’s independent referee has been explicit and direct. And it should be respected.
I realize I am a newcomer to the Senate, and I will not ask my colleagues to stand on the long traditions of this institution which I barely know.
But they must stand by their commitments. They must stand by a state’s right to make its own laws to protect its own citizens.
If the Senate goes nuclear, overruling the parliamentarian, there is no telling where the Congressional Review Act will be used in the future. By Republicans or Democrats.
Could the Senate merely vote to wipe out an entire 4 years of actions taken by a previous president?
Will your state’s regulations be next?
What about your state’s funding? Your state’s ability to administer programs like the Clean Water Act?
Precedent can be a hard thing to make tangible. But this is our history. This is what awaits us if we go down this dangerous road. Air like this.
We will not stand idly by as this administration fights to Make California’s Air Unhealthy Again. We will fight this. We must.
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