mountain top removal mining is a serious threat in appalachia. that's what we should be talking about today. not about creating legislation that will deem reality to be different than it actually is. that will declare this stream clear flowing. that will declare these mountains green and verdent. that will declare that the endangered species act was observed when it wasn't. that will declare that this rule will protect the environment and human health when it won't. no amount of legislative eming will make this reality change. what will make this reality ange would be good, strong regulations with good, strong information, with an emphasis not on speed and cheapness, but on people's health and an environment that can sustain us. that's what we should be talking about. i urge -- i reserve any remaining time i have. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm very pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from indiana, mr. stutzman. the chair: the gentleman

let's go to jack waiting in appalachia, new york on the line for democrats. caller: i'm glad you guys are talking about this issue, because climate change is very important to me. host: we will go to thomas waiting in north las vegas nevada our line for democrats. caller: caller: a couple of problems. the issues being discussed on a global scale, we can't do anything by ourselves. we need to make sure that other people bear the financial responsibility for cutting carbon use. i think man causes it, but history shows that every time it gets warm, it gets cold right afterwards. something in the planet stabilizes the temperature. i don't think we're just going to keep getting hot until it is 500 degrees. that is all i have to say. democrats have to show a cost of valuation of initiatives they want to do to cut carbon. host: that is thomas calling from nevada this morning. a few headlines going around the country. i want to bring you up-to-date. today is a special election in florida's 13th district. that is to replace the late congressman bill young republican c

from a group of people who think that's okay, that that's just okay that we have a depression in appalachiauel. >> the argument is, not only that it's cruel, but it doesn't make any sense because there isn't a bill out there, you're just talking for the sake of talking. why do this? what do you think you accomplish? >> well, let me tell you what's cruel. what's cruel is hurricane sandy. what's cruel is the drought that is hurting our people so much. what's cruel is all these impacts that are happening along the beaches and the erosion and to our way of life, and what we saw through the night when the republicans just stayed away from us, what we saw through the night is that all across our great nation, whether it's both coasts or it's the south or it's the midwest, middle of the country, everybody is struggling. whether it's the problem with the fisheries in washington state or in maine, that's what's cruel. and mitch mcconnell is walking away from this in the face of 98% of the scientists who say climate change is real. here's the great news, the solution is, essentially, moving to clean

industry is coal and it's been in a long-term decline, and that's true throughout areas throughout appalachia parts of the country. the people in these counties live different lives. >> why is it in your research these two counties represent this large conversation, not just nationally, but globally, that we are having of the have and the have notes, if i'm going to put it in simple terms we all know? >> what's most interesting about these two counties is not just that there's a large divergence, but the divergence is growing, and we don't quite know why it's growing, but it is. it seems to probably have something to do with lifestyle factors, but it's very hard to sort out what's what, and in part that's because people move between different counties, as i mentioned before, but we know some things. we know this is not just a story about rural areas and urban areas, it's not just a story about different races. it's a story about all sorts of different factors, and life expectancy, even at the age of 65, is diverging. it's not just a story about younger lives versus older lives, and so, you kn

deal with steep rule when ill and should the program has come farewell which the ndp has no place appalachia in two thousand thirteen between two national championship in the old world and the ship became the third place and to previous years he million both cars in all its gold on theirs. on the international competition. and given effect that your summation of the students' parents to play a big role in terms of how the band is still coming together and raise the funds necessary and others. old songs and some of these parents travel with a meal with a band that when u to go to international competition he pointed to be the real deal positive force. carson did feel factor in terms of helping the student to teach the field the hassles that you feel that demands on to tiny and the g twenty international travels. what do you find a sometime and you could be heard. it is ishmael issue that guided me to deal with the whole not just with the band members also detects which is i think overall parents have been very very positive force in the good and the women of the bantam and i think of him for

the mountain top removal mining is a serious environmental health threat in appalachia. companies blast the tops of mountains, scoop out the coal and dump what is left over, what used to be the mountain top and the mining residue, into the valley below. in the process, landscapes are scarred, wild habitat is destroyed, mountain streams are buried, fish are killed and the long suffering people living in the valleys suffer. they're left with degraded water. it's not simply my opinion or the warnings of a few environmental groups. this is what the science tells us. in a paper published in the journal of science a few years ago, a preimminent scientific journal, dozens of scientists made this out very -- laid this out very clearly. based on a wealth of recent scientific data from a variety of researchers, they said that mountain top mining in valleys, fills, in their words -- valley fields revealed serious environmental impacts that mitigation practices cannot successfully address, end quote. now, the chairman today is talking about detailed procedural matters. well, he's wr

that that's just okay that we have a depression in appalachia. well, it's not okay. it's cruel. it's cruel to tell struggling coal families that they can't have a job because some billionaire -- some billionaire in san francisco disagrees with their line of work. let me relay a message from a kentucky mino--from a kentucky d howard. what you are going to hear over the next 30 seconds is more important than anything these anticoal will say over the next 30 hours. "is say to you, mr. president of the united states" -- this is howard -- "we're hurting. you say you're the president of the people. well, we're people, too. no one loves the mountains more than we do. we live here. we crawl between them. we get up every morning and go to the top of a morning in the cold rain and snow to put bread on the table. come appeared look at our little children -- come and look at our little children, look at our people, mr. president. you're not hurting for a job. you have avenuyou've got one. i don't." that's howard from eastern kentucky. i'm not sure how anyone can hear something like that and

as many as 60,000 additional cases of cancer in central appalachia are directly linked to mountain top removal, and more than 700 additional deaths from heart disease occur each year. last month west virginia university scientists published a study confirming high air pollution levels among mountain top removal coal mining, suggesting a link to the higher rates of cardiovascular disease, birth defects and cancer that is seen in these communities. instead of addressing these issues, h.r. 2824 would reinstate george wish b. administration rule that essentially prohibits the united states department of interior from implementing any -- george w. bush administration rule that essentially prohibits the united states department of interior from implementing any regulation for mountain top removal coal mining. let me tell you about a case called bragg vs. robertson. the judge says when valley fields are permitted and intermittent in perennial streams, they destroy those stream segments. the gradient of the stream is buried under millions of cubic feet of spoiled waste material, an extremely a

largely white appalachian region of the united states as you do in minority heavy inner cities in appalachia white americans are struggling with poverty and having children out of wedlock just like their black inner city counterparts and according to pew research center's social in demographic trends project in two thousand and twelve the median net worth of white households was ninety one thousand dollars over ninety one thousand while the median net worth of black households was just slightly over six thousand dollars so a black child a child starts out in a very different place in america but a white child both economically and socially conservative still argue that blacks are behind poverty in america the social and cultural problems that we see in black communities across america and white communities appalachia are responses to poverty not the causes. it's time for americans and lawmakers in washington to wake up and start talking about the real causes of poverty in america which include massive inequality produce fair tax code joblessness produced by our trade policies and ongoing rac

. >> has he been to rural texas or rural appalachia? specific group. i think it is good that he's talking about poverty, but it's not regrettably just for one group. it's not just for blacks or latin latinos. it's an all-around problem. >> he says, oh, you should volunteer for your church. let all the churches take care of the poor people. i grew up poor from trenton, new jersey, raised by a single mom. i benefitted from every single social welfare program that existed and was able to go on from there to stanford university and then to t"the ne york times". these programs don't exist anymore. i started working when i was 14 through a summer jobs program for poor kids. that doesn't exist anymore. >> that's the cultural problem. the conservatives are rolling back the social programs that help those people. >> but we can't accept the construct that social programs are the root of all breakdown. we have social programs for wealthy people. we have social programs that help to maintain an infrastructure that allows commerce to flow in this co

coal production is down throughout appalachia, and down by nearly half over the last five years under this administration. too many people in washington just don't get it. when you shut down fossil fuel industry in a community, in particular coal mine, you shut down an entire community. railroad workers, machinist, timber, and coal industry, pharmacists, schoolteachers all are affected by these kinds of policies. entire communities, the social fabric of our nation are on edge. while this administration's ideologically driven policies are threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs all across america. this is the same president in 2008 said he would bankrupt the coal industry. this has become personal to me, mr. chairman, and many people throughout the coal fields of america. the rest of the world is investing in coal, building new plants, and increasing their consumption of coal. but not here in america. this president is gambling with our economy and risking america's future. for a president who likes to talk about fairness, mr. chairman, blaming our fossil fuels as a health risk isn't

direct which is heavily over represented in rural areas and i get a lot of calls from appalachia from white folks now pleasure and we brought this topic up today and i and i had a guy on from the from the white person's march which is happening tomorrow and there's this you know k.k.k. group and all these white guys were calling up with these just racist off the wall stuff the poor folks are rabble i mean this is any amount of sorry we're out of time so i quit using i have no you give me thirty seconds of you know i mean. this i mean is the dangerous topic i mean i guess you know ok then let's leave it at that robert caro maher you may call it is a bad person or an admirable job. coming out there are currently an estimated seventeen thousand nuclear weapons in the world so what are the chances someone actually uses one of the last ploughshares fund president joe cirincione after. we welcome there nathan abby martin two of the coast guard t. network. it's going to give you a different perspective you want to start to never i'll give you the information you make the decision. the revolu

this is to be direct which is heavily overrepresented in rural areas and i get a lot of calls from appalachia from white folks now and we brought this topic up today and i and i had a guy on from the from the white person's march which is happening tomorrow and there's this you know k.k.k. group and all these white guys were calling up with these just racist off the wall stuff poor folks rambling i mean this is any amount of sorry we're out of time so i use it oh you give me thirty seconds of you know i mean. this i mean this is a dangerous topic i mean i guess you know it was leave it at that robert caro mark . and going out there are currently an estimated seventeen thousand nuclear weapons in the world so what are the chances someone actually uses one of them all as power. respond president joe cirincione. well. it's technology and innovation all the developments around russia we've got some huge earth covered. i mean that. aside. i think corporation kind of can. do. the best of all that all about money and i think that's like that for a politician right the boss but. there's just too much

work on the overall bill shows his true leadership and caring for the people of app latchia and -- appalachia and all across america. this country is a leader in the world, an innovator and a job creator. it's time that it reins in excessive regulations that cede burdens resulting in families, children, husbands, spouses worried about tomorrow. it's time our regulators pull back in. this amendment and this legislation overall will create that ability we have in the american dream again but not an american dream that's driven by regulations. i urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment. mr. waxman: if the gentleman will yield to me? mr. mckinley: and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. waxman: if the gentleman will yield? the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. mckinley: i yield back. mr. waxman: you won't do it. ok. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from west virginia. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. it is now i