i remember the cuyahoga river burning with flames that were eight stories high and that couldn't be putut for a week. i remember when they declared lake erie dead. i remember that i couldn't swim in the hudson, the charles or the potomac growing up and what the air smelled like in washington, d.c. which wasn't even an industrial city. we had thousands of americans dying every year in smog events. >> yeah. >> these are -- i was -- i trained hawks from when i was a little boy, i, and i continue to do that today, and i remember when i used to visit my uncle in the white house, and in 1962 i wrote my uncle a letter and said to him that i wanned to write a book about pollution, and i'd like to meet with him about that issue, and he, i was eight years old. [laugh] he had me in to. >> he found time on the calendar. >> he found time on the calendar, had me in to the oval office. whenever i visit the white house i always look down the old post office building in washington, d.c. because there were pair of eastern and adam peregrine falcons. >> yeah. >> .which was the most spectacular predatory b

we have all heard and which was recently raised in a letter that i received from a constituent in cuyahoga falls, ohio. he wanted to though how congress can help with rising gas prices, prices that are forcing him to spend less on taking care of his family and causing uncertainty and uneasiness. it's with my constituent in mind that i offer this amendment today. mr. speaker, today we have an opportunity to join together to pass this amendment and to do something that my constituent and for the middle class families like his across this country that exist in each and every district. >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will suspend. the house is not in order. members please take your conversations from the floor. the gentlelady will proceed. ms. sutton: thank you, mr. speaker. at the outset, i want to be clear. this amendment, this motion, it does not kill the underlying bill. so regardless of whether you intend to vote for the legislation or against it, you'll have the opportunity to do that today. this amendment simply offers us, democrats and republicans

beside me is a picture of the cuyahoga river in 1952. the river is on fire. the reason for the fire is that the river was heavily contaminated with flammable industrial waste. this water was dangerous to drink, needless to say, and to swim in. fish and wildlife could not survive here. ms. hirono: flooding in this river would have spread pollution to the shore and neighborhoods. in short, this was dainls for the thovelt people and the communities that depended on this river. it was incidents like these that helped raise public awareness of the dangers of water pollution. ultimately, that awareness became government action, including the creation of the environmental protection agency, e.p.a., in 1970 and passage of the clean water act in 1972. the e.p.a.'s purpose is simple, to protect human health and the environment. it does this by ensuring minimum standards for water quality nationwide while acting as a referee between the states. despite this important mission, this bill slashes the e.p.a.'s budget by 18% from current levels. of course i rise to speak aga

in 1969, the cuyahoga river famously caught fire, symbolizing the abysmal water quality of the water in the great lakes basin. legislation from the clean water act and great lakes restoration initiatives have gone a long way toward returning the lakes to good health. however they face a new threat beyond water quality. the diversion, removal of water from the great lakes basin. in recognition that due to national and global trends, the value of fresh water will increase as will the incentive to remove it from the great lakes. the eight states that border the great lakes entered into a compact with each other and two canadian provinces on the use of great lakes water. congress ratified the agreement and was signed into law by president bush in 2008. among the most important provisions of the compact are restrictions of the removal or diversion of water from the great lakes basin. the underlying bowl was to prevent any one state from plundering the fresh water in the great lakes. so it is with great concern that i learned yesterday that the ohio state legislature passed legislation to