mr. pallone: mr. speaker, under the proven model of environmental regulation, congress sets the standard of protection that states programs must meet. e.p.a. interprets that standard through rules or guidance, so states know what they must do to achieve that level of protection. states can demonstrate to e.p.a. that they have in place programs adequate to provide the minimum level of protection required, and e.p.a. retains backstop enforcement authority to ensure that state programs are enforced. but this bill, mr. chairman, fails on each of these points. unlike e.p.a.'s rule, it does not contain any minimum federal requirement to protect health and the environment. it undermines the minimum national safeguards in e.p.a.'s rule by introducing significant discretion and it fails to establish federal backstop authority. and finally, it fails to define what facilities the bill covers instead of giving states discretion to define the scope of their programs. so this proposal will not ensure the safe dispo

mr. pallone: mr. chairman, the amendment offered today by congressman fitzpatrick expresses the sense of congress that unique identity fires could significantly enhance the availability of medical device data for purposes of postmarket surveillance. i've long supported the use of u.d.i.'s in the food and drug administration amendment act of 2007. we required f.d.a. to establish a unique device identification system and in the food and drug administration safety and innovation act of to 12, we required f.d.a. to -- 2012, we required f.d.a. to have implementations. it would lead to improved medical devices and care across our health care system. it will modernize how f.d.a. monitors the safety of medical devices after they have been approved or cleared and identify medical devices with a history of safety issues. it also will facilitate recalls and making it easier for patients to learn when their medical device, such as a knee implant, is subject to a recall. the identifier is one more tool that will h

mr. pallone: mr. chairman, today the house is considering h.r. 6, the 21st century cures act, legislation that will further encourage biomedical innovation and the development of new treatments and cures that will benefit millions. more importantly, this legislation will ensure that our country remains on the forefront of medical innovation, while maintaining the gold standard for approvals of medical products. mr. chairman, this legislation is the product of numerous forums that occurred in washington and around the nation that heard directly from patients and advocacy groups about what innovations could make a difference in curing diseases. it is a truly bipartisan initiative of the energy and commerce committee and want to thank chairman upton subcommittee health chairman mr. pitts, ranking member green and our sponsor on the democratic side, representative degette, for working together on this bill. the legislation had includes a number of policy proposals that are meant to advance the work that n

mr. pallone for your leadership on a lot of issues but very much with respect to climate change. to my good friend john sarbanes who's been a leader on a lot of issues, but we have worked so closely together on chesapeake bay protection, he's worked very hard to encourage young people to appreciate the great outdoors because the more they can appreciate their surrounding environment, the more they will understand the importance of protecting it. to john, thank you for all of your leadership. and paul who's helping new yorkers recognize that they are also part of that chesapeake bay watershed. one of the challenges we have had in maryland, frankly is we understand what a precious resource we have here in the bay. but as mr. sarbanes indicated that bay watershed extends over multiple states, all the way up to new york and the drainage basin, you know the ratio of land mass to water is huge. that's why it is such a challenge to make sure we continue to protect the bay. i just want to underscore a couple of points that have been raised and then add a couple of observations. look, i w

mr. pallone and that ice cream cone was melting way too fast because of the climate change. let me join my colleagues in thanking you superintendent carter and the witnesses for joining us this morning for this very important discussion. superintendent carter, i want to also, as my colleagues have done, thank you for your stewardship of this great institution that helps train and raise men and women who are serving our country. thank you for that. mr. mayor, thank you for your leadership and look forward to your testimony about this very important issue in the immediate impact climate change is having right here in the city of annapolis. to mr. baker, will baker, thank you for your incredible leadership on protecting the chesapeake bay. we have, as our motto here in maryland and surrounding areas, "save the bay." and mr. baker's head of the chesapeake bay foundation has been leading that effort here for a good long time. so thank you. and dr. ekwurzel, thank you for your great leadership your contributions to the scientific debate but also translating that scientific analysi

mr. pallone, you're now recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. as the investigation into the dugway incident continues we're learning that more and mer labs received the live anthrax shipments in addition to the 88 labs that the d.o.d. directly sent the shipments. so we're talking about nearly 200 labs. and as more labs are involved, the opportunities only increase. so i do want to understand whether it's necessary to have so many different labs involved with dangerous biological agents. i know ms. degette mentioned this in her opening statements. do you have an opinion op the number of labs working with anthrax? >> i don't we know the number of labs that are working with anthrax. that's one of the issues. well we have information of where -- are you talking about -- >> just an answer please. >> we do not know all of the high containment laboratories that exist. we have controls for a subset of dangerous pathogens. there are other highly infectious path yenogens that require a laboratory. >> dr. crosse, it's been recommended of the establishment

mr. pallone. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. chairman. i have stated at our two energy and commerce committee hearings on this issue that i'm sympathetic to the need for federal legislation. it does not make sense to have a patchwork of food labeling requirements in different states. i also do not believe that genetically engineered foods are unsafe. if they were unsafe, they would not be allowed on the market. however, i acknowledge that the majority of consumers want foods made with genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled as such. they view this as a right to know issue. while i don't know of any scientific reason to require the foods to be labeled differently foods, i not believe we'll engender confidence in these foods if we pass this bill. i fear by preempting state right to know laws without creating any national labeling requirement, this legislation will be seen by most consumers as an attempt by congress and washington to prevent them from knowing which foods have g.e. ingredients. and th

mr. pallone for five minutes. >> i want to get one question to mr. adelstein about infrastructure or in disasters like hurricane sandy but then i want to get a question to governor lewis so i'm trying to split this up. three years ago hurricane sandy devastated my district. the force of the storm knocked out some indications for days. mr. adelstein you testified about the wireless infrastructure being deployed and up raided across the country and issa port this to plummet but my constituents are concerned about whether the equipment works in a disaster so what should and should do to make sure people can call for help and reach loved ones in an emergency and what do you think that the fcc's work to improve resiliency? >> at the top priority for industry. we want to make sure customers get access when they needed the most. we saw cooperation between t-mobile and t. -- at&t and share their network operation centers. i would say in terms of the structures themselves not one of them might down during the storm storm. the issue was things that were beyond

mr. pallone, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. some of my colleagues are quick to argue that epa's proposed ozone standard will hurt the economy. history tells us that cleaning up pollution can benefit the economy as well as human health and the environment. it provides a perfect example of how we can make steady progress in cleaning up the air while growing the economy. ms. mccabe, do we have to choose between clean air and economic growth? what does the history of the clean air act tell us about our ability to cut pollution while building our economy? >> it shows us the two things go hand in hand. we reduced air pollution dramatically in this country. the economy has grown. we've also shown that this country -- and businesses in this country have innovated and come up with pollution control technologies that employ american workers and make us leaders in the world on selling this kind of technology. >> when we talk about air pollution regulation my republican colleagues often focus on costs, but they aren't talking about the cos

mr. pallone: august 6 will mark the 50th anniversary of the voting rights act that stood for half a september try of the great guardian of america's right to vote. two years ago, the supreme court dismantled key protections making matters worse, republicans have refused to restore the protections and bring up a renewed and strengthened voting rights act. the right to vote is under attack around the country. states and localities are passing laws that restrict the right to vote making it harder for young people, disabled americans and people of color to participate in our democracy. mr. speaker, i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of the voter empowerment act and the voting rights advancement act. i call on my republican colleagues and pass renewed strengthened and ensure the ballot box belongs to every american. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is r

mr. pallone. we have to address the backup power issue.f you -- if the power is standing and no juice to it, there's no use -- i would be happy to do a more detail response on that if you would like. >> ok. if you do have something you could update us with now, i would like to maybe have a written response if you could without objection. second question in my opening statement i sported the decision to modify and since the rules have passed however i heard criticism, how do you respond to that question of these decisions? >> we have tightened up the rules substantially and will be happy to discuss with the specific ways in which we have done that. the key things, if you take a look and i have to be real careful of how i talk about this. the record with regard to des and their relationship with dish we use the totality test that has never been applied before to say we don't think that that's a good idea at a staff level. that's coming from the commission. i have to rule on that. the fact of the matter put it into the de rules. and so i thin

mr. pallone or your leadership. we have worked very closely together on chesapeake bay protection.e have worked hard to encourage young people are to appreciate the art -- to appreciate the great outdoors. thank you for your leadership. paul, who is helping new yorkers recognize that they are also part of the chesapeake bay watershed. a challenge we have had in maryland is that we understand what a precious resource we have in the chesapeake bay, but the they watershed -- the chesapeake bay watershed continues up to new york. the ratio of landmass to water is huge. that is why it is such a challenge to make sure that we continue to protect the bay.l i want to underscore a couple of points. i wish that all members of congress are the same level of understanding of the challenges and threats as the american people are. we continue to have science deniers in the united states congress. people who can stare the evidence in the face and still put their heads in the sand. the american public is ahead of the game. they recognize this is not a distant threat, but here and now . they see it

mr. pallone pointed out luckily no one has died over this. i recognize ms.egette for five minutes. >> dr. crosse, you talked in your testimony how people could be infected and even some epidemic could be started if you got a particularly purulent agents that got released correct? in addition national security implications related to the mishandling of agents. is that also correct? >> that is also a concern. >> that is that these agents got into the wrong hands, right? >> that's right. >> you have recommendations not fully implemented yet. >> many recommendations have taken action. the primary one but no movement is perhaps some type of more centralized oversight. >> to have a single federal entity to set the standards for all the agencies, is that right? dr. hassell what is your agency's recommendation for the federal entity? >> i will say in the department itself will do that internally. >> if that makes sense in many ways, why haven't we done that? why haven't you implemented that in cooperation with your fellow agencies? >> like i say we are going to do t

mr. pallone, five minutes for your opening statement. >> thank you, chairman pitts and chairman upton and i want to thank chairman upton for the comments he just made, highlighting how we need to perceive this as a national program, and impacting people that came and helped out on 9/11 and the aftermath from all parts of the country. my staff is probably tired of my telling the story but i remember within a few days after the attack, we went up to new york city with president bush and i was standing next to this big yellow fire engine that said hialeah, florida. and i said, what is this truck doing from hialeah? because i think it was only one or two days after and i wondered how it even got there so quickly. and i talked to the firemen from hialeah, florida, and they said as soon as this happened we got in our fire truck and we drove up from florida because we wanted to help. and it just struck me at the time about how so many people responded from all over the country. and so many people were injured because of the fact that they were there for a few days or a few weeks or a few months