the e.p.a. feel the impact that yare ideological agenda has imposed on the american citizen by reducing the emissions by 17%. my voters didn't have a choice. they are going to have to pay 17% more for their electricity and amounts to a funding reduction of $1.4 billion. that's what it costs the e.p.a. costs my constituents 17% every time they pay their electricity bill. it is only fair that the e.p.a. is forced to make hard decisions as to how divide up smaller budgets as it is forced to do as what families that i represent have to do if this rule is enacted. i reserve. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. calvert: i rise in opposition. i certainly understand and share the gentleman's frustration with the e.p.a. and with this administration's overzealous regulatory agenda. in this bill, as the gentleman well knows, we tried to reversal of this overreaching agenda that this administration has placed on american -- the american people. we have gone th

the e.p.a. studied the risk of oil spills on farms determined that 99% of farmers had never experienced a spill. they made modifications to the exemption threshold and required e.p.a. to go back to the drawing board to determine how to balance the needs of small producers with the spill risk. instead they defied congress' wishes and put together a study without evaluating risk specific to agriculture. it offered the same unsubstan and could not cite a spill and with that, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from arkansas. the gentleman from washington. >> i claim time in opposition fplgts this prohibits the e.p.a. against farms giving special treatment. this rule is not on the type of operation upon the storage of oil or petroleum products. d would reach waterways, you fall under these waterways. now some large farm operations a e fuel and cannot have spill plan. and make the plan. they amended its rule for facilities includeding farms avoiding the expense. e.p.a. provideded a template for a plan

the e.p.a. account. we are not arguing that funding for forest and rangeland research is a poor purpose, but it was fully funded in the budget and starting to feel like we are seeing amendment after amendment that is a way to starve the e.p.a. the e.p.a. is a critical agency. the very air we breathe and the water we drink are endangered by the policy decisions that are being made in this bill. the consequences will be felt negatively across the country. i cannot support taking money om an underfunded agency and putting it into a program that is already funded in this bill. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. mr. westerman: this is better wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities. this amendment will promote healthy forests and i urge a yes vote and i yield. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from maine is recognized. ms. pingree: we support healthy forests. i represent the state of maine where we have a tremendous amount of forests. we respect the val

the e.p.a. is forced to prioritize one site over another, leaving the other sites to be contaminated and in some cases up to 50 years. this amendment would help the e.p.a. clean up more contaminated materials in back yards, commercial properties sooner rather than later. later the house will consider another amendment that would designate an additional $15 million within the superfund account specifically for the enforcement provision. not only do we consistently underfund superfund cleanup back to these -- we have even underfunded the superfund to go after polluters who were found guilty of polluting our environment. in my district i have 13 sites that are contaminated today. i want to tell you about three of them. and the sites are named after the company that was accused and has been found liable. that is sheer win williams site. and that is located in my district. route 561 dump site and united states burn site. those other sites include part of my district also. back in the 1930's, sheerwin

the e.p.a. lacks injure diction to impose these standards. the e.p.a. has general standards -- standard setting authority but congress has designated the nuclear regulatory commission and its agreement states, as the lead when it comes to implementation and enforcement, a concern raised by the n.r.c.'s general council. the uranium industry has offered to work with the e.p.a. to review existing data and conduct additional sampling if warranted. the industry made this offer in may, 2015. and the e.p.a. never responded. which is a problem, which has been acknowledged earlier this evening with regard to an amendment about inquiries by stake holders and congress regarding the e.p. ample. they're so busy making rules they forget to respond to stake holders and members of congress. the american uranium production already faces intense computation from overseas production and uranium sales where our stockpiles being sold onto the market, depressing domestic prices and causing also additional importation

relief from the e.p.a.'s job-killing regulations is paramount to the economic growth that our country desperately needs right now. so i'm proud that bill takes the necessary steps to cut this red tape. this includes prohibiting funds to change the definition of waters under the federal water pollution control act or to enforce the proposed stream buffer rule. legislation also bars the e.p.a. from implementing new greenhouse gas regulations on power plants and provides flexibility for states to implement new ozone standards. in all, mr. chairman, this is a balanced bill. it invests taxpayer dollars in the right priorities and protects against the administration's harmful regulatory policies, helping to ensure a brighter future for our nation. i want to congratulate and thank the chairman of the subcommittee, mr. calvert has done a wonderful job constructing this bill. it's a good bill that deserves all of our support, and i urge an aye vote. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky yields back the

the e.p.a. spent an estimated $715 million for its criminal enforcement program. these 200 agents are equipped with guns and ammunition up to 30 mill meet for the caliber, camouflage and other deceptive equipment, unmanned aircraft and other mill tear style equipment. a 2015 report noted that the e.p.a. spent $24,700 on ammunition between 75 millimeter and 125 millimeter and $23,000 on ammunition over 125 millimeter. if this is true what possible use could the e.p.a. have for purchasing rounds of that size? the e.p.a. is one of more than 67 federal agencies that employ armed personnel, many of which most americans will never associate with law enforcement. these include the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration, the federal reserve board and the national institutes of health among others. federal agencies should be able to clearly demonstrate their need for armed personnel and absent such demonstration should rely on local law enforcement when there is need for armed protection. m

ast year the e.p.a. released phase two efficient standards for new medyume and heavy-duality trucks. while many are not opposed to the phase two rule, one section in the proposal wrongly applies these standards that are none as demrider kit. it is known as a group of parts that can include a frame, cab or axles but does not include an engine or transmission. it is less to purchase and extend the long life of a truck, businesses and drivers with a damaged or old vehicle may choose a demrider kit. demriders extend the useful life of engines while having a higher resale price. due to the rebuilt engines, they can be a more fuel efficient options allowing drivers to use less fuel. unform, the eep is proposing to propose the standards to glider kits even though they are not new vehicles. it is unclear whether the e.p.a. has the authority to regulate. while the e.p.a.'s stated goal they reduce emissions, the have not studied the impacts of gliders compared to new vehicles. it appears the agency is to force busi

the e.p.a. has proposed lower national ozone standards, regulations on new and existing power plants, regulations on waters of the united states, just to name a few. all of these regulations are based on questionable scientific data and will lead to higher energy prices for harder -- for hard working families and small businesses and without a doubt will negatively impact american jobs. the agency has cited its authority under the clean air act as the basis for many of its regulatory actions. however, when it comes to evaluating how its regulations impact american jobs, the agency has failed to follow the law. section 321-a of the clean air act clearly states, quote, the administrator shall conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment including, where appropriate, investigating threatened plant closures or reductions in employment allegedly resulting from such administration or enforcement, end quote. plch, the e.p.a. is even now involved in ongoing litigation for its

to hold the e.p.a. accountable and stop its anti-growth agenda of numerous harmful, costly, and potentially job-killing regulations, the bill contains a number of legislative provisions to halt these actions. mr. speaker, this legislation also includes language prohibiting the forest service or the b.l.m. from issuing new closures of public lands to hunting and recreational shooting which would preserve public access to every american can enjoy these pastimes on our treasured federal lands and national forests. further, the measure prevents the fish and wildlife service from closing fish hatcheries, a key salmon recovery tool in the pacific northwest and other parts of the contry. and continues a one-year delay on any further endangered species act status reviews, determinations, and rule making of the greater sage grouse. additionally, h.r. 5538 provides critical funding of the department of interior and the u.s. forest service to prevent and combat devastating wildfires. this is particularly important

we need to strengthen the standard the e.p.a. has for lead so we don't ater have these problems nationwide. host: up next on the end line we from brighton,ng massachusetts. morning, mark. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to bring up a couple of points. the first thing is i will mphasize to the listening audience and i would like to get your guest's viewpoint on the having a good quality water filtration system, but for any number, probably 100 different known contaminants. virtually all water supplies. more so in some. pet paoefr did -- peeve is the things we put in ater for example fluoride linked to all kinds of issues healthwise. hyperactivity, cancers, lowered i.q. arthritis. on and on. he science on fluoridation of water has come out and there ave been some pretty good high level science come out that was suppressed. host: we will let eric respond to that. systems, to filtration certainly if you are concerned about your drinking water and you know you have a problem, you a couple of options for a filtration system

the e.p.a. will now have to approve the plan. leon: we are getting an up close view tonight of the metro long-term repair plan better known as safetrack. maybe a headache for a lot of riders. brianne carter went out on the tracks to show us what was like inside the tunnel on work done between ballston and each falls church station. brianne: fastening and measuring. all part of the track overhaul underway during safetrack. >> noisy, dirty, physically. what they are doing here with the hammer there. he is doing tha brianne: abc7 got a rare section to walk the line of the orange line track. it begins in a dark tunnel so windy at times from oncoming trains, single tracking, crews have to hold on to their hat. crews have to get to a safe space when equipment is moving through. >> up on the catwalk and walk around them. >> the work on this surge got off to a slow start. today we got a first look at the cables that delayed work tuesday. after crews discovered they were still transmitting power. the focus here safety. we had to wear vest

another provision of the bill requires the e.p.a. to make the false assumption that burning biomass is carbon neutral. in reality in 2012, e.p.a.'s scientific advisory board challenged the claim that all biomass is carbon neutral. it's not appropriate to assume that all types of forest biomass are carbon neutral. numerous studies underscore that some types can increase the officeric carbon. and scientists need to assess them and have it uncorrupted by congress. i seek to render the anti-climate riders of this bill. executive order titled preparing the united states for the impabt of climate change requires federal agencies to integrate considerations of the challenges posed by climate change effects into their programs, policies, rules and operations to ensure they continue to be effective even as the climb changes. another executive order, planning for federal sustainability requires federal agencies to carry out a range of actions. these include tracking and reducing federal greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation, renewable e

and water providers from the e.p.a. talked about recent tests with toxins in the water supply.he contamination believed to have come from the firefighting foam used at the willow grove air station. >>> a group of nurses at hahnemann hospital made sure a cancer patient got to spend a special night with his daughter. and jen bought a ticket for the paul mccartney concert but couldn't afford one for herself. and his health took a turn and he didn't feel he would be feeling good enough. the nurses stepped in. >> the director called the cancer center at hanneman and they gave them money to buy the ticket and it was free of cost and we wanted to make it a special night for the two of them. >> it is shocking and everything, but at the same time -- this is how they are every day. >> culpepper says the entire experience was a dream-come-true. >>> a serial shooter now blamed for at least seven homicides in phoenix, and that's not all. we have details on his pattern and why investigators are still confused. >>> plus, call them no-go zones. major destinations ask players not to play pokemo

the e.p.a. is investigating the environmental justice claims and d.e.q. says it's cooperating. >> nobody's trying to put this industry out of business just out of the pollution bid. >> reporter: in a statement the north carolina pork council called the claims wildly exaggerated. it added, we strongly reject any charge that race plays any part in the location or operation of hog farms. >> when those sprayers are going, this house takes a direct hit. >> takes a direct hit, yes. >> reporter: rene miller and more than 500 residents filed civil suits against smithfield's pork division claiming the farms are making it impossible for them to enjoy their homes. >> i'm stuck, and i always say, i'll probably die here stuck. >> reporter: while the civil suits play out in court, miller dreads the summer. she says it's the busy season for the sprayer across the road. >> who wants to live like this? >> reporter: mark strassmann, cbs news, warsaw, north carolina. >> quijano: next on the cbs evening news, dealers are selling used cars knowing they have serious defects, a

and the fourth rider, section 427, tpwhrokes e.p.a. and army corps of engineers clean water rule, which restores critical plugs standards to our nation's small streams at wetlands. at stake is the protection of almost 60% of u.s. streams. headwaters and nonperennial streams supply drinking waters to more than 00 million americans. without upkated guide ants, businesses will often not know when they need an army corps permit this uncertainty will continue in the light of the recent supreme court decision and underscores the need for the clean water rule to clarify the limits of federal authority. these riders are a far cry from sensible adjustments to the clean water act. on the contrary, they're just the latest in the seemingly end legislation effort to undo clean water protections and regulatory clarity. all four of those are not only unnecessary they pose a significant threat to water quality, public health, and fish and wildlife populations. just as important, poison pill riders like this prevent us from doing our jobs and pass appro

then five out of 26 drinking water sites tested higher than recommended level of lead by the e.p.a. that was terrorizing news for this chief of staff. he works in cannon and so does his wife. she just had a baby. >> we called the pediatrician and asked what she recommends for the potential risk to the newborn. she said get to the blood testing clinic immediately. reporter: also frustrating the office of the architect of the capitol was slow to release information. of order signs at water fountains. he says he and other staffers put up the lead contamination notices. >> the signs were another example of what i believe to have been their effort to downplay the seriousness of it. reporter: the working theory is the contamination is coming from the construction at cannon. >> it doesn't come from the water. in fact, the lines leading into cannon do not have lead in them. what we think it comes from is within the complex, itself. >> starting wednesday workers are being offered free blood lead level testing. >> still don't know what the cause of the lead is. we don't know the severity of th

and after they made this provision to change what the e.p.a. could regulate, as i mentioned earlier, take the money out of ebola, they then moved on to say, we know that women across america will be concerned about family planning because of the threat of the zika virus. so they put language in the bill prohibiting planned parenthood from providing family planning to those who are concerned about the spread of the zika virus. they just can't stay away from planned parenthood. and they included it. well, you'd think that was enough to make this the most controversial political bill to move from the house, but they had one more trick up their sleeve. a provision to allow the display of confederate flags in our veterans' cemeteries. confederate flags. why? why would you take an important bill dealing with a public health crisis and lard it up with all of these miserable provisions that just excite hearts of some political right-wingers? they did it because they were hoping that we would stop the funding for the zika virus. it is stopped now, waitin

spend billions of dollars upgrading their coal-powered plants, but they continue to be harassed by the e.p.a. it's time that this agency top-down approach is dealt with. it's not in the best interest of the folks in georgia. and the 12th district of georgia, let alone the rest of the country. it is time to get back to congress writing the laws and the courts interpreting them and dismantle the fourth branch of this government. i'm proud to support this legislation that gives federal agencies a reality check. we wonder why the economy is not growing. you know everywhere i go, people say that the biggest restriction on this economy is the regulatory overreach. we must stop this. and that's why i'm proud to support the separation of powers restoration act and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. america is facing so many important issues that need to be addressed that this congress fuses to address and so it enders do-nothing bills like this that isn't going to pass in the senate and if it did, it would not be signed by the pres

these issues were highlighted last year with the e.p.a.'s gold king and standard mine spills in colorado's animus river. i'm happy to present this piece of legislation as part of a comprehensive response to the gold king spill and glad that it comes one year, less than one year from the anniversary of that disaster. i hope the other bills, h.r. 3734, offered by the gentleman from nevada, mr. hardy, and h.r. 3843, authored by the energy and mineral resources subcommittee chairman lamb born, will also be considered by the house soon. h.r. 3844 seeks to address part of the funding related challenge for abandoned mine lands and orphaned oil and gas well sites by creating a foundation. based on other successful models, for the national park system, the u.s. fish and wildlife service, the u.s. forest service this foundation would solicit private contributions to remediate sites that were abandoned prior to the enactment of the surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977 and the implementation of the bureau of land management's mining regul

the e.p.a. already regulate the food supply to keep it safe for you when you eat.uiters shows us when organic is worth it. kimberly: a full 79% of consumers report being concerned about the safety of their food, which partly explains organic appeal. food grown without added hormone, chemical pesticide and fertilizers. at the organic market in arlington they don't claim they are better for you but better for the environment. >> we vetted it. we have taken trips to the farm. we have seen how the animals live, where they live, what they are eating. you have more piece of mind that the chemicals are not going into you or the soil. not in the water shed. we will have the potomac and the chesapeake bay to swim and paddle board in and play in the parks because of what is going on, it goes downstream. >> so you want to protect nature from toxic chemicals. what about protecting your pocketbook? >> it is expensive. >> how expensive? >> it could be 1.5 to double the amount of the conventional item. kimberly: the pink lady an is $2.49 a pound. organic is $3.49. regular lemon c

building and they were told that testing found five of the 26 drinking water sites had lead level above the e.p.a. limit. the fountains have been turned off and signs posted and bottled water is provided for staffers. unclear how long it has been going on but the drinking water got a clean bill of health in 2015. the working theory is the lead is coming from the construction going on at the building. >> we think it comes from within the complex itself. roz: they were notified that the testing would begin in the basement of the rayburn building and free for the staffers and the representatives who want the test done. in the meantime we are told it takes 72 hours or so to get the test results back so a lot of people will wait to hear from that. coming up at 6:00, you will hear from the chief of staff who pushed forward to get the testing done. his wife works with the building along with him and she just had a baby. they were very concerned about that. we have more from them coming up at 6:00. now we are live on capitol hill, i'm roz plater, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. coming up for us here at "abc

i listened to the gentleman on the floor today talking about overregulation of the e.p.a. that's what's wrong with this nation today, regular willer to law allowing the executive branch to run this nation, without the people's voice being heard. that's what's happening here. i suggest respectfully, i urge my colleagues to vote yes on my amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. mccollum: thank you, mr. chairman. i've had the opportunity to be up in this area. this protected area encompasses a wild range of arctic and subarctic ecosystems. and the native flora and fauna is magnificent. the refuge is incredible with and i ological diversity simply understand that the gentleman from alaska feels strongly about this issue and in a way that i feel differently about it. and that he has been an advocate for his state for decades. but on this important issue, we just simply december agree. lastly, i would be remiss if i didn't point out one more obvious truth. the president will not sign a bill loaded u

i'm concerned about the e.p.a.ng diminished and going away and war and i don't want our planet depleted. hillary has a lot of plans that are great and i support her. thank you, hillary for running. >> my name is zack wall i'm a hillary clinton delegate this time in 2016. i was a speak they are in 2012, but i only got flown in for one day to talk about my family growing up and why same-sex marriage is important for me and my family and i'm glad to be back to support hillary and protect marriage equality for families like mine all over the country. >> what's most important to me is equal pay for equal work and i feel like secretary clinton is the best person for the job. she has worked under the obama administration to make sure every woman gets equal pay for equal work. >> my name is jessday justice and i'm in the seattle area. i'm a delegate for berny and here to represent the berny delegates. we won seattle and washington by 72% and i'm theory make sure their voices are heard and represent the things we want to do

represents the only real way to commence with the kind of antimosquito efforts we need, efforts the e.p.adirector herself assures us are not only safe but perhaps the most important tool we can use right now as the vaccine takes a period of time to develop. democrats also pretend the compromise conference report would prohibit funding or deny access for birth control. actually, it provides more resources for health care including preventive care than the zika bill democrats voted for just last month. this compromise bill directs those health care dollars to the very places you'd expect: like hospitals, public health departments, comiewngs -- community health centers and medicaid. democrats are now upset because a political supporter doesn't get a special carve-outs, so they're demanding an earmark as the cost of ending their tac against women's health and their blockade of zika funding. of course democrats would like us all to ignore the fact that the very same partisan campaign organization would not have been able to access these medicaid funds in the president's zika request either. so

this includes interpretations like those that undermine the e.p.a.'s clean power plan and waters of the united states rules. these are just a few examples of rules consciously designed by regulatory agencies to violate congress' intent. they threaten to wipe out the nation's key fuel for federal -- for electric power generation and extend the e.p.a.'s permitting tentacles into every puddle in every american back yard. this bill also takes on the related hour doctrine under which courts defer to agencies' self-serving interpretations of their own regulation. our and chevron deference work hand in hand to expand the power of federal bureaucrats to impose whatever decision they want as as they can escaping whenever possible meaningful checks and balances from the courts. in perhaps the most fame use marbury vs. madison, chief justice marshall declared for a unanimous court that, it is in the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. since the chevron doctrine allows judges to evade interpreting the law and instead to defer to a

and just of course they have to do something about the e.p.a. you've got to do something there. or let's do something with the clean water act. so that's all in this bill, and what we sent to the house, you wouldn't recognize what we have back here, and the zika mosquitoes are still out, and then to make this bill even more strange when we get back from the house, they stuck in a provision that said we can fly the confederate flag on veterans cemeteries. how about that? so is there any reason that we should be suspect about what's going on around here? of course we are. and, mr. president, unless we hear something publicly from the republican leader today just as i've indicated, just as i've indicated, that he publicly would give his word, that all appropriation bills that are considered in both chambers sent to the president for his signature will comply with what we have talked about. fair funding parity and rejection of poison pill riders. if we don't get that assurance, we're going to have to move to a different plane, and it's just unfair to do anything else. all we need is

not a great power that' can level the e.p.a. united states and the west. existential and teand to that view is that bush made a fatal mistakes after 9/11 overbracketting, kicking over the applecart that we have. i think his analysis is entirely wrong. that's what i mean when i sea he doesn't understand. that is a coherent world view. it just happens to be wrong. >> now, that being said and i think most americans would agree with you in both parties, all right, that we certainly haven't handled isis the way we should have handled it then it becomes a big campaign issue. trump is going to say i'm going to stomp them into the ground. i'm going to get the war declaration. i'm going to do. this i'm going to do that. short on specifics to be fair. okay. but he is going to come across and point to hillary clinton and barack obama and say these people can't protect you. they won't protect you. on and on and on. will that have a direct effect on whether mr. trump wins or not? >> short on specifics? that is entirely empty. we have got to be strong and we have got to

chairman, was at the e.p.a., the environmental protection agency, and was identified by the inspector general there. this person was watching two to six hours per day of explicit material. otherwise known as pornography, on the clock and paid for by the american taxpayer. title 3 includes the text of h.r. 3023, a bill introduced by representative ken buck, to lengthen the probationary period for two years after training is completed. currently, the federal employees have a probationary period of one year which often does not give managers sufficient time to perform on-the-job performance. tim walberg s by and will modernize the senior executive service. the elite administrators within the federal government. specifically, the bill will increase the probationary members for members for two years and make members subject to the same suspension authorities for misconduct that are already applied to other civil service employees. additionally, agencies will be able to remove the s.e.s. employees for, quote, such cause as would promote the efficiency of the service, end quote. so what we'r

lamalfa: under this administration we have seen the army corps of engineers and the e.p.a. continuously overstep their authority to an unprecedented degree. despite clear opposition and legal barriers, in fact, in 2012 the supreme court condemned e.p.a.'s practice of using the law to persecute farmers and ranchers with absolutely no proof or due process offered to these landowners. again, earlier this year the supreme court shut down e.p.a.'s ongoing attempts to exempt their actions, limiting property rights from traditional challenges. one of our nation's most fundamental rights. it's not a fight over clean water. it's a fight about federal control. creators of this law never intended for bureaucrats to have control of nearly every ditch, puddle, ponled they can get their hands on while trying to regulate everyday activities like plowing, explicitly exempted under the law. we continue to see this administration use their own very imagine nive interpretations to -- imagine a tive interpretations -- imaginativ interpretations of the law. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker

that's why the e.p.a. looks at this so closely. all other federal agencies, the lean water act is the law of this land and has been for decades. they eliminate that. the republican leader gets up here and talks about, i hope they're happy -- 0 words to that effect. mr. president, the bill we got back as it relates to zika takes $500 million from veterans, from the veterans administration. that's what they did. can't make this stuff up. and what was that money to be used for? processing claims. the presiding officer has been out front on wanting a way to speed up veterans' claims. they need to be handled more expeditiously. there was a provision put in the original legislation to give them $500 million to speed that up. now it's out with the zika bill. it's gone. two years ago a ravaging epidemic swept africa -- ebola, something that was terribly hurtful to the people of africa. the pooh emin america were -- the people in america were afraid. we had nurses and doctors coming here to be treated because we had better facilities than th

over and over again the e.p.a., the f.d.a., and the usda told us that these products are safe, that they are safe for the environment, safe for other plants and certainly safe for our food supply. since that hearing the u.s. government reinforced their decisions on the safety of these products. last november the f.d.a. took several steps based on sound science regarding food that is produced from biotech plants, including issue final guidance for. the presidin.the presiding-- foo voluntarily list their products. and more importantly, the food and drug administration denied a petition that would have required the mandatory on package labeling of biotech foods. the f.d.a. maintained that evidence was not provided for the agency to put such a requirement in place because there is no health, safety or nutritional difference between buy -- biotech crops and their nonbiotech varieties. a recent report from the national academy of sciences found no substantial evidence of a difference in risk to human health between currently commercial available genetically engineered crops and conventionally

in april, i was successful for the e.p.a. to withdraw a regulation that would harm the auto racing. i spoke with one worker who told me if this one regulation would have gone through, he would have lost his entire livelihood. that is unacceptable. the problem is agencies have moved beyond their constitutional authority and washington bureaucrats are accountable to no one. they show little regard of the new rules on working families, on people looking for jobs and our economy in general. from regulatory gut punches like obamacare and ever expanding e.p.a. rules, stacking one on top of the other often before the previous rule is enacted, regulations under this president have would he haven a web so large.-- complex and it means lower wages and more families struggling. at its core, overregulation is a form of self-taxation. working families and working people are paying the price for every new rule that comes out of washington. i recognize some regulations are necessary, but we need a regulatory system that is transparent, one that balances the needs of our public safety and strength

he has worked at the e.p.a. since 2004 dedicating most of his professional career to serving the american people. i know my colleagues how fortunate we are when we get detainees that work in our office. that he provide extremely valuable help. michael wolf has been an incredible restores to our office. he's been port part of my team, a civil engineer by training, something we could desperately use in our office. it was instrumental in my work on fra water infrastructure this year. he's also worked tirelessly to protect the clean water rule, the chesapeake bay arrangement and increasing access to public lands in maryland. while michael is incredibly smarkts the first thing one notices about mike is that he's nearly always smiling, even on tough days he brightens up our office and it had been a pleasure to know him. he will be leaving our office next week, and i wanted to take this time to personally thank him for his service to the united states senate. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. the pres

have access to safe drinking water and we must not hinder the ability of federal agencies such as the e.p.a. to prevent future lead contamination crises such as occurred in flint. federal judges who are not constitutionally insulated from political tissue or who are constitutionally insulated from political accountability should not have the power to second guess the agency experts concerning the appropriateness of highly technical regulations crucial to protecting the health and safety of millions of americans. accordingly, i urge my colleagues to support the conyers amendment and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. o you seek time in opposition? >> mr. chairman, i rise to claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> mr. chairman, i oppose the amendment which carves out of the bill regulations on lead and copper in drinking water and in so doing, it would preserve unelected bureaucrats' broad discretion to impose on the public overarching statutor

the e.p.a., f.d.a., e.p.a., many witnesses declaring that agriculture and biotechnology is safe. i have changed the name because g.m.o. has become a pejorative. it's hard to fix it, but that's what it is, agriculture biotechnology. and we went to work and passed a bill 14-6. then we tried to change the bill so that the minority could possibly vote for it. unfortunately, we're not able to get the required number of votes for cloture. back then, it would have been very appropriate, it seems to me, for anybody interested to bring their amendment to the floor. senator merkley is here. we offered, or at least through staff. he tells me he didn't get the message. i was for all amendments at that particular time, but we didn't even get cloture. mr. merkley: mr. president, would the senator yield for a question? mr. roberts: i do not have the time. the senator from delaware has yielded to me. i will finish my statement in just a minute if i can. and so here we are with the jul, and here we are with the vermont labeling law becoming in effect the national law. and i know there are some for

that's why the e.p.a. looks at this so closely. all other federal agencies, the lean water act is the law of this land and has been for decades. they eliminate that. the republican leader gets up here and talks about, i hope they're happy -- 0 words to that effect. mr. president, the bill we got back as it relates to zika takes $500 million from veterans, from the veterans administration. that's what they did. can't make this stuff up. and what was that money to be used for? processing claims. the presiding officer has been out front on wanting a way to speed up veterans' claims. they need to be handled more expeditiously. there was a provision put in the original legislation to give them $500 million to speed that up. now it's out with the zika bill. it's gone. two years ago a ravaging epidemic swept africa -- ebola, something that was terribly hurtful to the people of africa. the pooh emin america were -- the people in america were afraid. we had nurses and doctors coming here to be treated because we had better facilities than th

that's why the e.p.a. looks at this so closely. all other federal agencies, the lean water act is the law of this land and has been for decades. they eliminate that. the republican leader gets up here and talks about, i hope they're happy -- 0 words to that effect. mr. president, the bill we got back as it relates to zika takes $500 million from veterans, from the veterans administration. that's what they did. can't make this stuff up. and what was that money to be used for? processing claims. the presiding officer has been out front on wanting a way to speed up veterans' claims. they need to be handled more expeditiously. there was a provision put in the original legislation to give them $500 million to

as i mentioned, foods produced through the aid of bioengineering are according to the f.d.a., e.p.a. and usda safe. however, many consumers do want to know if the food they're buying is produced using biotechnology which is why this legislation provides a national bioengineered food labeling standard. many of us who sit on the ag committee would have preferred a voluntary labeling standard. after all, as has been demonstrated by scientific experts, whether a food contains bioengineered material is not a food safety issue. yet there are many perspectives on this issue, and in the true spirit of compromise, senator roberts, senator stabenow deserve a great deal of credit for coming up with a legislative solution. this bill's national bioengineered food labeling standard will ensure that a consumer who buys a food product with text, symbol or electronic link indicating bioengineered content in, say, north dakota, for example, is purchasing a product that is held to the same disclosure standards as food sold in another state, for example, new york or california. meanwhile this bill will p

e.p.a.-registered repellents, and that includes repellents that contain deet. and i really think people should go to the c.d.c. web site because they have a whole list of e.p.a.-registered repellents there and a lot of other great informn. our los angeles newsroom tonight. jorng thank you. congress left for the summer vacation without funding america's zika defense. the obama administration had asked for $1.9 billion. republicans put up $1.1 billion, but the g.o.p. wouldn't allow money for one particular women's health provider in puerto rico that has ties to planned parenthood. democrats couldn't live with that. now, as predicted, the virus has arrived. vacation in september. in another important story tonight, north carolina's law requiring voters to show photo i.d. was thrown out by a federal court that said the law was designed to bar black americans from the polls. this is the third time this month that similar laws were struck down. the others in texas and wisconsin. here's jan crawford. >> reporter: the court called it the "most restrictive voting law north carolina has seen since the era saying

the decision. but you know what? e.p.a. won 90% of all it wanted. that's all you need. you put it at the top of your story and you're not going to be wrong. >> back to my how i started. you have a series. there was nothing like that this year. i was hoping to have a question for you and i couldn't find one. trr contraception case was a little like that. the contraception case was unsigned unanimous but completely open ache. and sort of falsely declared that both sides are very close to agreement and we're going to send it back to the lower courts to let them finish up the work we've nudged them to because we're not really judges we're family court mediators and we're going to bring them together. and both sides declare victory. i forget what my headline was and it probably wasn't wrong. probably wasn't ideal either because we don't know what it means. >> this was the term i read a number where i thought, it's not really hard to be a supreme court justice. i could get seven of you and me we could be an eight-member court and here's how you do it. you read the briefs on on

the supreme court stopped another e.p.a. rule over carbon dioxide emissions over existing power plants, power plants that have been there and functioning. just like the so-called waters of the u.s. rule, the administration could not just go ahead and do whatever it wanted to do. the rule could do so much damage it said that the courts said they had to just stop the president in his tracks. the supreme court said that it was skeptical that any time a washington agency claims to suddenly find broad powers -- and that's what's been happening now. the washington agency is going back to old laws and finding new broad powers that have been -- a law that's been on the books and functioning for a long, long time. the supreme court said they are very skeptical of an administration that does that. the court said -- quote -- "we expect congress to speak clearly, clearly if it wishes to assign to an agency decisions of vast economic and political significance." well, carbon never -- congress never did that with the carbon dioxide rule. t

the gentleman's concern for b.l.a. roads but must oppose this amendment because it takes money from already-starved e.p.a. their account is already cut by $92 million. amendments have cut an additional $116 million. mr. israel: while i hair the concern the gentleman has, the fact is the bill already provides $0 million to b.i.a. road maintenance, this is $3 tnt million more than the budget request. so although road maintenance is critically important, i cannot support the offset. i oppose the amendment and reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. chaffetz: i'd like to yield to the chairman of the commow. the chair: the gentleman from alifornia is recognized. pll calvert: i appreciate the gentleman's amendment, i experienced with mrs. kirkpatrick and ms. mccollum, we were at the navajo reservation about a year ago, my back is still hurting from the road we were on. it was quite an experience. they need help. so i think this is a very modest amount of money, i appreciate the support that our colleagues give to indian country. they certainly deserve it. i