Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the TRAIN Act and urge the House to reject it. The Clean Air Act is one of this nation's most important laws. Over the last 40 years, it has greatly reduced pollution across the length and breadth of this country, allowing all Americans to live longer, healthier lives. There is a tendency to take the steady air quality improvements our country has made for granted. In the course of my trade duties on the Ways and Means Committee, I have visited many countries. I've been to foreign cities where the air is so thick with smog that some days you can't see buildings that are just a few blocks away. The air is hard to breathe because it is thick with ozone and particulate pollution. This is not what we want here in America. The legislation before the House today has many shortcomings. I especially object to the provisions of this bill that delay two important Clean Air rules. The bill would delay the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule as well as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule until at least 2013, and very likely much longer than that since the bill eliminates all statutory and court-ordered deadlines for both rules. Congress ordered EPA to take action to curb mercury and other air toxics 21 years ago, and more than two decades later we're still waiting for action. This is particularly a problem in the Great Lakes region. Mercury is thrown into the air by coal-burning power plants hundreds of miles away and bioaccumulates in Great Lakes fish. Mercury is especially a health risk for pregnant women and infants because exposure to mercury has been linked to nervous system damage. The cost of further delay of the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule is high. For each year we delay, there will be up to an additional 17,000 premature deaths; 11,000 non-fatal heart attacks; 120,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 12,200 hospital and emergency room visits. The Republican leadership of the House appears to be comfortable with continued inaction on air toxics. I am not. We should vote this bill down.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from Soviet rule. Since August 24th, 1991, the people of Ukraine have remained steadfastly focused on securing a stable democracy and a free market economy in Ukraine, and I commend them on their democratic achievements. During the 2004 Orange Revolution, I was proud to stand with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans demonstrating in front of the Embassy in Washington, wearing our orange scarves and demanding that democracy required rejection of a rigged election. I also rise to express my deep concern over the erosion of democracy under the current Yanukovych Administration, which places the successes of the Orange Revolution in jeopardy. Reports from the April 2011 Freedom House assessment are alarming, particularly the anecdotes of the Administration's use of violence, intimidation, and selective prosecution of opposition leaders and suppression of the media. We in the United States must continue to stand with those living under oppressive and tyrannical regimes as they struggle for their freedom. Last week, members of the Congressional Caucus on Ukraine introduced a bipartisan resolution to commemorate Ukraine's independence and to express strong and continued support to the Ukrainian people in their efforts toward ensuring democratic principles.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Well, here we go again. You tried to cut jobs last night. You lost. Now, you're trying it again. When Americans need jobs, the Republicans are pushing an anti-jobs bill. Here's what the NAM said about this program that you want to curtail: ``The ATVM program is an example of what government-industry partnerships can accomplish. It has helped create and preserve thousands of auto sector jobs. The NAM believes defunding ATVM will hurt manufacturers and their employees.'' So you listen to nobody except your empty rhetoric and, I think, dangerous action. If that wasn't enough, here's what the Chamber of Commerce said: ``The ATVM program promotes manufacturing in the U.S. and is an important component of America's energy security.'' So yesterday, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, we sent him a letter citing his reference to the ATVM loan program as a ``government subsidy for failing industries.'' GM failing? Chrysler failing? Ford failing? How misguided. Well, now you're on your rampage to kill jobs and you've proposed to cut another program, section 1705, the loan program to help investments in new energy technology. This is a dangerous precedent. It's also, let's be frank, a dangerous smokescreen so some Republicans can change their votes. That's what this is all about. Well, you don't want to listen to Warren Buffett on taxes, and now you're thumbing your vote at Bill Gates. They issued a report yesterday--Bill Gates and a number of other technology leaders--and I quote from the report about energy programs like what you're trying to cut: ``If the U.S. fails to invent new technologies and create new markets and new jobs that will drive the transformation and revitalization of the $5 trillion global energy industry, we will have lost an opportunity to lead in what is arguably the largest and most pervasive technology sector in the world. However, if the U.S. successfully innovates in clean energy, our country stands to reap enormous benefits.''

Mr. LEVIN. It goes on: ``Unfortunately, the country has yet to embark on a clean energy innovation program commensurate with the scale of national priorities that are at stake. In fact''--and I interpolate here this is what you're doing--``rather than improve the country's energy innovation program and invest in strategic national interests, the current political environment is creating strong pressure to pull back from such efforts.'' That's exactly what you're doing today. This bill is dangerous mindlessness.

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEVIN. Look, no one is saying the total program would be obliterated.

Mr. LEVIN. I was.

Mr. LEVIN. I was.

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentlelady from New York yield me 30 seconds?

Mr. LEVIN. How much time is there on both sides, please?

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman from California yield to me?

Mr. LEVIN. No one has said that the program will be eliminated. What we have said is what the Manufacturers Association has said. It believes defunding ATVM will hurt manufacturers and their employees.

Mr. LEVIN. You don't want to hear the facts.

Mr. LEVIN. It is not true.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. You've been misinformed. There are millions and millions of dollars that are already in the pipeline to be spent and applications for the balance of that money. That's a fact. So if you've been misinformed, I suggest that you go back to the Rules Committee and take another look at this. This is an anti-jobs bill when we need jobs in the United States of America. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. LEVIN. We've heard a lot of rhetoric the first 10 minutes, or whatever, on the majority side, but rhetoric cannot mask, cannot obscure reality. The reality is this is an antijobs bill. In '07, we put forth the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. It has worked. Tens of thousands of jobs have been created as a result of that program in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, and Florida. And so now the majority says they're going to pay for this bill. How? By ending a program that has created jobs. That's the reality. It cuts it off, even though there are applications pending that will create thousands of more jobs in the manufacturing base of this country, in Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, California, Michigan, and other States. It's inexcusable. It's inexcusable.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEVIN. There is nothing in that decision, nothing in that action that paid for a continuing resolution that will take away jobs from the businesses and workers of the United States of America, purely and simply.

Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEVIN. So now you're saying we're paying for it by taking away jobs from businesses and workers. That's what this does. You can't hide that fact.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, 75 years ago the National Labor Relations Act was passed to give workers a say in the workplace--the right to organize and bargain collectively. It was a key to the building of the American middle class: a decent wage, health care, a pension. The Republicans want to repeal the legislation of the last half of the 20th century--Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. And now with the bill before the House, the majority party begins to repeal the National Labor Relations Act. This bill's scope is monstrous. It prohibits the National Labor Relations Board, in cases where an employer illegally acts against an employee's right to organize, to ``rescind any relocation, transfer, subcontracting, outsourcing'' anywhere. This bill is part of the Republican effort to destroy the rights of workers to be represented in the workplace. It is an open invitation to the further outsourcing of jobs. It is vital to defeat this dangerous piece of legislation.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to another member of our committee, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds. I want to say to the gentleman from Texas I disagree with his position, but I respect it. I can understand that those who voted ``no'' will now vote ``yes.'' What is not understandable is that those on the Republican side who voted ``yes'' are now voting ``no.'' I yield 4 minutes to our distinguished whip, the gentleman from the proud State of Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).