Paul Tonko

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. For 50 years, NIAAA has been the leader in generating and disseminating fundamental information about the effects of alcohol on our health and well-being and applying that knowledge to improve the lives of those struggling with alcohol-related problems. In the United States alone, nearly 15 million people have an alcohol- use disorder. An estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually, and alcohol misuse has immeasurable impacts on families and communities across our Nation. While NIAAA has made significant achievements toward improving public health over the past 50 years, such as illuminating the negative effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and supporting the development of effective behavioral therapies and medications to treat alcohol use disorder, more work is needed. With technological advances and an expanding knowledge base, NIAAA is poised to advance alcohol research to the next frontier toward the goal of helping more Americans live healthier, more productive lives.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. More than 5 years ago, I, along with my good friend and colleague, Representative Andy Barr, introduced the first version of this legislation. It has been an honor to work with Representative Barr for many years to get to this point that speaks to an industry that provides many, many jobs and is a deeply rooted bit of history in these United States. Now we will move forward with a very good bill. I offer my sincere thanks to Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Walden for their support and to also echo my support and thanks to our Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce chair, Jan Schakowsky, and the ranking member, Representative Rodgers, for their support and guidance, also, throughout this process. Now, with the support and leadership of Majority Leader McConnell and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate, we are finally poised to cross the finish line on this historic reform. I need to thank Jeff Morgan, our legislative director in my office, for the numerous, numerous hours that he has spent on making certain that, as we move to the finish line on this process, details were addressed and concerns were also equally responded to. Horseracing, as it has been said, has been long woven into the fabric of our American culture. Storied names like Secretariat, War Admiral, and Man o' War, stir the imagination of racing fans not only in this country but all over the world. In addition to its cultural import, horseracing serves as an economic driver in many parts of the country. That certainly is true in my congressional district, home of the Nation's oldest track, the fabled Saratoga Race Course. The horseracing industry generates some $26.1 billion in direct economic impact nationwide, including $5 billion in my home State of New York. In 2015, I had the chance to see, in person, the sport at its very best when I bore witness to the historic run by American Pharaoh in the Belmont to capture the Triple Crown. When we place a majestic equine athlete like American Pharaoh at the forefront, this endeavor can capture, truly, the imagination of the Nation, and the sport of horseracing can thrive. However, we have also seen the devastating results that can occur when these equine athletes are pushed beyond their limits, often aided by medications that can mask underlying health issues. This same story has played out countless times across the country because the current medication reforms have been implemented unevenly, leaving patchwork systems in place that have created a wide disparity in the effectiveness of medication testing and enforcement and racetrack safety standards. That patchwork system simply doesn't work. This national approach brings great hope to the integrity of this great industry. If horseracing is to thrive as an industry and once again capture the public's imagination, then we must do better. So I am, indeed, pleased that today, after many years of work, we will take those first steps on the road to reform. Our legislation would recognize the horseracing integrity and safety authority as a private, not-for-profit organization responsible for developing and implementing a horseracing antidoping and medication control program and a racetrack safety program. This authority would partner with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, USADA, to develop effective testing protocols, uniform standards and penalties, as well as proper lab accreditation. The board of the authority would also include voices representing a spectrum of perspectives within the horseracing industry, subject to strict conflict-of-interest rules, including owners, breeders, horsemen, racetracks, and veterinarians. The revised legislation would also require the creation of a national racetrack safety program establishing safety standards for training and racing; racetrack surfaces; injury-related data analyses; safety violation investigation, hearings, and sanctions. Adding a racetrack safety component to the bill will help make the sport significantly safer for our equine athletes and jockeys. While no legislation is perfect, the agreement represented in this bill has the support of the overwhelming majority of not only the horseracing industry, including all three tracks that host Triple Crown races, the Jockey Club, and the Breeders' Cup, but also major animal welfare groups like the Humane Society, Animal Wellness Action, and the grassroots Water Hay Oats Alliance. Mr. Speaker, this is truly a win-win-win for the industry, sports fans, and our equine athletes. It puts the equine athlete at the epicenter of this legislation and concern. It is safer as an outcome for our jockeys, important in that sport, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1754. Again, I thank the chairman of the committee, Frank Pallone, for bringing this forward and all who have worked so steadfastly on the results that we have achieved today.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. John, it is an honor and pleasure to be here with our colleagues to salute you and thank you for the tremendous service that you have provided not only to people of your congressional district, but the people of this Nation. It is very obvious that you are much loved and appreciated and respected by your colleagues in this House. It is also humbling to know that you have brought a good name to politics, and you have reminded us by your very actions and your deeply rooted beliefs in the various issues that you tackle that it is not only okay, but it is essential to have differences in this House; and it is to share those differences in a respectable way, which you have always done so as to build the best product. So I think this evening we salute your integrity and your humility, which oftentimes is what I think drives your personality to be able to achieve and to have this driving force to accomplish on behalf of the people. I appreciate the opportunity to participate this evening, and I will try not to undermine John Shimkus' sterling conservative credentials by joining in this discussion this evening. For 6 years, I have served as the ranking member to Mr. Shimkus' subcommittee chair. In the past 2 years, we have switched roles. But during all of that time, we have disagreed on many occasions. In fact, we are disagreeing right now, but that doesn't stop me from coming here this evening to just share my respect with others for you and the tremendous performance you have put forth on behalf of the Republic. But as I have found, you have been tremendously accessible, very open-minded and fair, always looking for a way for us to achieve and to build that compromise. It has been a great partnership, even if we didn't see eye to eye on everything. I will always appreciate that we would work together to try to find common ground on issues where we thought we could agree. I am proud of our bipartisan work on brownfields, where we reauthorized and improved that program. Certainly, the drinking water infrastructure efforts that we made is essential for our communities. We made some great improvements to both of those programs, and it would not have been possible without your leadership, John. And while we have had some different perspectives on TSCA, I believe it is fair to say that Representative Shimkus has done some undeniably monumental work on chemical safety for this country. His district and this Chamber are losing a great Representative, and Yucca Mountain is losing a frequent visitor. John, I congratulate you on your retirement. I wish you and Karen the very best as you go forward. You have displayed to me tremendous qualities of character when you speak of your family, the love you have for them. It is just apparent in your face when you talk about them. You are so proud of that partnership you have with Karen and of the children, the offspring that you have created. It is also very evident that you have enjoyed service to this country, not only in this House, but as a member of the New York delegation, I am proud to say that we adopt you as a West Point cadet and that you have shown your strength and your valor and your courage to be a strong element that you have contributed to this country. I thank you for your integrity. I thank you for your deeply rooted faith that has made a lot of our partnership work. You are guided with that humble spirit to serve your Creator through the gifts you have been endowed. Thank you for being such a great friend, thank you for being such a great work partner, and thank you for the success that we have achieved together, and I hope there is more to come in the ensuing days and weeks that you will be here. So, congratulations, my friend. Know that you made your mark and that you have earned many stars after your name. God bless.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding. Madam Speaker, I begin by thanking Chairs Pallone, Johnson, and Grijalva for all of their hard work on this package. I have no delusions that this bill will solve climate change, but it can play a meaningful role in deploying clean energy and energy efficiency while supporting improvements and cost reductions in technologies that we are going to need to achieve our decarbonization goals. This package does not have everything in it that I would have wanted. However, my threshold for support is not whether it is perfect. The questions are: Would it be a net positive? Would it hasten our transition to clean energy? Would it play a role, even a modest one, in reducing climate and traditional pollution? And would it create new American jobs? I think the answer to each of these questions is an obvious yes. This package is going to allow us to weatherize more low-income Americans' homes, build more EV charging infrastructure, and codify important environmental justice requirements, which have been ignored for the past 4 years. It includes bills I have authored to support the Department of Energy's Office of Wind, to streamline the permitting process for distributed energy resources, and to ensure that the research dollars we authorize are protected by strong, scientific integrity policies. It also includes the American Innovation and Manufacturing Leadership Act, bipartisan legislation that directs EPA to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gasses, by some 85 percent over 15 years. It will position the United States to lead the world in the transition to next-generation refrigerants, create 33,000 manufacturing jobs, and ensure we do our part to avoid up to one-half degree Celsius in global warming before the end of this century. While I am encouraged that the Senate has reached agreement on HFCs, we are still reviewing the details. But I want to make certain that this provision is in those future negotiations. I look forward to continuing the discussions with our Senate counterparts and getting the goals of this language enacted. This bill isn't perfect, but with all the political uncertainty, this is a package we can take to the Senate and fight for important clean energy wins to be enacted this year. The clean energy transition cannot wait, and neither should we. I am eager to work with any Member of this Chamber on future legislation that is bold, ambitious, and rises to the scale of the climate crisis.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, this body must advance urgently needed coronavirus assistance. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said, ``Every death we experience is a tragedy.'' When he said it, the United States had just hit the grim milestone of 100,000 souls lost from the COVID pandemic. That was mid-May, around the same time Democrats advanced the HEROES Act in the House. In the 4 months that followed, 100,000 more Americans have died as the epidemic has spiraled out of control, and chaos has continued to reign from the White House. We have reached the breaking point. Plain and simple, it is time for the Senate to pass our comprehensive rescue package or offer a real alternative of their own. No more waiting. No more excuses. Throughout this crisis, the Senate majority has abdicated responsibility to this President's insufficient leadership and papered over his deadly shortcomings. For the lives and livelihood of every one of my constituents, I beg my colleagues on the other side of the Capitol to seize this moment to follow a new guide. Let that guide be science. Let it be truth, because politics, really, truly bad politics, has brought America low in the face of this crisis. But it is not too late. On January 22, President Trump tweeted ``China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency.'' He made similar remarks again on January 30 and on February 7. The very same day President Trump was privately admitting to journalist Bob Woodward that the coronavirus is an airborne pathogen more deadly than the flu. Despite his full awareness of the danger, he kept going, praising China and publicly downplaying the coronavirus threat. Politico has found at least 15 examples of President Trump publicly praising China's coronavirus response during this period, including on February 10, 13, 18, 23, 26, 27, and 29. He said it over and over. In the following weeks and months, he would repeatedly downplay the danger and suggest, fully aware of his deception, that this virus was comparable to a seasonal flu. President Trump's deception on these matters is not opinion, he was recorded. He is literally on the record saying that he intended to downplay this disease and deny the American people the information we would need to make vital decisions for ourselves, our families, our communities, and indeed, our Nation. Every death that resulted from this was a tragedy. In February, President Trump said, ``It is going to disappear one day. It is like a miracle, it will disappear.'' He knew better. At this point the virus had been given nearly 2 months to circulate unchecked. Americans were still going about our daily lives, flocking to movie theaters, churches, synagogues, going to Mardi Gras, going on spring break, unaware of the true extent of the threats spreading all around us. On March 11, President Trump took only his second major national step, another travel ban. It was around this time that Congress stepped up the scale of our response to this threat. We moved quickly to pass the CARES Act, including delivering emergency funds for America's hospital and staff, small business owners, laid off workers, and everyday Americans facing unprecedented fear and uncertainty. The CARES Act was a rescue plan. It wasn't perfect, but it was America's first real effort to stem the tide. That rescue was powerful, but it was no substitute for executive leadership. Sadly, we are still waiting for executive leadership. Between March and May, America saw its death toll skyrocket past 100,000. The Members of this Chamber again moved swiftly to advance another rescue package, the HEROES Act. Since the House passed the HEROES Act on May 15, more than 110,000 Americans have died of COVID- 19. For comparison, this is the equivalent of losing every soul living in Albany, New York, our State capital, that I represent. And that is just the recorded death toll since mid-May. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded that States should file for bankruptcy instead, and the Senate would wait and see. Wait for what? Haven't we seen? We have waited 4 months and paid dearly for it. Enough of this craven politics. Senators, consider your oath to the people you serve. What will you say when they ask what you did to stop this disease from stealing their loved ones; from destroying their small business? What will you say to the teachers that are being laid off as States and cities drastically cut their budgets? From undermining America's standing in the world? To my colleagues, I say this: We have a plan. Join us. Let's invest heavily in research and follow science and public health guidance. They are the fastest route to get us to the other side of this crisis. Our HEROES Act gets it done. Let's deliver emergency funding to sustain local essential services, and the salaries of first responders, nurses, teachers, infrastructure maintenance workers, and many more. The HEROES Act gets that done, too. Let's save lives and turn the corner on this crisis with a coordinated national plan for testing and tracing. The HEROES Act gets it done. Let's deliver the financial support our essential workers, unemployed workers, and financially strained Americans need to weather the storm. The HEROES Act gets it done. Let's rescue our schools, our healthcare providers, our first responders, our hungriest families. The Republican skinny bill just doesn't get it done. I say pass the HEROES Act.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Jean Fruci, a professional staff member with the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jean is also one of my most trusted advisers, a former coworker in my personal office, and a true friend. Jean first came to the Hill in the 1990s as an AAAS fellow, after receiving her Ph.D. in soil science from Cornell University. She had already served in several Member and committee offices before I met her in 2009 on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Her brilliance and integrity were evident. After a brief stint away from Capitol Hill to care for her ailing parents, Jean returned to congressional service as my legislative director. She was a valued guide and coach as I worked to earn a place on the Energy and Commerce Committee in early 2013. Within just a few years, my colleague, Chairman Pallone, was smart enough to recruit her from my personal office to join the committee, where she would serve both the Subcommittees on Energy as well as Environment and Climate Change, which I now chair. Her work in that capacity has strengthened the quality of our lawmaking and helped countless Americans in ways most will never realize. Over her congressional career, Jean has served on multiple conference committees, helped authorize and reauthorize numerous vital programs, provided needed oversight, and negotiated many deals. In her exemplary service, she has reminded us time and again of the importance of our work in Congress and its potential to help the people we serve. Jean is a legendary negotiator. I know this because my colleague from Illinois, Mr. Shimkus, would often remark as such. He knows, however, that she is also fair, honest, and does her homework. Jean, as a STEM professional, your skills and knowledge made me and this institution better. We need more STEM professionals, more Jean Frucis, to guide us in our policymaking, as the world and our economy become increasingly complex. Mr. Speaker, Jean has done so much for this House, far beyond what I can convey in these brief remarks. I know all of my colleagues join me in wishing her and her husband, John, a retirement full of health, happiness, travel when safe to do so again, and fulfillment. You have earned that and more, Jean, and for that I humbly say thank you for what you have done for this institution and for all Americans.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, as the designee of Ms. Blunt Rochester, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I will repeat. Every individual deserves the right to breathe clean air. Certainly, this pandemic has proven that certain areas, certain neighborhoods, certain populations, have been at risk. It has been proven by the impact that COVID-19 has borne on so many individuals and communities. I would like to thank Representatives Blunt Rochester, McEachin, and Rush for authorizing this important amendment and for their tireless work to achieve environmental justice in carrying out our Nation's environmental laws. Madam Speaker, I thank Chair McCollum of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee for her work on this great bill to protect public health and the environment. EPA has a requirement to put forward standards that are based on sound science and protective at the same time of human health. The PM proposal has failed to do so. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure environmental protection extends to each and every American. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today as the designee of my very good friend, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, to offer and support this amendment. Every person deserves to breathe clean air. As we battle a global public health pandemic, that truth could not be more important. Time and time again, the administration has chosen to ignore the latest public health science, allowing our air to remain polluted and our communities to be less safe. The EPA's most recent failure to propose air quality standards that will protect human health is unacceptable, and it will put tens of thousands of lives at risk. Fine particulate matter, commonly known as soot, is a dangerous pollutant. In particular, it puts low wealth and communities of color at greatest risk. These are the communities that are already experiencing staggering death rates from COVID-19, made worse by decades of exposure to toxic pollution. The EPA has chosen to retain its existing inadequate standard, despite ample peer-reviewed studies clearly showing that a stronger standard is, indeed, justified. Even the EPA's own more limited assessment of the health impacts calculated that strengthening the standard would prevent thousands of premature deaths. This amendment is simple. It would prohibit the EPA from finalizing its insufficiently protective review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter. The American people need an Environmental Protection Agency that will listen to doctors and scientists and take the steps necessary to protect the health and well-being of all Americans, regardless of their race, income, or ZIP Code. We are in the midst of a global health pandemic. Protecting our health could not be more important than at this very moment. I, indeed, urge my colleagues to support this amendment and give the EPA the opportunity to finalize a stronger standard that will actually protect human health and the environment. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I stand in tribute to Congressman John Robert Lewis this evening. Brother John, your imprint on my heart and soul is forever. The loss of John Lewis has left us with a deep, unanswerable sadness, and a resolve that will echo in this Chamber and within all of our hearts forever. Time and again, John gave us the gift of his courage and lit our path with a humble but fierce moral light. He risked everything to teach us, to remind us what it really means to fight for liberty and justice for all; and why we must fight on, even after our great champion has fallen. My thoughts, my prayers, and my heart go out to John's family, to Michael, and his staff, his community, and all who knew and loved this giant of a man. May John's light always fill the halls of our Capitol. May his hope guide our hands, and his vision for a more perfect Union continue to inspire us with timeless faith and purpose. Of late, when I would talk to Brother John, he had a concern that those wheels of progress toward a more perfect Union might roll backward. We cannot tolerate that. Brother John taught us that; that we will only go forward. So if we truly loved this man, if we truly want to honor his spirit, let us make certain that those wheels of progress toward a more perfect Union, in fact, go forward and upward. God bless you, my friend. You walked so humbly with your God. Rest in peace. Rest in power, my dear and so noble of a friend.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Chair, as the designee of the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), I rise to offer an amendment.

Mr. TONKO. Madam Chair, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I thank Congress Member Lawrence for her work on this amendment. The amendment, Madam Chair, is simple. It would ensure that the public is notified when any additional chemicals in the PFAS family are designated as hazardous substances. More specifically, this amendment requires the EPA to publish its determinations on the remaining PFAS chemicals on its publicly accessible website within 60 days. Public reporting helps communicate how government is working for the people. For agencies like the EPA, full transparency is necessary to inform our communities about threats to public health and the environment. Our constituents have the right to know exactly what contaminants are in the air we breathe and the water we drink. As she noted in her statement in support of her amendment, in her home State of Michigan, she knows the importance of clean air and clean water from firsthand experience. We know threats to our environment and public health do not discriminate, and the Representative concludes that she knows that, too often, it is the most important unrepresented and disadvantaged communities that are left behind. Mr. Chair, I urge support for the amendment from the gentlewoman from Michigan, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for his support of this amendment, and I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment and the overall bill. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I want to respond to something I keep hearing from my Republican colleagues, which is the argument that we should abandon important proposals because the Senate simply will not accept them. We cannot control the Senate, but we have the ability and the responsibility to pass strong legislation through this body and work as hard as we can to get it enacted. I believe in the prerogative and power of the House of Representatives to do what is right, and so I can only hope that the Senate will follow our example. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell), a champion on this issue.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, might I inquire of the time that is remaining for our side.

Mr. TONKO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz.)

Mr. TONKO. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto).

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, H.R. 535 lists only PFOA and PFOS under Superfund and leaves decisions for all other PFAS to EPA. EPA has already committed to listing PFOA and PFOS under Superfund and has been working on the listing since 2018. The bill will speed up that listing, so that cleanup of existing contamination starts sooner, but does not change how Superfund will apply. The two PFAS that will be listed under Superfund by this bill have already been phased out by industry under a voluntary EPA partnership more than a decade ago. They are not being made in this country anymore. So no one producing airplane door seals or heart stents or any other product is using the chemicals listed under the bill. The FDA is not approving heart stents made of these chemicals. Most of those products are actually made from PTFE, better known as Teflon. The companies who make and use PTFE believe it is not hazardous. If that is true, the testing regime in this bill will show it to be true. And if it is true, the EPA will not list it under Superfund. The bill leaves the listing decision for PTFE and all other PFAS currently produced in this country to EPA. It gives the EPA 5 years to evaluate those chemicals and supplies them with the needed science. This is a reasonable approach that will not regulate PFAS chemicals that are found to be nonhazardous and will take no immediate action on PFAS chemicals still being made. I also want to note that FDA review and CERCLA listing are not inconsistent. FDA review looks at whether a product is safe and effective for specific uses. CERCLA focuses on whether a chemical is hazardous when released into the environment. Many items that have important, even lifesaving uses, are not safe when dumped into the environment. And to be clear, the FDA is not recommending that healthy individuals implant PFAS into their bodies. The FDA is making a careful decision that someone in need of a heart stent is served by this device more than they are harmed. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, creosote is listed as a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, CERCLA, for the purpose of Superfund cleanup sites for the assignments of liability.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Chair, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 1 minute.