CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON SPEAKS ON THE HOUSE FLOOR  TO SUPPORT CLEAN AIR REGULATION  

Washington, DC (Wednesday, October 5, 2011)–  Today, Congresswoman Johnson spoke on the Floor of the House of Representatives in opposition to the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act.  Below are Congresswoman Johnson’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2681 – the ‘Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011’.

As we all know, cement plants are one of the primary sources of mercury pollution in the U.S.  In my state of Texas alone, there are 10 cement plants which emitted 225 pounds of mercury in 2009 alone.  It takes only one-seventieth of a teaspoon of mercury to contaminate a 25-acre lake and render the fish unsafe to eat.  And children are the most vulnerable. 

Mercury exposure impairs a child’s ability to learn, write, walk, talk, and read.  As a registered nurse, I have seen firsthand how children are particularly sensitive to emissions of mercury and other air toxins.  As a mother and grandmother, I won’t stand by and watch these emissions go unchecked.

I have always been a strong and proud defender of EPA’s charge to protect public health and the environment.  In 2009, I led a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson calling for even stronger emissions standards to reduce mercury pollution.  And last year, I was pleased to see that the EPA finalized standards for cement plant emissions that will reduce mercury and particulate matter pollution by over 90 percent, resulting in health savings up to $18 billion each year.

Despite the noise that we have heard in recent months, the EPA’s regulations DO NOT kill jobs.  As the Ranking Member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee I know that our nation’s scientific, entrepreneurial and industrial sectors have and will innovate to meet new standard as they always have. We will reduce air pollution in this country while creating thousands of jobs.  

The predictions of widespread economic disruption and collapse of our industrial sector because of what some call an overreaching Clean Air Act have been proven wrong time and again. We should expect that today’s hysteria will be no different.

Therefore, I stand with the citizens of Texas and impacted communities across the nation in opposing this bill, and not with the big polluters.  Congress passed the Clean Air Act 40 years ago, and we have cleaner air today because of it.  But we can always do better.

That is why we must support the purpose and mission of the EPA, and oppose H.R. 2681.  

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. She is also the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas that includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.