Spectator NZ

Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today released the below statement following her call with President Joe Biden where he ended the infrastructure negotiations.

“I spoke with the president this afternoon and he ended our infrastructure negotiations. As Republicans, we believe in our nation’s infrastructure, which is why our negotiating team—which consisted of the Ranking Members from the committees of jurisdiction—consistently worked in good faith with President Biden and were optimistic that we could reach a bipartisan agreement for the sake of the country. Throughout our negotiations, we engaged respectfully, fully, and very candidly—delivering several serious counteroffers that each represented the largest infrastructure investment Republicans have put forth.

“In our discussions with the president, he himself made it clear that he was willing to accept an offer around $1 trillion, that baseline spending would and could be included, and that a plan could stretch over an 8-year period of time. The president also understood one of our red lines, which was not undoing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which has helped so many Americans. Our latest offer, coupled with legislation the Senate is expected to pass today, would have exceeded the president’s threshold.

“Despite the progress we made in our negotiations, the president continued to respond with offers that included tax increases as his pay for, instead of several practical options that would have not been harmful to individuals, families, and small businesses.

“While I appreciate President Biden’s willingness to devote so much time and effort to these negotiations, he ultimately chose not to accept the very robust and targeted infrastructure package, and instead, end our discussions. However, this does not mean bipartisanship isn’t feasible. The Senate EPW Committee continues to demonstrate bipartisan action on infrastructure. In a one-month period, our committee passed a bipartisan water and wastewater infrastructure bill out of the Senate and passed a surface transportation bill unanimously out of committee. Moving forward, I will continue building on this momentum and working with my colleagues to advance bipartisan solutions like these.

“After negotiating in good faith and making significant progress to move closer to what the president wanted, I am disappointed by his decision.”

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Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

To watch Senator Capito’s questioning, click here or the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, participated in a hearing today on the State Department’s FY2022 budget request. During the hearing, Senator Capito questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about addressing the ongoing border crisis as well as ransomware attacks on the United States.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON STATE DEPARTMENT REQUESTING FUNDING FOR NORTHERN TRIANGLE COUNTRIES: “As we know migration from non-Mexican, non-Northern Triangle counties is skyrocketing…Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Chile, Romania. My question revolves around your budget request because you request $861 [million] eventually going to $4 billion going to the Northern Triangle with the goal of controlling crossings at the southern border. How will this help control the migration we’re seeing from non-northern Triangle countries that we have coming to the southern border? Do you plan to expand this request to other countries as those numbers go up, because they are increasing and I’m sure you’re well aware of that?”

ON NEED FOR ADMINISTRATION TO ADDRESS BORDER CRISIS: “The issues are there are more people…from different countries. It’s costing our country and their countries. We need to find a solution here to crack down on this, because I think the American people, when they think 170,000 people are coming across the border illegally a month is astronomical.”

ON RANSOMWARE ATTACKS: “We’ve obviously seen the one most recently with the colonial pipeline and I’m sure there’s many more we don’t know about. Even one of our local hospitals had a ransomware attack. How are you working with our allies diplomatically on a collective approach to mitigate these ransomware attacks? The DOJ has recently elevated ransomware to the same priority level as terrorism. Will the Department of State also commit similar resources to tackling this issue and ensure that ransomware criminals, wherever they exist, are brought to justice?”

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Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, today released the below statement following the committee’s publishing of a report outlining the intelligence and security failures surrounding the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“After multiple hearings, discussions with more than 50 on-duty Capitol Police officers, coordination with all relevant government agencies, and a review of thousands of documents, Congress proved that it is taking its oversight role seriously in investigating the buildup and fallout from January 6 in a bipartisan way. As the report outlines, there was a lack of interagency cooperation, failure to clearly disseminate intelligence reports showing a high risk of violence, and an underprepared Capitol Police Board that put Capitol Police officers in danger. The action items recommended in this comprehensive report are important steps toward security and safety, and as such we have begun instituting these changes right now to prevent such an attack from occurring ever again.”

BACKGROUND ON REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS:

This report lists 20 recommendations from the Rules Committee, in addition to summarizing recommendations from agency inspectors general, which can be acted on immediately. These recommendations include empowering the United States Capitol Police (USCP) Chief to request emergency assistance, implementing clear and workable USCP Board procedures, ensuring all USCP officers are trained and equipped properly, and increasing intelligence consolidation and sharing between all relevant agencies in the National Capital Region.

The full report can be accessed here.

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Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to protect Florida’s citrus growers by re-implementing a prohibition on the importation of five varieties of citrus fruits from China.  
 
“The USDA’s decision continues to risk an increase in unfair trade competition by Chinese government-subsidized products and could be exposing domestic growers to a host of invasive pests and diseases,” the senators wrote. “The department’s April 15, 2020 notice included details of the Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) of allowing imports of these citrus products from China, including a list of species that are likely to enter the United States.  The PRA identified 15 pest species of mites, fruit flies, and moths and two pathogens, including those that cause citrus canker and citrus black spot diseases, which could ‘cause unacceptable impacts’ if they enter the U.S. via imports of these Chinese citrus products.  Risking the introduction of invasive species and diseases into the U.S. is irresponsible, especially given our knowledge of how citrus greening previously entered our country by imported citrus and is spread by an invasive pest species, the Asian citrus psyllid.”
 
The full text of the letter is below. 
 
Dear Secretary Vilsack:
 
We write to urge you to reverse the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) April 2020 decision to allow the importation of five varieties of citrus fruits from China. 
 
In recent years, Florida’s citrus growers have suffered the impacts of hurricanes, unfairly priced imports, and from citrus greening, a disease which originated in China, and spread to the U.S. from imported citrus.  Citrus greening has devastated Florida’s citrus groves, decreasing our state’s citrus production capacity by approximately 70 percent since 2000.
 
The USDA’s decision continues to risk an increase in unfair trade competition by Chinese government-subsidized products and could be exposing domestic growers to a host of invasive pests and diseases. The department’s April 15, 2020 notice included details of the Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) of allowing imports of these citrus products from China, including a list of species that are likely to enter the United States.  The PRA identified 15 pest species of mites, fruit flies, and moths and two pathogens, including those that cause citrus canker and citrus black spot diseases, which could “cause unacceptable impacts” if they enter the U.S. via imports of these Chinese citrus products.  Risking the introduction of invasive species and diseases into the U.S. is irresponsible, especially given our knowledge of how citrus greening previously entered our country by imported citrus and is spread by an invasive pest species, the Asian citrus psyllid.
 
Notably, the original notice for the proposed rule, which was initially proposed in August 2014, stated, “there is no reason to conclude that adoption of this proposed rule would result in any significant economic effect,” and predicted that likely quantities of citrus imported from China would be “relatively small.”  Following the decision to allow Chinese citrus imports, the USDA estimated in a December 2020 country profile of China that Chinese exports of citrus may increase by as much as six percent this marketing year (2020-2021), and specifically cited China’s access to new markets, such as the United States, as a basis for this prediction.
 
Meanwhile, in an August 2020 report which summarized American citrus production, the USDA noted that the 2019-2020 marketing season had yielded a four percent year-over-year decrease in the volume of U.S.-produced citrus, and a six percent decrease in the volume of citrus produced in Florida.  Considering China’s well-known predatory industrial practices, it should have been abundantly clear that allowing subsidized citrus products into the U.S. from China would lead to notable import volumes that would detrimentally impact American citrus producers. Additionally, because import volumes of Chinese citrus are likely larger than what was expected by the USDA, we are concerned that larger-than-expected import volumes could increase the risk that invasive pests and diseases could be introduced into American citrus groves.
 
The federal government and the State of Florida have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to research citrus greening and to slow its spread and find a cure.  Continuing to allow citrus imports from China could further harm Florida’s citrus growers and risks undermining the progress that has been made through these investments.
 
We respectfully urge you to reconsider this decision.
 
Sincerely,
 

Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

June 08, 2021

New Legislation Includes $10 Billion Investment To Protect Military Communities From Toxic PFAS Chemicals; New Data Shows Little To No Progress Has Been Made To Clean Up Most Contaminated Military Bases

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced two much needed pieces of legislation, the Clean Water for Military Families Act and the Filthy Fifty Act, directing the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify and clean up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at U.S. military installations with some of the highest detections across the country. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.-14) will introduce both measures in the House.

The hundreds of contaminated military sites across the country jeopardize the health, safety, and well-being of military communities who have suffered from exposure to PFAS pollution and toxic drinking water. The military’s heavy use of a firefighting foam, widely known as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), has resulted in widespread PFAS contamination around military sites. Yet no cleanup actions have been completed for the bases with the highest PFAS detections, harming the communities who live nearby.

New York State has some of the most contaminated military installations in the country. They include:

• Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station
• Plattsburgh Air Force Base
• Hancock Field Air National Guard Base
• Stewart Air National Guard Base

“Our service members risk their lives to keep us safe, and Congress has a duty to protect their health overseas and at home. We have seen the harmful effects of these toxic chemicals in New York and across the country. There is a clear link between the use of PFAS firefighting foam on military bases and dangerous levels of PFAS in the drinking water of the surrounding communities,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The Filthy Fifty Act and Clean Water for Military Families Act would help clean up military bases with some of the highest rates of PFAS contamination and address this urgent public health and environmental issue plaguing these communities.”

“American service members make sacrifices every day for the health of our nation, and now it’s time for Congress to step up and protect the health of our service members,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. “Military families in New York and across the country have been being exposed to toxic PFAS contaminations on military bases. That’s why I’m proud to co-sponsor The Filthy Fifty Act and Clean Water for Military Families Act, which will direct the Department of Defense to identify and clean up PFAS on military installations with some of the highest detections. This legislation is another important step in curbing the toxic and dangerous problem affecting military bases, service members and their families, as well as the surrounding communities.

“Although the Defense Department has known that toxic PFAS have been building up in the blood of service members and residents of defense communities for decades, the PFAS plumes flowing from these facilities have not been cleaned up,” said EWG Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Scott Faber. “Congress needs to give the Defense Department clear marching orders: Clean up PFAS pollution. Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Gillibrand and Sen. Padilla, DOD will now have the deadlines and resources needed to protect our service members, their families, and their neighbors from these toxic “forever” chemicals.”

The Filthy Fifty Act would help expedite the testing, cleanup, removal, and remediation of PFAS at all U.S. military installations and State-owned National Guard facilities by setting testing and cleanup deadlines for PFAS remediation at the most contaminated DOD sites in the country. The bill establishes a list of “priority installations” with 50 bases in the U.S. that have among the highest detections of PFAS.

The Clean Water for Military Families Act would require the Department of Defense to conduct investigations and remediate PFAS contamination at and surrounding DOD installations in the U.S. and state-owned National Guard facilities. Specifically, the bill authorizes a one-time, $10 billion investment for the investigations and clean-up to ensure military families have access to clean, pollutant-free drinking water.

In recent years, Congress has passed legislation requiring DOD to phase out the use of AFFF firefighting foams containing PFAS. While this is a vital step to ensuring DOD adopts PFAS-free alternatives going forward, it does not address DOD’s legacy pollution. A full timeline of DOD’s history with PFAS can be found here.

As a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Gillibrand has been a leader in the fight to support victims of PFAS exposure and ending the use of these toxic chemicals. She has called for a national ban on toxic PFAS chemicals and continues to push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to combat environmental contamination. Gillibrand fought to include provisions in the final Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — passed by Congress and signed into law by the President —  that would protect communities from toxic PFAS exposure. The first of those provisions included is her bipartisan bill, the PFAS Release Disclosure Act that publicly identifies the sources of PFAS emissions. Specifically, it requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a clear process to add PFAS chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) — two of the most pervasive PFAS chemicals with scientifically demonstrated health effects — to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a centralized database of environmental releases of toxic chemicals. These requirements improve the availability of information related to the emissions of PFAS and help to identify the potential sources of PFAS emissions in the environment. The second provision is an amendment she co-sponsored that prohibits the Department of Defense from procuring firefighting foam that contains PFAS.

Senator Gillibrand’s Filthy Fifty Act is cosponsored in the Senate by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senators Padilla (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.).

The Clean Water for Military Families Act, led by Senator Padilla (D-CA), is cosponsored in the Senate by Senator Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.).

The Filthy Fifty Act is endorsed by the Environmental Working Group. The Clean Water for Military Families Act is endorsed by the Environmental Working Group, Earthjustice, the League of Conservation Voters, Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, Inc. (COA), and The Committee to Bridge the Gap. 

Read the text of the Filthy Fifty Act HERE.

Read the text of the Clean Water for Military Families Act HERE.

A one-pager on the Clean Water for Military Families Act can be found HERE.

Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Tim Scott

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Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

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Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

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