[Page H1789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CLEAN AIR ISN'T A PARTISAN ISSUE

  (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support California's right to 
clean air. Growing up in southern California in the 1980s, smog alerts 
were a regular part of life. A lap around the track at school and your 
chest would burn. We can't go back to those days.
  When President Richard Nixon signed the Federal Clean Air Act in 
1970, California, under Governor Ronald Reagan, was given a waiver, 
letting us set stricter air pollution rules than the Federal 
Government.
  Over the years, Republican and Democratic leaders alike, from 
Governors Reagan to Jerry Brown to Arnold Schwarzenegger, stood 
together to protect California's right to clean up our air. Now House 
Republicans are trying to strip away California's ability to set our 
own air pollution standards. So much for State's rights.
  After all the progress we have made, they want to turn back the clock 
and do the bidding of the big polluters.
  Clean air is not a partisan issue. It is a public health issue, and I 
will never stop fighting to protect it.

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