Senate Republicans Overrule Parliamentarian to Pollute Air, Increase Illnesses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Republicans voted late Wednesday night to overrule the parliamentarian, teeing up the passage of three Congressional Review Act resolutions to strike down Clean Air Act emissions waivers issued to the state of California. Will Anderson, policy advocate with Public Citizen’s climate program, released the following statement:
“Over 50 years ago, Congress passed the bipartisan Clean Air Act, which included waivers so that states could set stronger clean air standards than the federal government. Today Senate Republicans, in a partisan attack on the Clean Air Act, have gone nuclear on Senate rules – overruling the Senate Parliamentarian, the Government Accountability Office, and decades of precedent. It’s all to force Americans to spend more on gas and burn more pollution into the air we breathe.
“More than 131 million people live in counties with unhealthy air, and gas dependent vehicles are the single largest source of that air pollution. This attack on the Clean Air Act will result in more asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, premature births, and premature deaths. All of us, but especially children and the elderly, will bear the health and financial costs of this partisan Republican rollback.
“Even worse, they’ve opened the door to overruling the parliamentarian any time it’s politically expedient, which will contribute to even more harm down the road. All eyes should be on the toxic, nongermane policy provisions attached to the reconciliation bill.”