The People's Night

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUDSON. I thank you for your strong leadership here in Congress. Often a new Member of Congress comes to town and spends a little bit of time learning the ropes, maybe sitting in the back row observing, but that is not true of Mark Walker. Mark Walker has quickly become a leader in Congress and particularly on issues such as this.

Tonight is the people's night. Government accountability is the topic.

I thank the gentleman for bringing up the issue of the EPA. We had a hearing Friday in the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I serve, in which we had the acting assistant administrator who oversees the Clean Air Act. We were looking at this new proposed rule that the EPA has put out having to do with ground-level ozone.

Now in 2008, the EPA issued a rule that brought the levels of ground-level ozone down to 75 parts per billion. Based on that number, many counties in North Carolina and across this country were out of attainment.

Everyone wants clean air. Everyone wants clean water. Even those of us who are concerned about jobs know that if you don't have clean air and clean water, you can't attract industry, and you can't have businesses grow in your community. But you have to look at the real science, and you have to look at the real numbers. And the truth is, since 1980, we have cut ground-level ozone levels 30 percent in this country. We have done a tremendous job, and that has been driven by industry.

This new rule was issued in 2008, but the instructions to States weren't issued until March of this year. So in March of this year, the EPA finally told the States how to comply with these new levels of 75 parts per billion. But now they have come out with a new rule that says, we are going to drop that to 65 or maybe even 60. If that is the case, every county in North Carolina--except one county in western North Carolina--would be out of attainment.

So what does that mean? That means you can't have a road project. It means you can't build a new home. It means you can't add any jobs to any existing industry. It means you can't bring any new industry into the State. And they are doing this at a time when we haven't even implemented the old rule, when we have already cut ground-level ozone 30 percent.

So what I would say is, let's wait and look at the science. Let's look at the real health impacts. Let's see what the results of the current regulations are before we rush out with some new regulations which we are told could cost as much as 270,000 jobs in North Carolina. I have seen a figure of 1.3 million jobs in the country. Before we bring on this cost, before we threaten these jobs, before we basically shut down all growth and development, let's take a look at the actual science.

So this is just one example of one agency that is overreaching. We have got other examples. You have got the IRS using ``the dog ate my homework'' excuse to duck responsibility. We have also got the Department of Veterans Affairs failing to provide adequate care for our heroes.

When he established the VA, President Abraham Lincoln promised that our Nation would take care of our men and women in uniform and their families who have served and defended our country.

Mr. Speaker, it is an understatement to say that today, the VA is failing and falling extremely short of that promise that President Lincoln made. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have endured traumatic experiences on the battlefield and should not have to continue to fight to receive proper care when they return home.

Make no mistake, there are many good and dedicated people at VA medical facilities across the country who do a tremendous job every day caring for our veterans. In fact, many of the folks working at VA facilities are veterans themselves. The problem is, the bureaucracy has gotten so massive and so out of control, the resources are wasted and the quality of care delivered to veterans has decreased.

This culture of unaccountability has led to long wait times, 10,000 disability claims still in backlog, and millions of our tax dollars wasted. Our veterans are being ignored and tragically, in some cases, left to die.

It was George Washington who has been talked about by my colleague. Mr. Walker mentioned the anniversary of him resigning his commission. George Washington said: ``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive how the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation.''

Mr. Speaker, I know we will continue our efforts to reshape the culture at the VA, but it is high time this administration takes responsibility and joins those of us who want to give veterans a choice.

Every veteran in this country should have the choice to go to any doctor of their choosing, and the VA should not have to preapprove it, and the VA should pay for that medical care. That is the proposal that I have talked about. I think that is the way that we could finally end these wait times, and we can break down these backlogs.

I call on the administration to work with us. It is time for the people to have accountability from their government. It is time for our veterans to have accountability from the VA. They put everything on the line for our country, for our freedom. It is time for us to do the same.

God bless our veterans and their families. It is time to get to work.

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