22,413,337 members doing good!
about our ads
share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more
Please Take Action to Block Sunset Laws on Important Issues
Jun 25, 2006
Focus: Environment
Action Request: Write Letter
Location: Texas, United States
PLEASE TAKE IMPORTANT ACTION TO BLOCK CONGRESS FROM PASSING SUNSET LAWS THAT WOULD TAKE CONTROL OF IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS OUT OF THE HANDS OF OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES FOR A VOTE ON THE FLOOR AND GIVE BUSH-APPOINTED SUNSET COMMISSIONS SOLE AUTHORITY TO TRASH PROTECTIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY OF CITIZENS:

White House, GOP Leaders Plan All-Out Assault on Federal Protections
Apparently rushing to lock in a long-sought goal before the fall elections, GOP congressional leaders may bring to a vote within weeks a proposal that could literally wipe out any federal program that protects public health or the environment--or for that matter civil rights, poverty programs, auto safety, education, affordable housing, Head Start, workplace safety or any other activity targeted by anti-regulatory forces.

With strong support from the Bush White House and the Republican Study Committee, the proposal would create a "sunset commission"--an unelected body with the power to recommend whether a program lives or dies, and then move its recommendations through Congress on a fast-track basis with limited debate and no amendments.

Three leading proposals have been introduced and are being winnowed into a final version. They would give the White House some--or total--authority to nominate members to the commission. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has confirmed that his office is coordinating development of a final version for prompt floor action.

Sunset commissions have been proposed, and defeated, before. But public interest veterans say the current situation is unlike any in the past, because the House Republican Study Committee, which includes some of the most anti-regulatory members of Congress, has secured guaranteed floor consideration of a sunset bill.

If such a bill should become law, the sunset commission could be packed with industry lobbyists and representatives from industry-funded think tanks, and could conduct its business in secrecy. Two of the sunset proposals under consideration would mandate that programs die after they are reviewed, unless Congress takes action to save them.

Several environmental programs have been targeted during past sunset attempts. Experts predict those would be among the first a sunset commission would review. Among them: the Energy Star Program; federal support for mass transit; the State Energy Program, which supports numerous state and local energy renewable efficiency programs; the Clean School Bus Program; the Land and Water Conservation Fund; federal grants for Wastewater infrastructure; a national children's health study that examines factors leading to such problems as premature birth, autism, obesity, asthma, and exposures to pesticides, mercury and other toxic chemicals.

A coalition of public interest groups is fighting to block enactment of a sunset commission. Information is available through the Sunset Commission Action Center at OMB Watch.

(3) | () | | send green star | flag as inappropriate
Visibility: Everyone
Tags: , , , , ,
Posted: Jun 25, 2006 5:05pm

 
 
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.

Author

Eva Cox
female, age 61, single, 2 children
Austin, TX, USA
Shares by Type:
All (264) | Blog (217) | Alert (23) | Tribute (2) | Message (22)

Showing shares tagged with: environmental [show all]
ads keep care2 free
SHARES FROM EVA'S NETWORK
May
14
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Please be careful....A friend of mine sent me this information and I wanted share it to help us all be safe. Caringly, Stuart  http://www.snopes.com/cri me/warnings/bottlebomb.as p  PLEASE READ AND FORWARD. Ki...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Ashley is our middle cat and only female.At 11:48 a.m. Thursday, 9 May 2013 in a valiant battle against agressive lung cancer, Ashley died at home.
May
12
(1 comments  |  discussions )
Mama's Day Cards You Won't Find at the Drugstore Society & Culture  (tags: mothersday, mothers, families, queer, transgender, immigrants, strongfamilies ) BMutiny  - huffingtonpost.com The group...commissioned a group of artis...
May
9
(0 comments  |  discussions )
The largest genocide in human history happened where? Most people would answer Germany, and the Jewish Holocaust. Actually though, the largest genocide happened in the USA, with the native American Indians, with estimates of 19 million to 100 millio...
May
8
(0 comments  |  discussions )
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Official Nuclear Radiation Study; Tokyo University Hayno, R.S., et al (2013) Internal Radiocesium Contamination of Adults and Children 7 to 20 Months After the Fukushima NPP Accident as Measured by Extensive Whole-Body-Counter Surveys, Proc. Jpn....
(0 comments  |  discussions )
+++  In these times of uncertainty, chaos and pain,  you can choose to only rely upon yourselves  - face the music and do as best as you can,  with whatever ''concrete means'' you have at your disposal -  or  you can ch...
May
6
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Toxic radiation accumulates in water supplies after nuclear accidents. Radiation bioconcentrates in fish that live in fresh water and salt water. Runoff of fresh water from land which has been contaminated ends up contaminating oceans, and salt wate...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
66 Atomic Bombs were exploded on the Bikini Island Atolls. Hundreds of islanders were removed from the islands, but not from harms way. One hydrogen bomb exploded near the islands, and the children played with the dust from the bomb, as it fel...
May
5
(0 comments  |  0 discussions )
"Under our current law, a suspected terrorist on the FBI's No-Fly List can't board an airplane -- but they can still legally purchase guns and explosives. This loophole, known as the “Terror Gap,” is ...

Copyright © 2013 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved