| Skelton upset that Senate killed effort against EPA greenhouse gas regulation |
By: Press Office of U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
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Congressman Ike Skelton
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released a statement following the defeat of S.J.Res. 26 in the U.S. Senate.
“I am sorely disappointed that the Senate has voted to kill a bipartisan, bicameral effort in Congress to gain better control over the EPA. By choosing to kill S.J.Res. 26, the Senate has given the EPA the green light to enact costly greenhouse gas rules under the Clean Air Act, even though Congress has never given the Agency permission to write such regulations.
“Although my identical resolution in the House has been torpedoed by the Senate vote, the bipartisan fight to reign in unelected bureaucrats at EPA is by no means over. In the coming days, I will work with the farmers and businesses of Missouri to determine our next step forward in this struggle.”
In February, Skelton sponsored, along with Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) and Congressman Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.), a “resolution of disapproval” (H.J.Res. 76) identical in language to Senator Murkowski’s S.J.Res. 26. Both the House and Senate versions of the legislation employ the Congressional Review Act to stop the EPA from implementing its proposed regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
Under the Congressional Review Act, the Senate has a set time during which it can consider a “resolution of disapproval” without the threat of a filibuster. The Senate’s deadline to act within expedited rules ends today. After today, the Senate would need 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 51, to approve S.J.Res. 26. Since only 47 Senators voted to proceed with a vote on S.J.Res. 26, it would be impossible to get 60 votes in the future. As the Senate resolution was defeated today, Skelton’s H.J. Res. 76 has no further chance of becoming law.
Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) serves as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman Skelton’s website is at www.house.gov/skelton.
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