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Protecting You from “Forever Chemicals”

January 13, 2020
Pelosi Update

Cleaning Up Our Communities
Today, the Democratic House passed the H.R. 535, the PFAS Action Act of 2019, to protect communities from PFAS "forever chemicals," which are a serious public health threat in America. These chemicals are contaminating the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat, and they are exposing millions of Americans to liver disease, asthma, thyroid dysfunction, multiple forms of cancer, and further health threats. In fact, nearly all Americans, including newborn babies, have PFAS in their blood, and up to 110 million people may be drinking tainted water.


That is why the Democratic House is taking action. We are cleaning up our communities by designating PFAS as a hazardous substance by the EPA, which is the key barrier to cleaning up military and industrial sites, and working with states to fund and support clean-up and remediation efforts. And we are helping stem the tide of further contamination, with tough new testing, reporting and monitoring requirements, strict limits on the introduction of new PFAS chemicals, limits on air emissions and banning unsafe incineration, and strong measures to hold contaminating companies accountable.

We urge Senator McConnell to take up this bipartisan legislation – or else he will have to explain to the American people why he is blocking the House's action to clean up contaminated communities.

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Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi speaks with reporters as the House prepares to vote on a War Power Resolution limiting President Trump's military actions regarding Iran.

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McConnell Fears The Truth
For weeks now, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been engaged in tactics of delay in presenting transparency, disregard for the American people's interest for a fair trial and dismissal of the facts. Yesterday, Leader McConnell showed his true colors and made his intentions to stonewall a fair trial even clearer by signing on to a resolution that would dismiss the charges of impeachment against the President, ignoring the 70% of Americans that believe the President should allow his top aids to testify. Leader McConnell's tactics are a clear indication of the fear that he and President Trump have regarding the facts of the President's violations for which he was impeached.

The American people have clearly expressed their view that we should have a fair trial with witnesses and documents, with more than 70 percent of the public stating that the President should allow his top aides to testify. Clearly, Leader McConnell does not want to present witnesses and documents to Senators and the American people so they can make an independent judgment about the President's actions.

Honoring our Constitution, the House passed two articles of impeachment against the President – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – to hold the President accountable for asking a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 elections for his own political and personal gain. While the House was able to obtain compelling evidence of impeachable conduct, which is enough for removal, new information has emerged, which includes:

  • On December 20, new emails showed that 91 minutes after Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, a top Office of Management and Budget (OMB) aide asked the Department of Defense to "hold off" on sending military aid to Ukraine.
  • On December 29, revelations emerged about OMB Director and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney's role in the delay of aid, the effort by lawyers at the OMB, the Department of Justice and the White House to justify the delay, and the alarm that the delay caused within the Administration.
  • On January 2, newly-unredacted Pentagon emails, which we had subpoenaed and the President had blocked, raised serious concerns by Trump Administration officials about the legality of the President's hold on aid to Ukraine.
  • And on January 6, just this week, former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton announced he would comply with a subpoena compelling his testimony. His lawyers have stated he has new relevant information.

I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate. Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution. No one is above the law, not even the President.

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