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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Suzanne Struglinski, NRDC, 202-289-2387 or sstruglinski@nrdc.org

Vote on H.R. 1 to Test Senators' Common Sense

Bill’s Anti-Environmental Riders Make No Budget Cuts, But Threaten Health

WASHINGTON

Senators today will take a public stand for the first time on the worst anti-environmental bill in the history of Congress.

The following is a statement from Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

"The House's continuing resolution makes crippling cuts in essential programs that are not necessary to reduce the deficit. The bill includes 19 riders that do not cut the budget by one cent, but instead block important protections that will safeguard human health and the environment. One's position on the House's poison-pill legislation would serve as a test of whether the Senate will stand up for common sense, good government and protecting the public, or whether some would opt to bow to partisan politics, ideological extremism, and polluter interests.

"All senators, regardless of party, should be appalled by the Tea Party-inspired assault on public protections contained in the House bill. The public does not support these sharp reversals of policy. NRDC looks to senators who in the past have touted their moderate credentials and have broken with their party leaders when ideologues have threatened the interests of their constituents. Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Scott Brown and Mark Kirk should be especially concerned about the unprecedented level of cuts and number of riders in this House bill. "

Read more on Scott Slesinger's blog: The Senate to vote on the worst anti-environmental bill ever

NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.

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