Congressman John D. Dingell

Washington, DC - As the House of Representatives prepares to adjourn for 2005, Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) made the following statement regarding Republicans’ failure to pass legislation that would allow Michigan to address its concerns on Canadian trash:

“A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers has worked for years to pass legislation that would give our State relief from the tons of trash imported from Canada. All four Michigan Representatives on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, including me, have worked in a bipartisan manner to push H.R. 2491, the “International Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2005’ through a Subcommittee and then the full Committee last summer. The bill would require that the Federal government implement the notice and consent provisions of the Bilateral Agreement that both countries signed in 1992, as well as give our State new tools to manage the amount of trash imported from Canada. We had reason to believe that this consensus legislation -- which did not have a single vote recorded against it -- would make it to the House floor this year, but it has not. It was reported by our Committee in June, placed on the House Calendar in September, yet the Republican leadership which has sole control over the floor has still not scheduled it for a vote. I don't understand it. Is this some strange Christmas present for the waste industry or has the Republican leadership been infiltrated by Canadian agents? I can not find any rational explanation as to why a bipartisan, consensus bill like this one, sponsored by a Republican Subcommittee Chairman, would run into so many obstacles AFTER making it through our Committee on a voice vote.

“I can say that Michigan Members on both sides of the aisle have heard the calls from our constituents and we want to bring relief to Michigan. You can be sure that I will enter 2006 calling on the House Leadership to seriously address this issue and not put it aside the way they have the Great Lakes, on which Republicans have said all the right things during election years, but continually fail to act when in office. It is time for Congress to address the concerns of our State and deal with the onslaught of foreign garbage.”