Senate Proceeding on Jun 11th, 2009 :: 0:44:40 to 0:59:30
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0:44:34 to 0:44:57( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: quorum call: the presiding ficer: the senator from kansas. mr. madam pr i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed. .the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. roberts: i understand we're in morning business and i would ask unanimous consent i may be recognized minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. roberts: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to

0:44:40 to 0:59:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Pat Roberts

0:44:58 to 0:45:20( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: discuss an issue of these believe it or not issues of waste and abuse concerning millions of tax dollars and stimulus funding. i've got some good news and then i've got some bad news. to report. first the good news. in the last 24 hours, we have been able to reverse a policy

0:45:21 to 0:45:42( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: that would have used stimulus money twice within a matter of months. now, i said yesterday, that just didn't pass the kansas commonsense test, or, for that matter, any state's commonsense test, and would be a huge abuse of taxpayer dollars.

0:45:43 to 0:46:04( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: well, we have plan, this silly plan, in a bipartisan way, and i want to personally thank vice president biden, the overseeing all of spending, for taking action to correct this abuse after i contacted him. and i really to want thank the vice president, because the white house moved and the vice president moved to an

0:46:05 to 0:46:26( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: expeditious fashion that i, quite frankly, didn't expect that they could move that fast but they got the job done. the vice president will be in kansas today and i asked him to review this rather ridiculous example of wasteful spending occurring in cherokee county, kansas, just a short two-hour drive south on u.s. 69 highway from where the vice president

0:46:27 to 0:46:47( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: will be. you see, a section of old highway 96 would have been resurfaced with stimulus then portions of an e.p.a. superfund site would have been cleaned up with stimulus funds and the heavy equipment used for the cleanup would have damaged the newly resurfaced highway so

0:46:48 to 0:47:08( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: they'd have to go the highway over again. this -- once cleanup was complete, additional stimulus funds would have gone to repair road damage caused by the heavy trucks. now, mr. president, taxpayers would have paid almost a million dollars to fix this road twice.

0:47:09 to 0:47:29( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: fortunately, in working with the vice president and the media, we now have media reports that the superfund cleanup will now occur prior to any roadwork. so that's the good news, and, again, i credit the vice president and his staff and his team. now for the bad news while this spending issue has been fixed, there is a much

0:47:30 to 0:47:51( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: larger spending issue affecting dozens of kansas families in cherokee county, kansas, and that is still a major problem. and i'm going to urge the vice president to again provide leadership on he is the self-proclaimed new sheriff in town. i am an honorary sheriff of

0:47:52 to 0:48:14( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: dodge city, kansas, my hometown. so from one sheriff to another, i would simply say to theice president, sheriff, i'll ride shotgun or you can ride shotgun. we have the problem only half solved. you see, in april, e.p.a. region 7 issues a press release saying cherokee county would receive up

0:48:15 to 0:48:37( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: to $25 million from the stimulus. according to the press release, by starting or speeding up cleanup at superfund sites, the stimulus funding is also increasing the speed with which these sites are returned to productive use. when redeveloped, it can offer significant economic benefits to local communities, including

0:48:38 to 0:48:58( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: future job creation. well, unfortunately, for fewer than 100 residents living in the city of treece -- e -- t funding for t literally going down a sinking hole. the city of treece, kansas, sits on the kansas-oklahoma border.

0:48:59 to 0:49:19( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: this small rural community was once a world leader in lead and zinc ming, ming that for nearly 100 years. as the ming companies shut down in the 1970's, the ground water began to rise and the pillars that supported the soil above the mine shafts began to collapse and you had a giant

0:49:20 to 0:49:40( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: sink hole. shortly thereafter, in 1983, to be exact, the e.p.a. placed over 500 square miles in southeast kansas, northeast oklahoma, and southwest missouri on the national priorities list of the superfund list, including the city of

0:49:41 to 0:50:01( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: in total, cherokee county, kansas, where treece is located, has 115 square miles in the superfund program. no listening tour of this part of kansas, i saw firsthand how 100 men and women and children are living in absolute blight. they live day by day not knowing

0:50:02 to 0:50:22( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: when -- and i mean when, not i if -- their homes will collapse into the earth, into the eth below into a giant sink hole. they remain there despite the loss of businesses and infrastructure because their homes h they cannot sell them to find -- or to fund a new home or even rent one. as p

0:50:23 to 0:50:43( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: been on the superfund list for the last 26 years, the e.p.a. has been removed and replaced contaminated topsoil. and according to their stimulus press release, the e.p.a. will continue to remove lead-contaminated residential soil at more than 380 acres in

0:50:44 to 0:51:04( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: baxter springs and treece. now, this an admiral thing to do, but as the ground below it caves in, exposed -- the exposed soil that has not been cleaned rise and essentially this never-ending process. so you're cleaning up topsoil on

0:51:05 to 0:51:26( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: top of a sink hole that after the sink hole sinks, obviously the topsoil is going to be contaminated with the contaminated soil underneath the new topsoil. now, if you can get all that, why, i think you've got the problem. this is a never-ending process. now, i hard with other members of the kansas delegation to determine

0:51:27 to 0:51:47( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: how best to address this situation, and the only satisfactory answer anyone has been able to give me relocate the town to protect the residents from a complete cave-in. the federal government needs to buy out the land and -- from the remaing home and business owners and then prohibit any future construction on the

0:51:48 to 0:52:09( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: property affected by the contamination. this is exactly what we did with pitcher, oklahoma, on the other side of the state line just a w years ago. most estimates indicate we could relocate the entire town and funding the state of kansas has

0:52:10 to 0:52:30( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: already set aside. during the previous congress, i introduced legislation to address the federal portion of this funding fast forward to today, with an economy experiencing a lot of turbulence and a so-called stimulus bill that everyone in this body heard was an absolute necessity and not only a job

0:52:31 to 0:52:51( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: maintainer but a job creator. so i asked the e.p.a. to use $3 million of already allocated stimulus funding community. $3 million. i was told no. so instead of solving this problem and relocating the families of treece to a community, the e.p.a. over the

0:52:52 to 0:53:13( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: next few months, with assistance of the stimulus package, intends to continue to spend even more money, $25 million -- eight times the amount needed to relocate the community, the hundred people that live i blight, in fear that their homes will sink into a sink hol to put new soil -- new soil,

0:53:14 to 0:53:35( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: this is what they're currently going to do -- on to contaminated soil which will then collapse and recontaminate all of the soil doesn't make any sense. i have had an ongoing dialogue with e.p.a., and in a recent response to a letter i sent, they told me, "the wastes are causing great environmental harm to southeast kansas."

0:53:36 to 0:54:00( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: we, of course, "as evidenced by the documented impacts of birds, fish, mackerel, mussels, invert brats and horses. there is a to humans as it is related to elevated blood lead levels." and the letter won't to "e.p.a. region 7 believes the situation athe adjacent e.p.a.

0:54:01 to 0:54:21( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: region 6, site in oklahoma, materially differs from the cherokee county superfund site and that is what drives different cleanup decisions for the tar creek site." i'm going to refer to a couple of charts here picture located right here. you can see all of these white

0:54:22 to 0:54:45( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: objects here, and basically that is the material, material that has come out of many, many mines years. and here is here and here is inbetween -- and i have been there -- you s ponds and many little winding roads.

0:54:46 to 0:55:07( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: fishing in any you may cash a three-eyed fish. at any rate, this is all contaminated. it it's from treece, kansas, in region 7 in kansas city with the e.p.a., or whether it's picher, oklahoma, in region 6 in dallas. i don't know wha is. if this is contaminated -- and

0:55:08 to 0:55:28( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: it is -- and this is contaminated same -- and it is -- what the heck is the difference? let me show you another angle so you can appreciate what i'm talking about. this is what the people of treece see every day a rises and sets. this is a giant chat mountain. all of this contaminated soil.

0:55:29 to 0:55:49( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: this s is treece. the other side is oklahoma. same situation, same problem, same contaminated soil, same sink hole and the same thing on the other side, except e.p.a. 7 in kansas city can't get it through their heads that this is identical to the same problem

0:55:50 to 0:56:10( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: over here. and instead of spending $25 million to clean up and put topsoil on contaminated soil that will sink, why can't we spend $3 million to save a community of treece and relocate theseeople? so basically e.p.a. section 7

0:56:11 to 0:56:31( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: does not have factual basis, quote, according to them, that would allow the use of regular or stimulus funds for a re subsite. why? why? we were going to spend money for a road to be built twice. we're spending $25 million to put topsoil on a sink hole. why can't we spend relocate this town? now, here's my question.

0:56:32 to 0:56:53( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: e.p.a. acknowledged evidence of harm to humans. to humans. and they listed a whole series of other animals and wildlife and so on and so forth that they're worried about, and i understand that. but why not provide assistance to relocate fewer than 100 people from harm's way? furthermore, e.p.a. told me a

0:56:54 to 0:57:15( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: ten-year time frame is estimated for complete waste remediation due to the -- due to the continual mine collapses. i wonder if environmental cleanup will ever be completed. now, mr. president -- madam president, i think it is in the best interest of all taxpayers to quit throwing money down sink holes and provide an opportunity for 100 folks who

0:57:16 to 0:57:36( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: have no other options to move as their homes are worth nothing. madam president, we don't need to spend a problem that won't be solved, topsoil on top of the sink hole. we need to take care of these people and spend $3 million to let them get on with their lives. while american taxpayers are

0:57:37 to 0:57:58( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: spending untold millions to prevent mortgage collapses, i can see no better use for this stimulus plan than to get the residents of treece into safe homes. now, i said once before, i'm an honorary sheriff of dodge city, have a badge. you can go to dodge city and you ca

0:57:59 to 0:58:19( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: see miss kitty, you can go down to the longbranch and so we're us taking care of problems ourselves. kansas has appropriated $500,000 to do this. all we're asking for is $3 million, want the that i don't think is going to ever really result in any long-term cleanup. you have to there be to really realize just how bad this is and

0:58:20 to 0:58:43( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: the pools of water and the little -- and people will tell you, senator, we're going take you around this. don't walk this way. the presiding officer: senator, your time has expired. mr. roberts: i would a additional minute. the presiding officer: witho objection. mr. roberts: thank you very much. so i would just ask sheriff joe, who is the self-declared sheriff on the stimulus

0:58:44 to 0:59:04( Edit History Discussion )

Pat Roberts: out here, ride sidesaddle or you help me get 3 million bucks. you've already stopped the ridiculous situation of b a road twice after we have destroyed it with stimulus money. that's a good thing. that's the good news. but the rest of the story is that the citizens of treece need to be relocated, and we can do