Environment & Animal Welfare
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), introduced one of the boldest climate change bills in Congress. The Climate Solutions Act of 2019 encourages strong renewable energy standards by requiring that 100 percent of electricity sold in the United States be generated from renewable sources by 2035. It will also aggressively target greenhouse gases by requiring such emissions to be 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. It also creates a national energy efficiency standard. Rep.
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) was sworn into his third term in Congress. Rep. Lieu, a veteran, was first elected in 2014 and has since proudly served California's 33rd Congressional District. In the 116th Congress, Rep. Lieu will sit on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He will also serve in House Leadership as a Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair.
"Change is coming.
When Democrats take control of the House in January, Californians will hold 46 seats in the majority party, the largest of any state delegation, giving the state significant clout in the chamber.
House Democrats can hold hearings on issues they want to push. They can seek to block the Trump administration's bid to expand offshore oil drilling and scrutinize EPA decisions, including the effort to roll back vehicle mileage and emissions rules. They can also offer bills and get them passed.ONTINUING COVERAGE
WASHINGTON—Last week, President Trump signed into law the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to authorize water resources development projects. The law contains a provision advocated by Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) to increase the authorization for funding the West Basin Municipal Water District's Harbor South Bay Water Recycling Project. This project will increase the delivery of recycled water throughout the Harbor and South Bay region, improve water quality, and reduce reliance on imported water.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Representatives Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Don Beyer (D-Virginia) wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General to request an investigation into whether Scott Pruitt violated the Federal Records Act. The letter cited recent reports that Pruitt intentionally hid or falsified records of meetings and discussions with representatives of industries regulated by the EPA.
The lawmakers wrote:
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), both Members of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, rolled out the bipartisan Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act, which would phase out the use of large mesh drift gillnets off the coast of California and set a path toward more sustainable fishing in the region. The measure is the House companion to S.2773, which was introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
I was dismayed when I learned that the world's only male northern white rhinoceros, Sudan, died on March 19. Sudan was the last of a sub-species of the White Rhinoceros, which is listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species. Now, two female northern white rhinos are the last of their kind on this planet. It is troubling knowing that, despite our best efforts in conservation and animal science, we are struggling to protect endangered wildlife.
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking for more information on the FDA's efforts to test glyphosate levels in food. The letter follows a report published in The Guardian indicating that glyphosate, the chemical commonly used in herbicides, could be found in common foods.
In the letter, Mr. Lieu writes:
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), along with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-CA) introduced the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies (ProTECT) Act. This legislation would amend the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to prohibit the taking of any endangered or threatened species in the United States as a trophy and the importation of any such trophy into the United States.