The Rollback Congress Continues

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THE ROLLBACK CONGRESS CONTINUES

Environment, Public Health and Consumers Still at Risk

Over the last 25 years some of the most basic environmental and consumer protection laws were enacted. Intended to clean the nation's waterways, rid the air we breathe of toxins, and protect consumers from unfair bank fees and untruthful advertising, these laws have drastically improved the quality of life of every American. However, we still have a long way to go.

More than 40,000 premature deaths are estimated to occur each year due to particulate soot pollution.
Each day 5,000 children start smoking, and each year 434,000 Americans die from tobacco-related causes, 50,000 of which are nonsmokers.
The bank fees that consumers pay went up at twice the rate of inflation from 1993 to 1995, while banks made record profits.
By the year 2000, up to 100 species per day will become extinct.

The 104th Congress

Ignoring facts like these, the 104th Congress was the most hostile Congress of the last quarter century when it came to protecting the environment, ensuring public health, and standing up for consumers.

The 104th Congress' actions were a litany of attacks on the air we breathe, on the water we drink, and on our pocketbooks. Just a few of the misdeeds include:

In May, 1995 the House of Representatives passed the "Dirty Water Act" that would allow polluters to discharge more toxic chemicals into our waterways, weaken enforcement, and eliminate protections for up to 80% of our remaining wetlands.
In March, 1996 the House and Senate voted to weaken the rights of victims of defective products to be compensated by manufacturers of dangerous products and repeal pro-consumer state laws.
In February, 1996 the House voted to continue to let the sugar industry reap an extra $1.4 billion a year from U.S. consumers, while continuing to disrupt water flow and dump pollutants into the fragile Everglades.

Stopping the Rollbacks in the 105th Congress

While U.S. PIRG and its allies stopped most of the attacks on the environment and consumers in the last Congress, special interests and their PACs have invested record sums to retain their influence in the new Congress.

Nearly all the leaders of the rollback 104th Congress have retained their leadership positions, giving anti-environment and anti-consumer special interests important friends in high places. While more likely to do their dirty work behind the scenes, special interests continue to keep up their assault in the 105th Congress. Already in the first few months of this new Congress there have been attacks have been attacks on the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and Superfund.

U.S. PIRG and the state PIRGs will continue to challenge this sustained attack on the environment and consumers. Our staff of researchers, policy advocates and organizers will work with PIRG members and other citizens across the country to stop the rollback by:

Releasing reports and studies documenting environmental and public health problems, consumer rip-offs, and special interest campaign contributions to Congress.
Delivering hundreds of thousands of postcards to Congress and the President from citizens asking that the environment not be put on the chopping block.

U.S. PIRG will continue its work to inform and energize millions of citizens take action against the rollbacks. Giving citizens the information they need, like this scorecard, is one key way people will make the difference on Capitol Hill and stop the rollback of the nation's environmental, public health, and consumer laws.