Click here to watch Ranking Member Capito’s questions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, questioned witnesses, including champion American drag racer Antron Brown and American Farm Bureau Federation Vice President Scott VanderWal, about two pieces of legislation, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2021 and the Livestock Regulatory Protection Act of 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS:
PROTECTING AUTOSPORTS FROM EPA OVERREACH: “The RPM Act…seems like a simple, very commonsense fix…and there is a problem there. Mr. Brown, you've testified to that. And Mr. Walke acknowledged that we need to have a fix here. So, I guess my question to you Mr. Brown, because you've been really explicit about talking about your youth and STEM education and you have a wonderful family there that's involved in racing. And I imagine that most of your audience are families that come out on an evening to an affordable way to enjoy being with their families and watching a great sport. But if a looming EPA lawsuit is looking over you and you said you just created your new team, what kind of reaction do you have that as a small business owner? How would you ever be able to fight that?”
ON NEED FOR LIVESTOCK REGULATORY PROTECTION ACT: “We also heard that the cow tax proposal…‘there's really no need for this legislation, because it's taking care of every year in appropriations.’ Well, I'm on Appropriations. I wouldn't be betting on what's going to happen every year in an appropriations process here in the United States Congress. I mean, we're heading up to a continuing resolution, which is not the way that this whole system was conceived. We should have our appropriations bills in line by September 30, have them passed, and have our wishes moved forward. So a year by year band aid is not, I don't think, a solution to the issue that you're talking about.”
TECHNOLOGY, MARKET INCENTIVES DELIVER BETTER EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS THAN MANDATES: “As you're moving forward as an industry with the innovation and technology that’s coming forward, you’re able to bring your emissions down almost in a voluntary manner, because it's good for the environment, it's good for the farmer, it's good for the consumer. And so, I think putting our emphasis in the positive areas is a much more beneficial way than in a punitive way such as a cow tax would put forward.”
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