Volume 164, No. 154 covering the 2nd Session of the 115th Congress (2017 - 2018) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE LATE CONGRESSMAN MAURICE HINCHEY” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1264-E1265 on Sept. 17, 2018.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE LATE CONGRESSMAN MAURICE HINCHEY
______
HON. MARCY KAPTUR
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Monday, September 17, 2018
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of the late Congressman Maurice Hinchey, our beloved colleague. He departed this life on November 22, 2017 after honorably serving two decades in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2013, and serving in the New York State Assembly from 1975 to 1992. He was a Navy veteran, an honorable and dedicated public servant, and stalwart for the working class people of New York. Of Ukrainian-American heritage, he was a founding member of the House Ukrainian Caucus.
Recently, we were reminded of Congressman Hinchey's contributions to his people and our country. On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 4722-A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 111 Market Street in Saugerties, New York, as the ``Maurice D. Hinchey Post Office Building''. With the naming of this USPS office building, Maurice's family and his grateful constituency will proudly honor and remember a treasured son of Saugerties.
I had the distinct honor and privilege of working alongside Maurice on the House Appropriations Committee. Through the Committee, he fought to protect student aid by supporting higher education for all worthy students and championed Pell Grants. He secured funding that would help art revitalization for the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. He understood governing started at the local level, and did all he could to direct federal support for a more prosperous life for his people.
A fierce and notable environmental advocate, Maurice was dedicated to protecting his area's powerful and precious natural resource, the Hudson River. Through his dedicated work on the Appropriations Committee, he secured funds to modernize and develop environmental science laboratories at his district's local colleges. He also fought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lax initiative on cleaning up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) pollution in the Hudson River. As a member of the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee, and having my own congressional district surrounded by the Great Lakes, I found his leadership on renewable energy and cleaning up water ways both exemplary and inspiring. We are in his debt for his tireless environmental advocacy as he moved America along the path of progress.
A man to stand up for blue collar workers, Maurice was very loyal and adored by the labor community. Having worked as a toll collector to pay his college tuition, and then a cement plant worker, he understood the economic difficulties of the working class people in his district. In the 106th Congress he introduced H.R. 2759, the Older Workers Pension Protection Act of 1999. This bill would have helped safeguard employees from age discrimination against their benefits. He also fought against funding cuts to Job Corps, a vital entity for young people in his area who need skill and job assistance. As we continue to fight for the rights and protections of our working women and men, may we continue to be inspired by Maurice's spirit and vision.
Maurice and I shared a deep love for Ukraine and our central European roots. We served in the bipartisan Ukrainian Congressional Caucus and trumpeted a vision of an independent Ukraine, free of Russian aggression. Maurice uniquely understood the importance of a democratic, prosperous, and free Ukraine, as the edge of liberty on the European continent. He was a true champion of democracy both home and abroad.
Maurice's leadership and indefatigable efforts on behalf of working people are sorely missed. May his life's work be an inspiration to the people of the Hudson Valley and his memory be cherished always. Rest well, my dear friend and colleague. May the angels of mercy usher you to a peaceful place where your genius and goodwill shower our planet.
____________________
Alerts Sign-up