Slaughter Suggests Climate Change Bill May Slip Until July
House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday cast doubt that climate change legislation will reach the floor next week.“I don’t believe they’re going to be ready next week. I’ve not heard anything about it being ready for next week. That makes me think that they’re not going to do it,— Slaughter said.Slaughter said neither Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) nor Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has given her any sign that the bill is headed to her committee next week.Waxman has been pushing to bring the bill to the floor before the July Fourth recess. But the measure has stalled amid opposition from Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who has concerns with mixing climate change and energy independence provisions.Earlier Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democrats are making progress on working out their differences on the bill, but he hedged on saying whether it would be done by next week.“I don’t want to predict that progress is going to be made rapidly enough for us to do this next week,— Hoyer said. The Majority Leader noted that he has always said the bill would come to the floor either in the last week of June or the first week in July, after the July Fourth recess.