{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/merkley-statement-on-trumps-nomination-of-scott-pruitt-to-head-the-epa", "Merkley Statement on Trump’s Nomination of Scott Pruitt to Head the EPA", "2016-12-07", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Merkley Statement on Trump\u2019s Nomination of Scott Pruitt to Head the EPA \n\t\n\t\t \u201cUnder Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency would become the \u2018Polluter Protection Agency\u2019\u201d \n\t\n\t\n\tWednesday, December 7, 2016\n\t\n\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Oregon\u2019s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement regarding Donald Trump\u2019s nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):\r\n \r\n\u201cOnce again, Donald Trump has picked a special-interest advocate to run an executive agency. Scott Pruitt has spent his career fighting to protect fossil fuel polluters rather than the public interest. As Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt was caught red-handed taking arguments virtually word-for-word from fossil fuel lobbyists and putting them on his official letterhead as the position of the State of Oklahoma. Under Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency would become the \u2018Polluter Protection Agency.\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\r\n\u201cPruitt has questioned the reality of climate change and sued the federal government to block action on the mercury, arsenic, and carbon pollution that poisons our communities and children.\u00a0Instead of protecting our families\u2019 right to clean air and water, Pruitt has demonstrated time and again that his main interest is protecting polluters. He is a dangerous and unacceptable choice to lead the agency tasked with leading our climate efforts and protecting clean air and clean water for all Americans.\u201d\r\n \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t  \n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n      \n    \n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/merkley-statement-on-trumps-nomination-of-scott-pruitt-to-head-the-epa"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.555807888507843, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}