When I first decided to run for the Congressional seat in New Jersey's Fifth District, I did it because I knew that I wanted to be a voice for the families of North Jersey who have not had a voice in Washington the past five years.
Tuesday night, I met with leaders of the Ramapough Mountain Indians, whose land was used as a dumping ground for industrial waste for nearly two decades, and are now left to deal with the after-effects of an industry which has since pulled its jobs, and the wealth that came with it, out of the community.
Some of the excruciating details of their plight can be found at this invaluable website, http://toxiclegacy.com/ .
The Ramapough are now faced with an impossible choice: they must decide between living in a toxic environment, each day losing more value in their homes by being vocal about their plight, or leaving the land that they and their ancestors have inhabited for hundreds of years. Their problem is not one which anyone should ever face, and in Congress, I will work to ensure that this obscenity is corrected.
Scott Garrett has not lead on this issue -- progressives such as Frank Pallone, Frank Lautenberg, and Robert Menendez (among many), have had to pick up where Garrett's inattention to corporate abuse left off.
The hardships which the Ramapough Mountain Indians face are not theirs alone. Like all environmental crises, its effects touch us all. While they live with hardened lead paint sludge in front of their homes, and barrels of toxic waste in back, the rest of us must live with the knowledge that those chemicals have seeped down to the water table and into the rivers and streams that flow into our water supply. It is important that we highlight the environmental dangers that the Ramapough Indians face, and take a strong stand against those who would ignore these problems for fear of cutting into the profits of those responsible.
While sludge literally bubbles up onto the ancestral land of the Ramapough, PAC funds from corporate polluters bubble into Scott Garrett's warchest.
And Garrett continues to fight to conserve the freedom to pollute. For instance, the Beach Protection Act of 2008 would allow states to track down pollution sources and make them known to the public, allowing for polluters to be held accountable and forced to be cleaner. When the House of Representatives voted on it on April 16th, Scott Garrett (R-NJ) voted against the measure, claiming that his constituents had more important concerns to be addressed.
Yet the people of North Jersey have seen that pollution has crept into our homes and it is necessary that we support measures to ensure the safety of our water supply. Scott Garrett voted against the measure, and while the more sensible members of the House were able to pass the legislation, it is necessary that we send a message to members of Congress who would allow polluters to act with impunity.
When I take my seat in January, I will support measures to ensure that we are able to keep our parks, water supplies and homes free of pollution and strive to ensure that we not only clean up pollution when it creeps into our environment, but stop it at its source. I will work to punish polluters and hold them accountable for the destruction that they cause to our environment. No one should have to worry about the streams flowing through their backyards, and through their faucets, and it is time to make sure that no one does.
For more on my race, please visit shulmanforcongress.com, or the Blue America page with our endorsement: http://actblue.com/...