Dem Senator Unfiltered on Green New Deal: 'What in the Heck Is This?'
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin shared his views on the “Green New Deal” on Wednesday, saying he doesn’t know what it is or whether he would vote for it after reading the legislation.
Durbin was asked Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” about the plan introduced by Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and if he would be supporting it after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he would be bringing the legislation to the floor for a vote to put lawmakers on the record.
The Illinois Democrat said although he has read the legislation, he does not know “what in the heck” it is and would not say if he would vote for it.
“At this point, I can’t tell you. I have read it and I have reread it. And I asked Ed Markey, what in the heck is this?” he said, referring to his Democratic colleague from Massachusetts.
“He says, ‘It is an aspiration.’ It’s a resolution aspiration,” Durbin said.
“What we’re going to do is ask the Republican leader, ‘What’s your position on global warming,’ while we’re at it. Shouldn’t you come out on the record and say if human activity is having an impact on the environment? Let’s get on the record on both sides,” Durbin said.
When asked if he would vote for the Green New Deal in its current form, Durbin responded by saying he was still looking at the legislation.
“It’s long,” he said.
The Green New Deal has sown division among Democratic senators, many of whom question the practicality of the resolution.
The proposed legislation aims to tackle climate change and other environmental concerns, but it comes at an expense.
Enacting the bill would require significant financial resources, which has caused concern for a number of Democratic senators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
“At this stage, I am not a supporter of it because it’s been looked at very cursorily and if you read the language, it’s a very big program with a huge governmental cost,” Feinstein said to TheDCNF on Feb. 13. “None of that’s been looked at.”
When asked if the legislation was likely to pass the Senate, McConnell told TheDCNF, “I hope not!”
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