The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a measure that would put a stop to the Biden administration's plastic straw ban.
Leading the way on this issue, according to the Washington Examiner, is U.S. Rep. John Rose (R-TN).
President Joe Biden, back in June 2022, announced an initiative that looks to move America away from the use of certain plastics on public lands.
Fox News, at the time, reported:
In a fact sheet, the White House wrote that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland would issue Secretary’s Order 3407, which aims to reduce the procurement, sale and distribution of single-use plastic products and packaging, including plastic and polystyrene food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, and more. It also has a goal of phasing out single-use plastic products on Department-managed lands within the next decade.
The Biden administration has also directed the department, according to Fox, to find less environmentally harmful alternatives to single-use plastics.
Now, Rose is looking to put an end to this initiative.
Rose, according to the Examiner, recently added to an appropriations bill an amendment that would stop the Biden administration from banning the sale of such things as plastic straws on public lands.
This amendment has now been passed by the House.
Per the outlet:
Lawmakers passed its seventh appropriations bill on Friday, advancing a $34.8 billion measure to fund the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and a number of related agencies. Included in that bill is an amendment proposed by Rep. John Rose (R-TN) that would prevent the Interior Department from banning the sale of plastic straws on public lands and in national parks.
Now, the bill will head to the U.S. Senate.
There is a possibility, considering the Democrats' control of the upper chamber, that Rose's amendment will not survive.
To boil it down to its essential point, it is that the government ought not to be getting involved in these matters.
Rose, on the House floor, said:
We have to ask: Why is the Department of Interior rushing to ban plastic straws in National Parks when it is far from clear whether or not there is any environmental benefit to switching to paper straws? Additionally, paper straws are absolutely despised by many Americans because they start to become soggy almost immediately when put into a drink. The American people do not want their government dictating what type of straws they can drink from.
Rose went on to say that a vote for his amendment "is a resounding repudiation of the nanny state the Biden administration is currently building via edicts from unelected bureaucrats."
