WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a senior Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, U.S. Representative John K. Delaney (Md.-06), and 145 of their Democratic colleagues from the Senate and House sent a letter to President Obama today in strong support of the United States signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement.
Secretary of State John Kerry will represent the United States at the UN in New York Friday, where he will officially sign the Agreement along with more than one hundred other nations. Under President Obama’s leadership and with the strong support of Congressional Democrats, the United States rallied world leaders in support of the Paris Agreement last December.
The letter states in part, “For years, the world has looked to the United States for international leadership and addressing climate change is no different. Through your leadership, the United States is fulfilling a responsibility to lead international action addressing climate change resulting in unprecedented cooperation on the development of the historic Paris Agreement. Your decision to make the United States one of the first parties to sign the agreement is a further demonstration of U.S. leadership and is an important step towards ensuring the Paris Agreement is implemented quickly and that the global community begins in earnest towards achieving the significant goals of the agreement.”
“I thank President Obama for his strong leadership which has led us to this historic signing. Now it is time to implement the Agreement and act on behalf of future generations so that they are not devastated by the impacts of global climate change,” Senator Cardin said. “As a lawmaker from a state deeply susceptible to rising sea levels, I am committed to doing all I can to ensure the United States fulfills its obligations and serves as an example to every nation on earth of what is possible when we put our science, leadership, and ingenuity to work on behalf of humanity.”
“Climate Change poses a huge risk to our environment, our economy, and our national security. At the same time, the United States has an opportunity to greatly benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy,” said Congressman Delaney. “This climate agreement between 195 countries is a historic occasion. We all have to act together to solve the problem. I thank President Obama for his leadership, and will continue to work with Senator Cardin in Congress to accelerate our transition to clean energy.”
In total, 33 Senators and 114 Representatives signed onto the letter. The full text of the letter with the list of signers is below.
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The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 205000
April 21, 2016
Dear Mr. President:
We write in strong support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement calling for global cooperation on addressing the causes and effects of climate change. We fully support the United States’ decision to sign the agreement on the first day it will be open for signature, April 22, 2016, and we hope that other nations will follow our lead. For years, the world has looked to the United States for international leadership and addressing climate change is no different. Through your leadership, the United States is fulfilling a responsibility to lead international action addressing climate change resulting in unprecedented cooperation on the development of the historic Paris Agreement. Your decision to make the United States one of the first parties to sign the agreement is a further demonstration of U.S. leadership and is an important step towards ensuring the Paris Agreement is implemented quickly and that the global community begins in earnest towards achieving the significant goals of the agreement.
No country is insulated from the increasingly present and escalating effects of climate change. The United States faces numerous challenges: prolonged droughts that affect our food security and water supplies, sea-level rise that threatens millions of Americans residing near our coasts, and expanded range of wildfires and prolonged wildfire seasons are just a few examples. These threats affect the U.S. economy, public health, and national security. Investments to improve the resiliency of our communities at all levels are critically important to our ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change and thrive.
Mitigation of climate change is a national priority that requires national policies to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, like producing significantly more energy from clean and carbon-free sources as a means of achieving the pollution reduction pledge the U.S. made ahead of COP21. Increased investment and deployment of clean energy is sound strategy for reducing carbon pollution that will spur tremendous domestic job growth and expand the U.S. economy
The United States must also be responsive to climate change’s impact on our allies in the world’s least developed and most vulnerable countries. Defense and national security experts refer to climate change as a “threat multiplier” because of its effects on the safety, stability, and security of many at-risk nations ultimately impacts U.S. security interests. Continued U.S. climate diplomacy and international engagement with our allies, and the most vulnerable nations, will go a long way towards not only saving lives but also preserving global security in the face of uncertain changes in the global environment.
The world must work together to ensure that the goals of the Paris Agreement are realized. U.S. commitment to leadership in this arena has helped start a process that must last beyond your presidency. We are both hopeful that this historic agreement will achieve its monumental goals and stand ready to assist with delivering the United States’ lasting commitments to make the agreement a success – for our children, our grandchildren and future generations to come.
Sincerely,
Senators:
Ben Cardin
Richard Blumenthal
Cory Booker
Barbara Boxer
Dianne Feinstein
Al Franken
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
Martin Heinrich
Tim Kaine
Amy Klobuchar
Edward J. Markey
Jeffrey A. Merkley
Christopher S. Murphy
Brian Schatz
Tom Udall
Richard J. Durbin
Barbara A. Mikulski
Debbie Stabenow
Gary C. Peters
Mazie K. Hirono
Charles E. Schumer
Christopher A. Coons
Ron Wyden
Thomas R. Carper
Sherrod Brown
Tammy Baldwin
Elizabeth Warren
Sheldon Whitehouse
Patrick J. Leahy
Robert Menendez
Michael F. Bennet
Jack Reed
Jeanne Shaheen
Members of Congress:
John K. Delaney
Scott Peters
Alan Lowenthal
Jared Huffman
Eliot L. Engel
Gerry Connolly
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Adam Smith
Paul Tonko
Mike Honda
Derek Kilmer
Donna F. Edwards
Mike Quigley
Grace Meng
Rick Larsen
Bobby Rush
Peter DeFazio
Alcee L. Hastings
Theodore E. Deutch
Adam Schiff
Alan Grayson
Corrine Brown
Jim McDermott
Andre Carson
Luis V. Gutierrez
Niki Tsongas
Peter Welch
Doris Matsui
Kieth Ellison
Sam Farr
John Carney
Jared Polis
Kathy Castor
Mark Pocan
José E. Serrano
Eric Swalwell
Matt Cartwright
Ted Lieu
Lois Capps
Yvette D. Clarke
Barbara Lee
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Earl Blumenauer
Seth Moulton
Denny Heck
Suzanne Bonamici
James P. McGovern
Kathleen M. Rice
Jackie Speier
Zoe Lofgren
Mark Takai
Don Beyer
Chris Van Hollen
Steve Israel
Grace F. Napolitano
John P. Sarbanes
Anna G. Eshoo
Jerrold Nadler
Charles B. Rangel
Katherine Clark
Steve Cohen
Bill Foster
Betty McCollum
Patrick E. Murphy
Susan Davis
David Price
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Janice Hahn
Frederica S. Wilson
Chaka Fattah
Mark DeSaulnier
Lucille Roybal-Allard
Brenda L. Lawrence
Michael E. Capuano
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Joe Courtney
Mike Thompson
James R. Langevin
Bill Keating
Juan Vargas
Linda T. Sanchez
Elizabeth H. Esty
Julia Brownley
John Conyers
Jim Himes
Beto O’Rourke
Emanuel Cleaver
Joe Crowley
John Lewis
Louise M. Slaughter
Judy Chu
Rosa DeLauro
Ed Perlmutter
John Yarmuth
Suzan DelBene
Dutch Ruppersberger
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Brian Higgins
Jan Schakowsky
Joseph P. Kennedy, III
Ami Bera
David N. Cicilline
Tony Cardenas
Robert C. “Bobby” Scott
Carolyn B. Maloney
Jerry McNerney
Sheila Jackson Lee
Dan Kildee
Ben Ray Lujan
Maxine Waters
John Garamendi
Richard E. Neal
Ron Kind
Lois Frankel
