Rep. Inslee: Republicans want kids to get asthma

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) on Wednesday night said Republicans want to make the air dirtier and increase the rates of asthma among children.

"What reason on this green Earth do we have to increase the rates of asthma of our kids?" Inslee asked in a debate over H.R. 1, the spending resolution for FY 2011. "And that's what the Republican party wants to do in this continuing resolution."

"Now that's kind of a harsh statement," he continued. "It's a harsh statement to say that one of our noble parties wants to increase the availability of ozone to damage our kids' health. But facts are stubborn things, and this is what the Republican Party is sentencing our kids to, which is more dangerous air."

Inslee and several other Democrats have argued that the spending bill would prevent the EPA from issuing state permits allowing construction projects that meet certain greenhouse gas emission guidelines. Republicans have countered that the language only relates to permits for stationary sources of pollution, and do not affect other issues, such as renewable fuel standards.