WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and a senior Democratic Member on the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, released the following statement on Republican procedural attempts to prevent the July 7, 2007 “Live Earth” concert from occurring in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Markey said, “Not since former Interior Secretary James Watt tried to ban the Beach Boys from appearing on the National Mall has such a misguided effort at political censorship been undertaken by a Republican official. It’s dangerous enough to deny science; it's sheer lunacy to deny song.”