[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 140 (Friday, September 30, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      JOHN HUME'S WORDS OF WISDOM

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I would like to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues a piece written by John Hume that appeared in last Friday`s 
Washington Post. I ask unanimous consent that at the end of my remarks, 
Mr. Hume's piece be inserted in the Record.
  John Hume is well known to many of us as a friend and colleague, a 
fellow legislator, a thoughtful and skilled negotiator, a man of peace. 
I believe John Hume, with his steadfast belief in the gifts and 
capabilities of the Irish peoples, deserves the lion's share of the 
credit for the positive developments we are witnessing in Northern 
Ireland.
  During John Hume's visit to the United States last week, we were 
treated to his eloquent words of wisdom about how to maintain the 
momentum, and ultimately, achieve peace in Northern Ireland. Several 
members of the Foreign Relations Committee met with him personally at a 
coffee meeting I attended just downstairs in the Foreign Relations 
Committee room.
  Many of the sentiments that Mr. Hume expressed to the committee are 
reiterated in his recent article. I am particularly impressed with John 
Hume's admission that his views have been shaped by his European 
experience and his contact with the United States. Mr. Hume is right on 
target when he suggests that many of us do not give a second thought to 
the fat that the European Union, one of the most powerful economic and 
political blocs in the world, has as its members both Germany and 
France, countries with a long history of mutual animosity and war. He 
also reminds us that the United States is a shining example of a 
country where ``the essence of unity is the acceptance of diversity.'' 
Seeing John Hume's vision and political skills, I have great hope that 
he will one day be able to point to Northern Ireland as an example of a 
place where diversity is celebrated as a source of stability and 
democracy.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                           New Era in Ireland

       With the announcement of a cessation of military activities 
     by the IRA and the commitment of their political voice, Sinn 
     Fein, to peaceful and democratic means to reach an agreement 
     between the people of Ireland that can earn the allegiance of 
     all our traditions, we are now at the beginning of a new era 
     in Ireland. That was the clearly stated objective of my 
     dialogue with Gerry Adams. Since five British governments and 
     20,000 troops failed to stop the violence, I took the view 
     that if the killing of human beings on our streets could be 
     ended by direct dialogue, then it was my duty to do so. I am 
     naturally pleased that we have achieved this first major step 
     toward lasting stability.
  Now we must move on to our next major challenge--to reach agreement 
on how we share our piece of earth together. The challenge is to find 
common ground between two fundamentally different mind-sets, the 
unionist and the nationalist. The unionist mind-set based largely in 
the Protestant population of Northern Ireland, is akin to that of the 
Afrikaner who believes that, surrounded by hostility that is real or 
apparent, the only way to protect his people is to concentrate power in 
their own hands to the exclusion of all others.
  That approach is not only doomed to encourage widespread 
discrimination and conflict but is ultimately unsustainable. Nor does 
it do justice to the unionist tradition. The Unionist of Northern 
Ireland are justly proud of their heritage and their contribution to 
the world. As many as 11 American presidents came of their stock. They 
number captains of industry and colonial governors among their great 
men. They see themselves as a pragmatic, hardheaded, straight-talking, 
skeptical, robust people and there is much in their history to justify 
their view.
       However, the negative impact of their laager mentality has 
     tended to dry up their creativity and paralyze their 
     political talents. The time has come for them to believe in 
     themselves as their own best guarantors in a future shared 
     with the rest of the people of Ireland. They must realize 
     that because of their geography and their numbers, the 
     problem cannot be solved without them. Their true interest 
     depends precisely on the exercise of their traditional gifts 
     of self-confidence and self-reliance. Let them exercise those 
     gifts now in the face of a historic opportunity by engaging 
     in the political process of dialogue and consensus building.
       The nationalist mind-set has traditionally relied less on 
     the discipline of its people and more on its commitment to 
     the territory of Ireland. ``This is our land, and you 
     unionists are a minority and you cannot stop us taking it 
     over'' can fairly well sum it up. But Irish nationalism has 
     grown in its complexity, and it accepts that unity is not a 
     territorial objective but one that involves people. It is 
     people who have rights and not territory. A divided people 
     can only be brought together by agreement. If coercion 
     entrenches those divisions, only dialogue can bridge them.
       In my whole approach to this process, I have been strongly 
     inspired by both my European experience and my contact with 
     the United States. The European Union is the greatest 
     testament to the resolution of conflict. After one of the 
     bloodiest conflicts in history, which left 35 million dead 
     across our continent a mere 50 years ago, Europeans are 
     engaged in a level of cooperation so intense it has blurred 
     the traditional bounds of sovereignty. The political system 
     of the United States commands the loyalty of citizens despite 
     the diversity of their ethnic makeup and experiences. And 
     each U.S. citizen carries in the small change in his or her 
     pocket the maxim that holds the country together--e pluribus 
     unum,  from many we are one, the essence of unity is the 
     acceptance of diversity.
       We in Ireland are engaged in a process that seeks to give 
     reality to this most profound truth. We must create by 
     agreement, as was done in postwar Europe, institutions that 
     respect our diversity but allow us also to work our 
     substantial economic ground together--and by spilling our 
     sweat and not our blood to begin our healing process. If that 
     happens, a new Ireland will evolve, and the model that 
     emerges may be very different from the traditional models of 
     the past. It will be based on agreement and can earn the 
     allegiance of people from all our traditions.
       While we work for political agreement, we should also--in 
     conjunction with the Irish abroad, particularly in the United 
     States--work together to build our country economically, 
     concentrating on areas of higher unemployment in the North so 
     that the positive results of the peace process can be visible 
     to our young people. We must give them hope and belief in the 
     constitutional process. We must plan to give them the 
     opportunity to earn a living in the land of their birth and 
     to contribute to its development.
       I have had major contacts in the U.S. political and 
     business communities, where people of Irish extraction are 
     prominent in both. I have learned that they would be keen to 
     help in the development effort. Indeed, they are already 
     doing so through the International Fund for Ireland, which 
     has already created 20,000 jobs. Reconstruction goes hand in 
     hand with reconciliation.
       My hope, and it is a confident hope, is that the fast 
     approaching 21st century will be the fist century in our 
     island history in which the evil genius of mistrust and 
     violence will be finally laid to rest, and politics alone--in 
     all its dynamism and vigor--will direct the affairs of all of 
     the people of Ireland.

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I see the Senator from Pennsylvania on the 
floor.
  I take this time to specifically and particularly thank him for his 
very, very hard work in helping to resolve a very difficult issue, not 
only for the country but for the people of Pennsylvania.
  I just hope that the people of Pennsylvania have some sense of 
understanding of all that he has done for Pennsylvania, not only on 
this issue but other related matters. He has been a tireless worker, a 
very good Senator to work with, and that is because his word is his 
bond. When the Senator from Pennsylvania says he is going to do 
something, he does it. That is not always true with everyone else in 
the world we have to work with and deal with sometimes.
  But I just take this opportunity to particularly thank the Senator 
from Pennsylvania for his very diligent and very effective work.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from 
Pennsylvania [Mr. Wofford].
  Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, at the end of this hard week's work, I 
thank the Senator from Montana. I thank Senator Baucus, the chairman of 
our committee, for those warm words. More important, I thank him for 
his good work, his leadership of our committee, and the good leadership 
he has given on this bill.
  As he knows, high on my agenda from the time I got here was to help 
Pennsylvania deal with the mountain of trash coming into the 
Commonwealth. It is a battle our Governor, who first appointed me to 
this position and gave me the opportunity to serve on the Environment 
and Public Works Committee with Senator Baucus, has fought for a long 
time.
  I thank Senator Baucus for coming with Governor Casey and me to 
Lackawanna County and looking firsthand at our problem and seeing why 
the people of Pennsylvania want us to fight to get control of our 
destiny in this matter.
  I also thank Senator Coats for his good work. I think the way we 
worked together across party lines on this issue is an example of what 
we need to do in this country and in this Congress on so many other 
issues.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question, 
please?
  Mr. WOFFORD. I yield.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I would just like to tell the Senator how 
much I appreciate not only Senator Wofford's request but the 
opportunity to see firsthand the problems that Pennsylvania is faced 
with, particularly Lackawanna County.
  When I visited with the Senator at his request and with the Governor 
of Pennsylvania, Governor Casey, to see firsthand, I must say 
regrettably the smell firsthand, the results of this very large 
unwelcome landfill, and with the trucks rumbling by tearing up pavement 
and just causing havoc and particularly seeing the concern in the eyes 
of mothers with small children who were exposed to all this, not only 
the trucks going up and down the streets and constantly this landfill 
but also the various problems of the landfill, that made a big 
difference to the committee and helped the committee forge a solution 
to this bill.
  I thank the Senator for his invitation and for that opportunity for 
this member of the committee to see firsthand those problems and, 
therefore, help the committee forge a good solution to the problem.
  Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, I thank Senator Baucus for his further 
account about his trip to Pennsylvania, which we greatly appreciated. 
He saw not only our citizens in action as they assembled that day to 
talk to us and make us look, smell, and listen to them, but he saw our 
Governor in action.
  Our Governor came down with his airplane to make sure we got there. 
The Senator saw what kind of a fighting Governor Bob Casey is on things 
when he knows what the common good calls for and that it calls for 
action. I am very glad we were able to show him that.
  On occasions related to the environment, particularly in our 
committee, we have proved that we can work across party lines for the 
common good in this country.
  The legislation is going to provide, once we get over the final 
hurdle in the conference and back in final passage, relief to 
Pennsylvania communities by allowing reductions in out-of-State waste.

  Pennsylvania leads the Nation in the amount of imported municipal 
solid waste. Over 3.8 million tons came into the Commonwealth in both 
1992 and 1993. These figures represent over 30 percent of the total 
waste disposed in Pennsylvania each year. No other State has such a 
high volume or percentage of out-of-State waste transported for 
disposal.
  Since 1989 Pennsylvania has issued citations for either safety or 
environmental violations to 29,379 trash trucks. The overwhelming 
majority of these were issued to trucks from outside Pennsylvania. In 
addition, 340 trucks were ordered to return to their State of origin 
because of serious environmental violations. Since 1987, Pennsylvania 
has collected over $24 million in fines and penalties under the State 
Solid Waste Management Act. It is unfair for our State to be burdened 
with regulating and policing landfills whose sole purpose is to accept 
vast amounts of out-of-State waste.
  Pennsylvania has turned around its waste disposal problem in his own 
house. As recently as 1986 the Commonwealth exported over 3 million 
tons of municipal solid waste. Now that figure is under 1 million tons 
annually. Through aggressive efforts in waste management, recycling, 
and capacity planning, Pennsylvania has effectively created an 
environmentally sound structure to meet State needs with sufficient 
capacity into the next century.
  In spite of these State efforts, Federal court decisions in recent 
years have left Pennsylvania helpless to control the increasing amounts 
of out-of-State waste coming into the Commonwealth. This legislation 
addresses many of the issues created by those court decisions.
  I offered four amendments, which the Environment and Public Works 
Committee accepted, during consideration of this legislation. The most 
important of those amendments, which is section 2 of this bill, assures 
that Pennsylvania will see an actual decrease from the largest 
exporting States of municipal solid waste during the coming few years. 
It is time that other States follow the lead of Pennsylvania and 
develop the necessary capacity for the disposal of their own waste.
  Mr. President, the battle for this bill is not finally over, but we 
have reached an important milestone. This is a vital bill for our 
country and for our commonwealth.

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