[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             GRIDLOCK AGAIN

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, for the third time this week I must 
rise because a few of my Republican colleagues have chosen to deny the 
country legislation that would have produced enormous benefits for our 
economy and for our environment.
  Over the past several days, I have tried to get consent to have S. 
773, the Voluntary Environmental Cleanup and Economic Redevelopment 
Act, passed by the Senate. But once again--for the third time this 
year--certain Republicans have refused to allow this bill to move 
forward.
  Each time, despite over a dozen cosponsors from both sides of the 
aisle, and broad support from business, environmentalists, State and 
local governments, and the Clinton administration for my bill, certain 
Republicans have blocked my efforts. I want the record to reflect these 
actions, so that everyone understands just what their strategy of 
gridlock means for our citizens.
  Like many other in Congress and in the administration, I am deeply 
concerned that too many Americans are without a job today.
  Thousands of people in New Jersey still are unemployed. While recent 
indicators show some promise of a reviving economy, we still need to 
expand the opportunities for employment. All of us in Congress should 
be doing everything we can to foster economic growth and create new 
jobs. My bill would have done just that.
  S. 773 could have helped local communities move ahead with economic 
development projects while, at the same time, more quickly clean up 
environmentally contaminated sites. It was an effort to empower local 
communities and those wishing to invest in job-creating projects 
without sacrificing public health or environmental protection.
  S. 773 would provide seed money for States to develop voluntary 
cleanup programs or expand existing programs. It targets the tens of 
thousands of sites that have only minor contamination problems--the 
ones that are relatively easy to clean up but whose remediation is 
stalled because leaders or developers are afraid of possible 
environmental liability.
  Under a voluntary cleanup program, site owners can volunteer to pay 
for the costs of remediation and State oversight. In return, they get a 
letter from the State assuring that the property has been cleaned up to 
the government's satisfaction. This letter can assure other parties--
such as prospective buyers or leaders--that they need not fear future 
liability. Simple as it is, such as assurance is absolutely key to 
facilitating property transactions, and can free up sites for economic 
development.
  The second major feature of the bill is an innovative way to 
encourage lending institutions to make low interest loans to qualified 
parties who want to assess and clean up contamination where traditional 
lending mechanisms are not available. Approaches comparable to the 
innovative lending mechanism used here have in some States taken each 
dollar of Government outlays and leveraged $23 of private loans--a much 
greater ``bang for the buck'' than traditional Government lending 
approaches.
  The economic development potential of this bill is enormous, 
producing returns on investment of 100 to 1 or more.
  In my own State of New Jersey, the State's initial investment of $3 
million in a voluntary cleanup program less than 2 years ago has 
already created 3,000 jobs and generated several hundred million 
dollars of economic redevelopment activity. Oregon and Illinois have 
had similar results, and States such as Michigan and Massachusetts are 
also developing their own voluntary cleanup programs.
  My bill would have expanded this program in New Jersey and extended 
its benefits to other States--potentially creating billions of dollars 
of economic development potential.
  The relatively small amount of seed money provided in this bill could 
have leveraged substantial economic benefits. It is designed to keep 
the bureaucracy involved to an absolute minimum, consistent with 
ongoing efforts to reduce the size of Government without sacrificing 
important public benefits.
  States would simply approve work plans for cleanup at the beginning, 
then review the cleanup at the end.
  This bill would have started the ball rolling, and then let the 
private market run with it.
  I introduced S. 773 on April 3, 1993. The bipartisan leadership of 
the Environment and Public Works Committee were with us from the start, 
and indeed Senators Baucus, Chafee, Durenberger, Warner, and others 
were extremely supportive in shaping and moving this bill.
  In a hearing on this bill, S. 773 was called a ``win-win'' situation 
and endorsed by a broad spectrum of business groups, environmentalists, 
State and local governments, representatives of the banking community 
and investors. Groups as diverse as the National Realty Committee, 
American Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, National 
Wildlife Federation, National Association of Counties, National 
Association of Towns and Townships, and Association of State and 
Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials support this legislation.
  The administration testified favorably about this bill.
  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously 
approved it on July 30, 1993. Senator Riegle, chairman of the Banking, 
Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, made valuable suggestions to 
further improve the bill and extend its benefits more broadly, and with 
other Senators off the Environment Committee joined in cosponsorship of 
the legislation.
  But that's as far as we were allowed to get with it.
  Starting as far back as November 1993, each time I tried to bring 
this bill to the floor, while every one of the Democratic Senators 
cleared the bill for passage, a mysterious series of holds appeared on 
the other side of the aisle.
  The same thing happened again in March.
  When I incorporated S. 773 into the Superfund Reform Act, the 
Republican leadership decided to kill that legislation as well--even 
though a massive coalition representing literally millions of big and 
small businesses, environmental groups, State and local governments, 
the banking, real estate, insurance industry, and even the Salvation 
Army and American Bible Society were all pushing for the reforms in 
that bill.
  An now again this week, when I tried to move S. 773 as a free-
standing bill, despite the continuing support of every Democrat in the 
Senate, we have once again encountered mysterious holds on the 
Republican side.
  Mr. President, in over a decade of service in this body I have seen 
few bills that have had such broad support from the beginning and that 
made such good sense for both the economy and the environment.
  That is why I am frankly puzzled why a bill which has had such wide 
support from the business community, economic development officials, 
and environmentalists has not been allowed to come to the floor.
  Since the bill repeatedly was cleared by the Democratic side for 
approval, I have to ask: do the Republicans who have objected to this 
bill think it is bad policy to create jobs, promote economic 
redevelopment, and cleanup the environment throughout our country?
  I believe--and I hope the American people will agree--that there is 
no excuse for holding just beyond the reach of our unemployed citizens 
the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of potential economic 
development that can flow from this bill.
  I hope that next year when I intend to reintroduce this bill there 
will be more of a willingness to do what is right for the country.

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