[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE ENVIRONMENT

                                 ______


                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 16, 1996

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 26th anniversary of the 
first Earth Day next Monday, I would like to make the following 
observations about the 104th Congress.
  The 104th Congress came to Washington with an aggressive, 
antienvironment agenda promoted largely by industry and special 
interest groups who were determined to turn back 25 years of progress 
to protect public health, safety, and the environment.
  The budget cuts proposed by the Gingrich Congress for the Department 
of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency are aimed at 
the heart of our Nation's environmental protection. The two departments 
with the greatest environmental authority have become the prime targets 
in the current attack on the environment.
  The proposed cut in funding for the EPA is 21 percent below last 
year's level, which would seriously affect EPA's enforcement of clean 
air, clean water, and safe drinking water laws. The Interior 
appropriations bill included provisions to open Alaska's Tongass 
National Forest to increased logging and continue the moratorium on 
listing new endangered species.
  The funding for protection of our Nation's wetlands, endangered 
species, forests, and public lands must not be sacrificed in favor of 
short-term profits for miners, grazers, and developers. Programs to 
protect our Nation's water and air should not be held hostage to budget 
antics that have left these primary environmental agencies limping 
through the 1996 fiscal year with only a fraction of the funding needed 
to function.
  The impacts of Republican cuts to the EPA include:
  Weakened enforcement of environmental laws--including a 40-percent 
reduction in health and safety inspections of industrial facilities;
  Delayed new standards to protect drinking water--including tap water 
standards for pollutants like cryptosporidium, which killed 100 people 
in Milwaukee in 1993;
  Delayed new and ongoing cleanups at toxic waste sites--start of new 
construction halted at 68 sites; pace of cleanup slowed at 400 sites;
  Rolled back community right-to-know information about toxic 
chemicals;
  Created barriers to developing new controls to protect rivers and 
streams from industrial water pollutants;
  Delayed approving pesticides with lower health risks as a safer 
alternative for farmers;
  Delayed new standards for toxic industrial air pollutants;
  Delayed review of air pollution standards to ensure adequate health 
protection; and
  Delayed studies on how toxic chemicals may impair reproductive 
development and studies on how pollution affects high-risk populations.
  These are just some of the effects of the cuts to EPA funding. I have 
not even listed the serious impacts of spending cuts on the Department 
of the Interior.
  I will conclude with two observations. First, scientists say you 
cannot separate personal health from the health of our environment. 
Pollution prevention equals disease prevention. These foolish cuts are 
reducing our Nation's investment in public health. It is false economy 
to cut back on enforcement of clean air and clean water. How sad that 
26 years after the first Earth Day and a generation of fighting 
pollution, the Republicans are choosing to dismantle environmental 
programs.
  Second, I will call attention to a report on environmental protection 
by the California State Senate. The press reports, ``Contrary to 
popular belief, environmental regulations are not a major cause of job 
losses and declining economic performance.''
  The Senate report concludes that environmental laws are not a major 
cause for the relocation of business to other States or countries. 
According to the report, more jobs are lost from leveraged buyouts and 
mergers than from controlling pollution.
  The American people have the answer--they want a safe and healthy 
environment. We should follow their lead, and we should live up to 
their expectations that the Federal Government will ensure their health 
and safety at all levels. We should remember that every day of every 
year.

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