[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 52 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            EARTH DAY LEGACY

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, Teddy Roosevelt said that, ``Conservation 
is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of ensuring 
the safety and continuance of the nation.''
  As a result of the translation of that ethic into the legislative 
process, and the foresight of our political predecessors, the United 
States today leads the world in efforts to protect the environment.
  Our laws have become models for other nations' efforts to grapple 
with their own air and water pollution and wildlife conservation 
challenges. And, as a result of this commitment to a healthier 
environment, the United States has succeeded in reversing the course of 
environmental degradation that we followed for too long.
  Today, on Earth Day, rivers and lakes are cleaner, waste is being 
disposed in a more secure and responsible manner, and the air most of 
us breath contains fewer dangerous pollutants, such as lead. We can 
rejoice at the progress made.
  Congress and a number of Republican and Democratic Presidents can and 
should take credit for this accomplishment.
  The tangible environmental success this Nation has experienced over 
the last three decades is one of the reasons I have been so 
disappointed by the direction of the debate over the environment in the 
104th Congress.
  It is as though too many of us have forgotten the environmental 
challenges we have faced and overcome since President Nixon create the 
Environmental Protection Agency and Congress began its legislative 
journey that produced: The Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water 
Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the 
rest of the laws that make up the canon known as American environmental 
law.
  Collectively, that body of law represents one of the most important 
legacies we will leave our children and grandchildren.
  I hope the fabric created by those laws will not be stretched and 
torn. I hope the quality of our environment that results from 
implementation of those laws will not be sacrificed to short-term 
political considerations.
  We need to embrace opportunities to improve and refine the impressive 
body of environmental law that has been developed over the last three 
decades.
  In the spirit of that bipartisan legacy, today--Earth Day--I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to embrace their legislative 
heritage and work to protect and strengthen it. The contribution of 
this generation of lawmakers to that impressive body of law should be 
one of thoughtful improvement, drawing upon the lessons learned from 
past implementation of those very laws.
  We should continue to search the fabric of our laws and seek to 
repair the rips and the frayed ends.
  We should seek commonsense solutions to our remaining environmental 
problems.
  In doing so, we should work to find consensus, as we have even in 
this partisan year with the passage in the Senate, unanimously, of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act and the recently enacted small business 
regulatory reform bill.
  As we stand here on Earth Day and survey the few months remaining in 
this legislative session, let us resolve to keep the fabric of American 
environmental law whole. Let us not turn back the clock on the 
accomplishments of a generation.
  In that regard, just on Friday, 41 of our colleagues here in the 
Senate joined with me in sending a letter to our majority leader and 
the Speaker, to indicate our strong determination not to roll back the 
standards affecting clean air; not to weaken the regulations relating 
to safe drinking water or industrial polluters; not to slow down or 
stop the cleanup of hazardous waste sites; not to weaken the community 
right-to-know laws, such as the toxic release inventory; not to abolish 
protections for endangered species and all the other efforts that are 
underway.
  It is our view that we have a sufficient number of votes to extend 
debate for whatever length of time, if that is required to protect the 
laws that we have steadfastly supported over the last generation. It is 
our strong desire, our sincere hope, that extended debate on any of 
these efforts will not be necessary, that we can work together to 
resolve our differences and to continue to build upon the impressive 
record that we have now generated over the last three decades.
  So, as we stand here on Earth Day, let us again renew our commitment 
to work together to eliminate those threats to the environment that we 
see yet today. Let us eliminate the antienvironmental riders from the 
appropriations bill this week, to demonstrate our commitment to Earth 
Day, to demonstrate our resolve, continuing to build on the impressive 
record that we have achieved. On the major environmental laws that are 
being reauthorized, let us work to find ways in which to strengthen 
those laws, enact new ones where we identify new ones are needed, and 
leave future generations with a clean and healthy environment.
  As Teddy Roosevelt stated nearly a century ago, that is truly our 
patriotic duty. It is one I believe every Member of this body can and 
should embrace on this day, on all days.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Georgia has the floor.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry. It is my 
understanding that the time from 12:30 to 2 o'clock has been designated 
to myself or management; is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

                          ____________________