[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 52 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3787-S3788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EARTH DAY

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as America marks Earth Day 1996, I would 
like to

[[Page S3788]]

remind my friends across the aisle that the environmental heritage we 
are all so proud of was forged under Republican stewardship. Our 
Republican environmental heritage stretches back to Ulysses S. Grant, 
who established Yellowstone as the first of the crown jewels of our 
precious national parks. President Theodore Roosevelt set up the 
National Wildlife Refuge System and promoted the value of conservation.
  It was Republicans, under President Nixon, who created the 
Environmental Protection Agency and enacted the first Clean Air and 
Clean Water Acts. Under Presidents Ford, Reagan, and Bush we enacted 
and implemented the majority of the enabling statutes to protect our 
environment. An important Clean Air Act revision in 1990, which 
introduced new initiatives like using markets to achieve our goals, has 
helped to set new directions for the future.
  The progress we have made as a nation over the last 25 years deserves 
praise. We saw problems that needed to be addressed--setting pollution 
standards to protect public health and dealing with pollution that 
crosses State and international boundaries. We responded with laws that 
I was proud to support--laws that addressed those problems in the best 
way we knew then.
  We have learned a lot over these 25 years of environmental experience 
and progress. America's ability to create innovative ways of dealing 
with environmental protection and, at the same time, have continued 
economic growth is the envy of the rest of the world. Now we are at a 
crossroads about how to make further progress. I want to improve the 
system so it protects people's health and the environment better with 
less cost and complexity. I want to put more trust in the ability of 
all Americans--at all levels of government--and their desire to do the 
right thing. The old ways won't help much as we face new problems in 
the future.
  During the last 25 years, the States have become very knowledgeable 
about the best way to deal with most environmental problems. The States 
have become laboratories of innovation on better ways to deal with many 
issues of concern: Welfare and health care reform--and environment as 
well. California, for example, is leading the way in setting up an 
integrated approach that calls for simpler permits and dealing with 
air, water, and waste in a coordinated way that goes after the worst 
problems first. Other States also lead the way.
  Wisconsin, for example, has a Brownfields program in place which 
allows appropriate clean up for urban areas previously written off for 
development. That makes good sense and shows a sense of the right 
priorities.
  Eighteen States--including Kansas, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, and 
Oregon--are encouraging their own companies to voluntarily find and fix 
environmental problems on their own. This is a partnership that works. 
We should follow that example and encourage rather than punish our 
communities and businesses for trying to do the right thing.
  The States and localities are leading the way in these and other 
areas. We should use the most appropriate level of Government for the 
problem at hand. Try the local level first, States next. Try regional 
solutions when environmental issues involve more than one State. The 
Federal Government should step back when it can and use its expertise 
when it is most helpful to the States: To provide scientific or 
technical help.
  Farmers, ranchers, businesspeople, families--all are partners, not 
villains. We should acknowledge that these people do the right thing 
every day. Let us measure environmental protection not by the size of a 
Federal bureaucracy or the number of regulations on the books but by 
the desire of our people to work together to protect the environmental 
values that we all treasure.
  One of the things I have tried to promote this last year was that we 
must use good science to set environmental priorities, and then we 
should tackle the most important problems first. We know we could do 
better. The Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, for example, estimates 
that 60,000 lives per year could be saved with the same level of 
spending if we targeted our money at the worst problems.
  It takes leadership to make choices. We need to be wiser about what 
we go after and at what level that is done.
  I want to say one word about individual private property rights, 
which are so precious that they are protected by the Constitution. 
Owning property is a right that makes us strong and is a powerful force 
for the environment. If the Government takes someone's property for a 
public purpose, that person should be compensated. If we as a society 
believe that that person's property is needed for an important purpose, 
let us make that choice as a nation and ensure that we are not 
diminishing our citizens' rights.
  I am proud of what we have done this year on the farm bill. It is the 
most environmentally sensitive farm bill ever. The conservation title 
of the farm bill reflects a commonsense approach. The bill continues 
the Conservation Reserve Program, expands the Wetlands Reserve Program, 
making this program the Nation's biggest and most successful 
environmental efforts. In addition, we provided $300 million to restore 
the Everglades. This was an immediate response to a need identified by 
the people of Florida.

  The farm bill provides a good example of what we can do in other 
areas: Injecting simplicity, common sense, and flexibility, and lifting 
the heavy hand of the Government. These goals were also met in the Safe 
Drinking Water Act and resulted in a bipartisan bill that passed the 
Senate 99 to 0. We have set the same goals for Superfund reform, to get 
the lawyers out and get sites cleaned up. Yet today, no Democrats have 
joined us in this effort. We can get things done when we focus on the 
goals and not the rhetoric.
  Today I received a letter from my Democrat colleagues. I share their 
environmental goals. But there are better ways to achieve these goals. 
No one is interested in repealing or weakening environmental 
protections. Years ago, we accomplished our work by using typewriters. 
Today our offices are run by computers. Were we rolling back our desire 
to communicate efficiently by moving from typewriters to computers? I 
think not. Let's take the same approach on the environment.
  That proud tradition and the strong Republican values of personal 
stewardship, good science, trust in the people, and respect for the 
States and localities will be used to build a better environmental 
future for our children.

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