[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DOLE TAX PLAN WILL TEAR DOWN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership over the last 2 
years has systematically tried to tear up 25 years of environmental 
protection, and I am afraid that the Dole tax plan which has been 
touted by the Presidential candidate over the last few weeks will just 
do that much more to accomplish the goal of tearing down environmental 
protection and not providing the funding for enforcement and 
investigation of serious environmental infractions.
  We have seen in the last 2 years an attempt by the Republican 
leadership to basically gut the Clean Water Act, allow for more dumping 
in the ocean, and allow for the destruction of wetlands. We have seen 
them try to change the Superfund law so that basically instead of the 
polluter paying, the Government would be paying the polluter, and we 
would not see cleanup at most of the Superfund sites around the Nation. 
We have also seen Republican efforts to pass legislation that would 
close national parks, decommission national recreation areas around the 
country.
  Most important, the Republican budgets and appropriation bills have 
significantly cut the amount of money that would be available for 
environmental enforcement, for investigating the polluters. That will 
only continue under the Dole tax plan and the cuts that he is 
proposing.

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