[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 140 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10169-H10180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES IN 
                            TIJUANA, MEXICO

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 331) expressing the sense of 
Congress concerning the inadequacy of sewage infrastructure facilities 
in Tijuana, Mexico.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 331

       ince the 1930's, United States beaches have been severely 
     impacted by the flow of sewage from Mexico and, in the last 2 
     decades, this environmental problem has been elevated to a 
     major health and safety concern; and
       Whereas, most recently, the flow of sewage from Tijuana, 
     Mexico, has forced beach closures and caused other 
     environmental and economic hardships in the cities of 
     Imperial Beach, Coronado, and San Diego, California, and 
     caused severe degradation of the Tijuana National Estuarian 
     Wildlife Preserve: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) if the Government of Mexico does not take appropriate 
     actions to recognize and mitigate the inadequacy of sewage 
     infrastructure facilities in Mexico (including facilities for 
     the treatment and transport of sewage) and the adverse 
     environmental and economic impacts of sewage from Mexico on 
     cities in the United States, the United States should review 
     its obligations with Mexico under treaties and other 
     international agreements (including agreements relating to 
     port access, loan guarantees, and other types of foreign aid) 
     and take appropriate actions to ensure that the Government of 
     Mexico shares in the burdens caused by its sewage 
     infrastructure problems; and
       (2) any measurement of the responsiveness of the Government 
     of Mexico to requests to mitigate its sewage treatment 
     problems should be based on risk assessment procedures 
     developed in consultation with the San Diego County Health 
     Officer.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Luther) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).


                             General Leave

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) 
introduced this resolution and I was pleased to be able to take it up 
before our committee and bring it to the floor today.
  This resolution highlights the serious problem of untreated sewage-
tainted water flowing down the Tijuana River which is contaminating 
U.S. seashores and the Tijuana National Estuarian Wildlife Preserve. As 
recently as August of this year, 12 million gallons of river water 
contaminated with sewage was flowing down the Tijuana River to the 
Pacific Ocean every day. Ocean currents carried the contaminated water 
to the Imperial Beach, Coronado and San Diego area.
  This is not a new problem and it has yet to find a permanent 
solution. There have been terrible moments of crisis since the May 1994 
break in the sewage line in Tijuana which dumped 25 million gallons of 
raw, untreated sewage into the Tijuana River a day for three successive 
days.
  While Mexico has made significant infrastructure investments, our 
Nation has assumed a majority of the burden of building new sewage 
treatment infrastructure, and since 1989 has appropriated $234 million 
for the EPA under Section 510 of the Water Quality Act for ``special 
purpose projects'' in San Diego. By December of this year, the United 
States will complete our major outstanding agreed-upon infrastructure 
improvement, a pipeline to carry treated wastewater some 3\1/2\ miles 
offshore. Still, experts estimate that this will only temporarily help 
address this binational problem.
  It should be underscored that this is a problem that the United 
States and Mexico must work together jointly to resolve. Both 
governments must shoulder their responsibility. I have recently met 
with representatives of the Mexican government along with the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Bilbray) to discuss this terrible problem. They 
have informed us that they both understand and share the deep concern 
of the people of our Nation who are affected. I am hopeful that the 
gentleman from California's concerted and tireless efforts have raised 
the sense of urgency on both sides of the border so that we can get on 
with solving this problem once and for all.
  Accordingly, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUTHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I 
am aware, Mr. Speaker, that the administration does have concerns about 
this particular piece of legislation, and I know that there are many 
Members that have concerns as well. Because we have a 2,000-mile border 
with Mexico, we face a number of issues that we simply cannot solve 
without the cooperation of the government of Mexico. To address these 
issues, we have developed an impressive number of joint efforts over 
the last decade. Some of these efforts are not adequately funded or 
staffed, but we have made progress in encouraging the government of 
Mexico to work with us. We all want to see the sewage problem dealt 
with faster and better. But we must ask ourselves when we are 
considering any piece of legislation such as this whether threatening 
unspecified retaliation for insufficient action will hasten cooperation 
or will it in fact undermine it. I believe that is exactly why the 
administration has concerns, Mr. Speaker, and I believe it would be 
helpful to the debate here this evening if we do hear from others that 
support the legislation and also others that do have concerns about it. 
I know the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) is a supporter and I 
welcome his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray), the author of this 
legislation.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the House Committee 
on International Relations, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) 
for his steadfast support to addressing this concurrent resolution, H. 
Con. Res. 331. From the beginning, the chairman has been committed to 
addressing this as an outcome-based strategy, as it is related to the 
environmental crisis that we have been confronted with in San Diego, 
California and Imperial Beach, California and the related surrounding 
communities of Tijuana.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is simply a sense of Congress. It 
outlines past problems, and presents the current problems in a clear, 
concise aspect of the infrastructure problems that relate to Tijuana, 
Mexico. This lack of infrastructure has forced the closure of

[[Page H10170]]

beaches and caused environmental and economic hardships for the San 
Diego region, including the degradation of the Tijuana National 
Estuarian Wildlife Preserve. This resolution simply states that the 
government of Mexico needs to recognize and mitigate the inadequate 
sewage infrastructure that is impacting the United States. Frankly, we 
need the United States and Mexico recognizing that it is the impact and 
outcome of this pollution that matters the most. Let me place an 
emphasis on the word ``review'' that is in this bill. It states that if 
this problem is not taken care of, then the United States will 
``review'' its treaties with Mexico. That is all it says. It does not 
say we will repeal them. It does not mean we will be punitive, but it 
says we have a relationship with Mexico, we have treaties, and if there 
is a continuing environmental and health threat, we as Congress think 
that it is important enough for us to review our treaties. I do not 
think the word ``review'' is punitive or mean-spirited. I think it is 
logical. This is only a sense of Congress. It is not legally binding. 
All we are trying to say is that the long-term relations between our 
two great countries have many factors that have to be considered. 
Frankly one of those major factors is the environment along our 
frontier.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is not punitive against Mexico. It is 
not anti-Mexican. It is anti-pollution. Now, there are those who oppose 
NAFTA. Some of my close friends opposed NAFTA because they were 
concerned that increased trade would equate to increased pollution, and 
they wanted an assurance that our trade agreements were not going to 
push pollution. This resolution, this sense of Congress just says that 
all our treaties or agreements will be considered; are they helping or 
hurting a pollution problem? This pollution problem predates NAFTA. 
Does that mean that all pollution problems that predate NAFTA now will 
not be considered in a treaty relationship? Some of my colleagues 
opposed NAFTA because they were concerned about potential pollution 
related to NAFTA, but I do not believe anybody who opposed NAFTA on 
that basis was anti-Mexican. So I would ask that my colleagues not 
think negatively about those of us who supported NAFTA, hoping that 
NAFTA would give the inspiration for this Congress and for Mexico to 
take care of some environmental problems that long predate NAFTA. My 
intention is to use this forum as a means to educate this Congress 
specifically on this problem.
  Now, seeing the interests and concerns that Members have voiced here 
tonight, I feel we have been successful at least at that step. The fact 
is children go to the beaches in the United States and have to be told 
by their parents, ``Patrick, Briana, you can't go in the water. You 
can't go into your beaches, because a foreign country has polluted your 
neighborhood.''

                              {time}  2200

  The communities of San Diego and Tijuana have enjoyed a special 
relationship. In fact, I was the mayor of the city that was a sister 
city to Tijuana long before the City of San Diego even considered a 
formal long-term relationship with Tijuana. We have strong cultural and 
economic ties that enable us as neighbors to work together. Even now 
there are various issues that we are working on to address these 
issues. We are talking about the City of Imperial Beach and City of San 
Diego sending vector trucks into Mexico to help clear out their sewer 
lines. Why would one city send a sewer truck to another neighbor city? 
So the sewage of one does not pollute their beaches of another.
  My goal tonight, Mr. Speaker, is to raise the awareness of my 
colleagues, to say to them they must be familiar with existing 
environmental problems if they are going to truly address those that 
they say may be created in the future. It is now my hope that this 
resolution will sensitize both the Mexican government and the U.S. 
Government to understand that this issue needs to be addressed, to 
inspire them to work together on outcome-based environmental 
strategies.
  Now I have worked on this item, Mr. Speaker, for over 20 years. I 
have been involved in negotiations that date back to 1978 with the 
Carter administration, 1985 in the negotiations and 1990 that actually 
put together the proposal for building a plant that has cost over $200 
million of taxpayers' funds. And American taxpayers who say, ``What are 
you going to get for it? Are our beaches really going to be clean?'' 
This sense of Congress will be saying we are committed to our beaches 
being clean.
  I would ask us to look at the fact that we are going to implement 
improvements that tie together economic opportunities with 
environmental responsibility. I would say to our colleagues--is that so 
unfair? I would ask us to recognize that we are building plants today 
that people are concerned are not going to clean up the beaches. This 
bill is an added assurance by those of us in Congress that, yes, it 
will clean up the beaches and we will commit that we will do everything 
possible to clean up those beaches.
  This August we had a meeting, because we had a situation where the 
beaches of Imperial Beach were closed during August, summertime, major 
tourist season, and the tourists came to the United States Open Sand 
Castle Competition, only to be greeted by red pollution signs. What do 
I tell Mike Bixler, the mayor of Imperial Beach, when he calls an 
emergency meeting and says, ``Why are my beaches being polluted by a 
foreign government?'' What I have told him is that I will do everything 
possible to educate Washington and to educate Mexico City to what the 
people of Imperial Beach and Coronado and San Diego are going through.
  Mr. Speaker, this is only a sense of Congress. We are not asking to 
spend money, we are not asking to take on anything except the feeling 
that this has to be addressed, and our colleagues will keep an open 
mind.
  Some may say that threats to Mexico does not work and will never 
work. Well, first of all, I would ask my colleagues to read the record. 
We are not talking about a threat, we are talking about raising a 
legitimate concern, just as Ambassador Gavin in 1985 raised a concern 
over a grant for water projects in Tijuana that would result in more 
sewage pouring into the United States, and because Gavin at that time 
spoke clearly and frankly to Mexico, Mexico agreed that we must make 
major improvements.
  I think that this is another one of those chances for us to make a 
clear statement. The problem has gone on for decades and decades and 
decades. My colleagues, there are those who promised to take care of 
these environmental problems if NAFTA was passed. Those of my 
colleagues who oppose NAFTA raised that issue. Now is their chance to 
say everything will be considered to clean up the environment.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues approve H. Con. Res. 331, and 
let me say sincerely I was raised in a community with raw Mexican 
sewage pouring in and polluting our beaches. I was raised in this kind 
of health threat. My children are second generation sewage kids growing 
up with this pollution. Please let us work together as Members of 
Congress, and let us work together between the United States and 
Mexico. Let us make a commitment tonight that from the year 2000 on, 
from now on, we will stop finding excuses for letting our beaches be 
polluted, and that the next generation of children that go to that 
beach will have clean beaches, pure beaches and have an environment 
that is safe and appropriate. Because let me tell my colleagues flat 
out: For those who are concerned about social injustice, that 
environmental policies are not enforced equally, let me assure my 
colleagues we are talking about a working class neighborhood that 
happens to have a high percentage of minorities, and they have not been 
represented by this Congress equally and fairly in the past. Let us 
start changing that today and tell the children in Imperial Beach and 
in Tijuana and San Diego we are committed to doing whatever we can 
whenever we can to make sure it does not happen any more.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to begin by thanking the Chairman of 
the House Committee on International Relations, Mr. Gilman, for his 
steadfast support and effort on House Concurrent Resolution 331. After 
returning home to Imperial Beach to close beaches for the second summer 
in a row, resulting from Mexican sewage overflowing or leaking from 
inadequate and poorly maintained sewage treatment plants across the 
border, I asked Chairman Gilman for his assistance in working on this 
problem.

[[Page H10171]]

  From the beginning, Chairman Gilman has been committed to working 
with me on this environmental and public health crisis. In fact, 
earlier this afternoon, the Chairman and I had the opportunity to meet 
with representatives from the Mexican Embassy to discuss both 
countries' mutual interest in resolving these problems. Again, I thank 
the Chairman for his leadership and support.
  As the Chairman pointed out, H. Con. Res. 331 is simply a ``sense of 
Congress'' outlining past and present problems with inadequate sewage 
infrastructure and treatment facilities in Tijuana, Mexico. This lack 
of infrastructure has forced beach closures and caused other 
environmental and economic hardships in the south bay region of San 
Diego, including severe degradation of the Tijuana National Estuarian 
Wildlife Preserve. The neighborhoods that are directly impacted by this 
health threat, such as my hometown of Imperial Beach, consist of 
largely working class, predominately minority families.
  The Concurrent Resolution goes on to state that if the government of 
Mexico does not recognize and mitigate the inadequacy of sewage 
infrastructure, then the United States should ``review'' its existing 
relationships with Mexico, including existing treaties and other 
international agreements to see where the weaknesses may exist. Let me 
place an emphasis on the word review. Such a review will open both the 
governments of the United States and Mexico to scrutiny on these 
agreements.
  Let me be perfectly clear, this is ONLY a sense of Congress. It is 
not legally binding, nor does it require Congress to Act. This 
resolution is not punitive, nor is it anti-Mexico. Frankly, my intent 
is to use it as a means of educating Congress on the problems many 
border communities confront on a regular basis. Given the number of 
Members now showing interest in this issue, I think I've been 
successful.
  I recognize and applaud the ongoing bilateral efforts and binational 
cooperation of the governments of Mexico and the United States in 
developing a long-term solution in addressing this problem. The 
communities of San Diego and Tijuana enjoy a special relationship. 
Their strong cultural and economic ties have enabled these neighbors to 
work together, even now, on a variety of issues, including sewage 
spills. My ultimate goal is for Washington, DC and Mexico City to reach 
this same level of cooperation and to increase their responsiveness to 
the local citizens of San Diego and Tijuana.
  My intent is to raise the level of awareness on this issue to my 
fellow colleagues who may be unfamiliar with some of the unique 
environmental problems we have along the border. It is also my hope 
that with this resolution, both the Mexican and U.S. governments will 
understand just how serious our level of commitment is on this issue, 
and will be inspired to continue to work cooperatively in resolving 
both the short-term and long-term problems.
  Unfortunately, this issue is not new to either the United States or 
to Mexico. In my 20 years of public service, I have had numerous 
meetings and extensive dialogue with national and local officials from 
Mexico, and have raised this issue again on two recent congressional 
delegation trips to Mexico, as participant in the Interparliamentary 
Conference. The results have been mixed. On the one hand, Mexico 
understands the severity of the problem and the need to build a 
permanent, stable and safe sewage treatment system. On the other, I 
recognize, better than most, the problems Mexico continues to face in 
terms of available financial resources.
  However, the implementation of these efforts has been less than 
satisfactory. There has yet to be established between these communities 
a reliable notification system to alert them when a leak or overflow 
takes place. All of the communities affected need to realize that this 
is a regional crisis, and it will take the entire region to resolve 
these issues.
  The United States and Mexico have demonstrated that they can work 
effectively together, but clearly more attention needs to be devoted to 
follow-through. In 1990, the United States and Mexico agreed to build a 
sewage treatment plant in the United States to treat sewage waste from 
Mexico, because the treatment plant in Mexico was unable to treat the 
increased volume of waste. However, leakages and overflows on the 
Mexican side of the border have continued to occur. Unfortunately, that 
waste continuously ends up on local U.S. beaches. The multi-million 
dollar plant can't treat sewage that doesn't get to the pipe, which can 
deliver it for treatment.
  Frustration on the part of local officials culminated in an August 
meeting organized by the mayor of Imperial Beach. Participants included 
IBWC Commissioners from both Mexico and the United States, a San Diego 
County supervisor, the Counsel General from Tijuana, City of San Diego 
officials, and myself. While the attendees were reassured with the 
status of the long-term plan, concerns remain about the current 
overflow of sewage waste. A dialogue of possible short-term solutions 
was initiated at this meeting. As a result of these discussions, the 
cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach are attempting to send U.S. 
vector trucks across the border into Tijuana, Mexico to clean out the 
accumulated debris and cobble stones, which are causing blockages in 
the pipes and storm drains, which, in turn, are causing sewage to run 
into the Tijuana River and on to our beaches. We're awaiting final 
approval from Mexican Customs implementation of this project.
  I'd like to raise one last issue. There are some pundits and foreign 
policy ``experts'' that will claim that Mexico does not respond well 
under pressure or to threats, and that this resolution will harm the 
situation more than help it. Again, this is only a ``sense of 
Congress''--we're only bringing long overdue attention to a very 
serious problem and maintain the level or urgency of this problem until 
a solution is in place. I might add that there are also those who will 
argue that the threat of pressure on Mexico has been used before as an 
excuse to not assert the need for change to the status quo.
  More importantly, however, how can we, as a Congress, in good 
conscience allow our environment and our public health and safety 
continue to be at risk without raising this issue? This problem has 
been going on for decades. It's about time both sides come together and 
acknowledge the need to comprehensively resolve the sewage crisis along 
the border. H. Con. Res. 331 can begin this process.
  Again, thank you for your consideration and I urge my colleagues to 
support House Concurrent Resolution 331.
  I would ask that these materials be placed into the Record following 
my statement.

                   [From The Tribune, Nov. 14, 1989]

           Tijuana Sewage is Flowing Faster, Killing Estuary

                         (By Michael Richmond)

       An increasing amount of raw sewage flowing across the 
     border from Mexico is killing marine life and threatening 
     birds in the Tijuana River estuary, according to a newly 
     completed study of the huge saltwater marsh.
       The increase is the result of the continued growth of 
     Tijuana, where many neighborhoods are not hooked up to 
     sewers. The sewage flow in the river now averages nearly 10 
     million gallons a day, up from about 7 million gallons a day 
     two years ago, according to Dion McMicheaux, resident 
     engineer here for the International Boundary and Water 
     Commission.
       A three-year federally funded study shows that the sewage-
     laden water flowing down the river has harmed game fish and 
     shellfish in the saltwater marsh at the river's mouth. The 
     marsh is a part of the 2,500-acre Tijuana River National 
     Estuarine Reserve and the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife 
     Refuge.
       In recent years, the Tijuana River Valley has been beset 
     with problems.
       The beach stretching from the south city limits of Imperial 
     Beach to the Mexican border, considered by some as one of the 
     most beautiful in Southern California, is deserted most days, 
     except for an occasional jogger or horse rider.
       Among the area's troubles:
       The two-mile beachfront has been under a health quarantine 
     since 1983 because of sewage pollution from the Tijuana 
     River. Sewage bacteria levels as much as five times the 
     health limit have been measured in the ocean waters. Some 
     surfers regularly ignore the warning, however.
       The 390-acre Border Field State Park, nestled against the 
     international boundary, was closed for four months in 1988 
     because of renegade sewage flows from Mexico, causing the 
     closure from June to mid-September this year after it was 
     overwhelmed with thousands of undocumented migrants and 
     smugglers who used it as a staging area for their trips 
     northward. The park was shut down without any public 
     announcement and has just as quietly reopened, but only on 
     Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
       Biologists and other researchers studying the Tijuana River 
     estuary and its ecosystem no longer do field work at night 
     because of the danger from border bandits.
       County health officials are worried about the potential for 
     an outbreak of malaria or encephalitis from breeding of 
     mosquitoes in sewage ponds that accumulate at times in

[[Page H10172]]

     the river bottom. The water is ``heavily laden'' with 
     mosquito larvae, says Larry Aker, assistant deputy director 
     of the county's Environmental Health Services.
       Some of the sewage settles out of the water as it makes its 
     way through a maze of small channels that thread the estuary 
     en route to the ocean.
       ``We are essentially killing off that estuary,'' Aker said.
       A walk south from Imperial Beach along the beach at the 
     edge of the estuary can be deceiving.
       Ocean waves wash gently upon the sandy beach. A flock of 
     seagulls with a lone brown pelican among them rest on a 
     sandbar near the river mouth. To the south, two riders trot 
     their horses along the beach.
       The water flowing from the estuary outlet to the sea 
     appears fairly clear, diluted by incoming tides.
       But a quarter-mile inland from the beach, the scene is much 
     different. In places, the water is like a pea-green soup, 
     full of algae, said Chris Nordby, manager of the Pacific 
     Estuarine Research Laboratory at San Diego State University.
       It is also an area where there are no pollution sampling 
     stations, ``because when I went in there to set up my 
     samples, there just were no animals. There's absolutely 
     nothing there,'' Nordby said.
       Evidence of the extreme environmental damage to the estuary 
     is contained in a just-completed study funded by the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which found 
     significant depletions in some fish and shellfish species, 
     such as clams. The study is based on water-quality testing 
     and sampling of fish and shellfish from 1986 through March of 
     1989.
       One small game fish known as Tops Smelt, which formerly 
     accounted for 52 percent of the fish in the estuary, has 
     fallen to about 5 percent, said Nordby, a biologist and 
     principal researcher for the pollution study.
       The California jacknife clam, which in years past accounted 
     for 70 percent to 86 percent of the clam population, ``is now 
     down to about 27 percent,'' Nordby said.
       Another shellfish, the purple clam, is virtually extinct 
     there.
       ``People used to clam here in the 1970s and take their 
     limit, but not anymore,'' said Nordby, who has been studying 
     the estuary since 1978.
       Small sand dollars, once abundant, are rarely found these 
     days, he said.
       ``Every now and then you'll find a small tiny one, but they 
     don't survive like they used to,'' he said. The harm is 
     caused by the year-round influx of polluted fresh water, 
     which dilutes the salinity of the estuary, Nordby explained.
       When that happens, marine organism are killed or escape 
     from the estuary.
       In addition to marine organisms, the estuary is home to 
     dozens of bird species, including the endangered least tern 
     and the light-footed clapper rail. The effects of the sewage 
     pollution on bird life have not been documented, but Nordby 
     and others believe there is potential for harm.
       They note that a decline in the marine life on which birds 
     feed will eventually reduce the bird populations.
       Paul Jorgensen, manager of the Tijuana River National 
     Estuarine Reserve, said extensive studies are needed to 
     confirm the effects on birds. But he added, ``If the 
     shellfish, crabs and fish are affected, then the birds 
     probably are affected.''
       Nordby and others worried about the wetlands are pinning 
     their hopes for its recovery on construction of a binational 
     sewage treatment plant that has been proposed for the border 
     to treat sewage from Tijuana. The treated effluent would be 
     discharged directly into the ocean through a big pipe.
       But the binational plant is still a long way from being 
     approved. Mexico and U.S. officials have made only 
     preliminary commitments. Negotiations on a detailed agreement 
     between the two countries are under way by the Mexican and 
     U.S. commissioners of the International Boundary and Water 
     Commission in El Paso, Texas.
       Narendra N. Gunaji, head of the U.S. section of the 
     international boundary commission, predicted earlier this 
     year that the new plant could be in operation by 1993. That 
     estimate, however, was tied to a firm commitment from Mexico 
     that it would participate in the plant and on funding from 
     both countries.
       Without such a plant, the pollution woes of the Tijuana 
     River Valley will only grow as Tijuana keeps growing, 
     officials say.
       ``I think the federal, state and local governments have a 
     responsibility to the people in the area to make sure that 
     dream becomes a reality,'' said County Supervisor Brian 
     Bilbray, a former Imperial Beach councilman and mayor who has 
     spent his entire political career trying to resolve the 
     Tijuana River Valley's troubles.
       ``The sewage problem has become bad enough that the Federal 
     Government can't ignore it anymore,'' he said, ``We're going 
     to find answers . . . because you just can't allow problems 
     like that to exist.''
       In addition to the border sewage plant, Bilbray said, 
     development of the long-sought Tijuana River Valley Regional 
     Park will help transform the river valley.
       The county park will encompass 2,200 acres along both sides 
     of the river, extending from the ocean eastward to San 
     Ysidro. It has received $10 million in state park bond funds 
     and two weeks ago was given another $1.5 million by the Tia 
     Juana Valley County Water District, which apparently is about 
     to shut down after a half-century in existence.
       Bilbray has been critical of the Border Patrol and state 
     and federal park and wildlife managers for past practices 
     that he says have focused more on wildlife protection and 
     keeping people out of the area.
       He also criticized the Border Patrol for its ``scorched 
     earth'' practice of clearing underbrush from large areas of 
     the river channel to help them patrol the region.
       ``If you and I did that, we'd go to jail,'' Bilbray said.
       As for development of the regional park, he said he 
     believes that wildlife preservation and recreation in the 
     river valley can be compatible ``if you do it right.''
       Bilbray envisions miles of trails, small fishing lakes, 
     campgrounds and other amenities.
       ``I'm real optimistic that we're seeing a lot of movement 
     we haven't seen in 20 years,'' he said of efforts to solve 
     the river valley's problems.

                   [From The Tribune, Jan. 26, 1990]

            3 Officials Here Pledge To Fight Sewage Project

                          (By Kathryn Balint)

       Meeting the news media in the sewage-polluted Tijuana River 
     Valley, two San Diego city councilmen and a county supervisor 
     vowed yesterday to fight to save local sewer users at least 
     $1 billion on a massive project they say would harm the 
     environment.
       ``This is a fight we still can win,'' said Councilman Bruce 
     Henderson.
       Henderson, Councilman Bob Filner and Supervisor Brian 
     Bilbray called a news conference yesterday to make it clear 
     that their battle against San Diego city government's nearly 
     $3 billion upgrade in sewage treatment is continuing.
       In a closed-door session this week, the city council agreed 
     in a 7-2 vote on a settlement of the federal government's 
     lawsuit accusing the city of discharging inadequately treated 
     sewage into the ocean. The vote, which was taken secretly 
     because by law the council is allowed to discuss litigation 
     in private, will end a two-year legal dispute between the 
     city and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
       Henderson and Filner coast the dissenting votes.
       Bilbray, Henderson and Filner said the city should not have 
     caved in to the federal government by agreement to build the 
     multibillion-dollar sewage facilities by Dec. 31, 2003. The 
     agreement will be made public Tuesday in the U.S. District 
     Court of Judge Rudi M. Brewster.
       ``That's disgraceful that we should make such a deal as 
     this,'' Filner said. He called the planned sewage project ``a 
     boondoggie'' that will be bad for the environment and for 
     residents' pocketbooks. For the 1.6 million people who use 
     the sewer system, sewer rates are expected to go up 
     dramatically.
       As they have in the past, Henderson, Filner and Bilbray 
     based their comments on the opinions of noted marine 
     scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La 
     Jolla.
       The scientists, including Roger Revelle, director emeritus 
     of the institution, and Edward Goldberg, a chemist known 
     internationally for his work in fighting ocean pollution, 
     contend that the nutrients in the waste water now disposed of 
     in the ocean pose no hazard to sea life. In fact, they say, 
     the lowest forms of life in the ocean feed on the nutrients 
     in the sewage, which is treated to a step just below the 
     federal standards.
       The three politicians said they chose the Tijuana River 
     Valley to illustrate their point that a sewage-treatment 
     plant there, near a national estuary, where endangered birds 
     and plants live, would hurt the environment. Anther reason 
     they chose to meet near Border Field State Park in the river 
     valley was to point out the raw sewage flowing daily from 
     Mexico into the United States.
       Bilbray said the EPA should be focusing its attention on 
     cleaning up the raw sewage there rather than trying to force 
     San Diegans to spend their money on a project that is 
     unnecessary.
       Bilbray also said that the city should be worrying about 
     ``keeping the sewage in the pipes,'' referring to repeated 
     spills of raw sewage from sewer pipes before it even reaches 
     the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The raw sewage has 
     fouled both Mission Bay and San Diego Bay. One of the 
     provisions of the settlements agreement is aimed at trying to 
     prevent such spills.
       The three politicians said they will lobby for changes in 
     the Clean Water Act. The act sets a uniform sewage-treatment 
     standard--called secondary sewage treatment--for all cities 
     in the nation.

                  [The San Diego Union, Jan. 26, 1990]

                        Sewer Project Foes Meet

       Three local officials traveled to a proposed South Bay 
     sewage-treatment plant site yesterday to continue their 
     campaign to overturn what they called the city's 
     ``bureaucratic boondoogle'' decision for a $2.86 billion 
     sewage system upgrade.
       San Diego City Councilman Bob Filner and County Supervisor 
     Brian Bilbray, whose districts include the Tijuana estuary 
     site proposed for the plant, were joined by San Diego City 
     Councilman Bruce Henderson, an early critic of the massive 
     sewage-system overhaul.
       ``This is a fight that we can still win,'' Henderson said 
     at the site, just north of the entrance to Border Field State 
     Park, on the coast between the international boundary and 
     southern Imperial Beach city limits.

[[Page H10173]]

       The three argued that the sewage-system upgrade would harm 
     rather than help the environment. They called for more 
     detailed scientific studies on the impacts to the Tijuana 
     River estuary and ocean floor where the treated sewage would 
     be discharged.
       They want to begin efforts for a new waiver of federal 
     orders for the more advanced treatment system, have 
     congressional hearings to try to amend the requirements of 
     the U.S. Clean Water Act, or mount a court challenge to the 
     federal and state lawsuit filed to force the city into 
     federal compliance.
                                  ____


              [The San Diego Union, Tues., Nov. 13, 1990]

   Bilbray Diverts Smelly River With Bulldozer; May Have Violated Law

                  (By Graciela Sevilla, Staff Writer)

       San Ysidro--Sitting at the controls of a bulldozer, county 
     Supervisor Brian Bilbray yesterday redirected the course of 
     the sewage-infested Tijuana River--possibly violating a 
     federal law.
       Bilbray said he was fulfilling a promise to area residents 
     to ease the stench and hazard posed by the blocked river, 
     which had become a mosquito breeding ground.
       Previously, the river flowed into a wall of willows that 
     caused the water to back up and flood, surrounding farm and 
     commercial properties, Bilbray said.
       ``When the water backs up and kills the willows, it creates 
     a massive health problem for surrounding communities,'' he 
     said.
       By rechanneling the river to what he believes was its 
     original course, Bilbray estimated that he helped reduce the 
     area previously covered by sewage by as much as 30 percent.
       The water now flows into Lake Tijuana, also known as 
     Shelton Pond, which lies in the midst of the Nelson & Sloan 
     concrete company's sand-mining operation just north of the 
     Mexican border.
       The river and land immediately banking on it are federal 
     property, under the control of the International Boundary and 
     Water Commission (IBWC).
       According to Dion McMicheaux, a local project manager for 
     the commission, Bilbray's action may be in violation of 
     federal law that requires a permit from the Army Corps of 
     Engineers when diverting federal waters.
       However, Bilbray said he decided to take matters into his 
     own hands out of frustration after working for two years to 
     secure a permit to no avail. ``They can blame me if they find 
     any fault involved in it,'' Bilbray said.
       The supervisor asserted that he had the backing of local 
     environmentalists and the County Health Department; although 
     he said he acted on his own.
       Legal or not, Bilbray's earthmoving was applauded by 
     several nearby residents who said they could no longer 
     tolerate the sewage, mosquito and health problems caused by 
     the blocked river.
       Ruben Marshall, owner of a vegetable farm located adjacent 
     to the polluted river, said: ``The IBWC, in my estimation, 
     has been very lax in addressing the problems of this area.''
       Rosemary Nolan, a resident of Nestor who helped found the 
     group Citizens Revolting Against Pollution, said she was 
     grateful for Bilbray's intervention.
       Nolan said her family and neighbors had suffered headaches, 
     nausea, heartburn and other ills as a result of living near 
     the contaminated river. ``I don't know which is worse, the 
     mosquitoes or the smell,'' she said.
       Last September, some 100 area residents gathered in Nolan's 
     living room, where they started the group and aired their 
     complaints before Bilbray.
       ``He told us that if the bureaucracy didn't do anything by 
     October, then he'd get on a bulldozer and do something about 
     it himself,'' she said.
       Bilbray said he secured a dozer and began putting his words 
     into action over the weekend. He refused to say where he 
     obtained the bulldozer or whether he paid for it.
       As a public official, Bilbray has gotten on the business 
     end of a bulldozer once before in an attempt to do battle 
     with Tijuana River sewage.
       In June 1980, during his tenure as mayor of Imperial Beach, 
     Bilbray drove an earthmover to create a dirt dam to stop 
     river sewage from contaminating and closing his seaside 
     community's beach.
       Yesterday, Imperial Beach City Councilman Bud Harbin was 
     also on hand to support Bilbray's latest effort.
       ``Every time our beach is quarantined because of pollution 
     . . . this is where it comes from,'' said Harbin, standing 
     near the edge of the thick, black waters. ``If this is 
     deterred, it's going to help us down there. It's definitely a 
     plus for the people here and the people of IB.''
                                  ____


                  [The San Diego Union, Feb. 16, 1991]

               Wardens Quiz Bilbray on Bulldozing of Dike

                           (By Frank Klimko)

       County Supervisor Brain Bilbray was read his rights and 
     questioned in his office yesterday by a pair of state game 
     wardens who are investigating his bulldozing last year of an 
     earthen dike along the Tijuana River channel.
       In another development, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
     recently notified Bilbray they had finished their 
     investigation of the Nov. 12 incident and asked him to 
     consult with them before he takes any similar action in the 
     future.
       In a Feb. 1 letter to Bilbray, Corps officials said he 
     violated environmental laws by not obtaining the necessary 
     permits before bulldozing the dike. However, no penalties 
     were being sought, the letter said.
       Bilbray, atop a bulldozer last year, redirected the course 
     of the sewage-infested Tijuana River, fulfilling a promise he 
     made to area residents to ease the stench and hazard posed by 
     the blocked waterway.
       The game wardens visited his office yesterday, tape-
     recorded their meting after reading him his Miranda Rights, 
     and then left, Bilbray said. Such a declaration of rights is 
     normally given to criminal suspects just before they are 
     arrested.
       They told Bilbray they were investigating whether he 
     violated any state fish and game laws and their findings 
     would be turned over to the district attorney. It could not 
     be determined what statutes Bilbray may be suspected of 
     violating.
       ``I told them I would talk with them,'' Bilbray said. ``It 
     does rattle me when someone does read me the Miranda Rights. 
     I don't have anything to hide here, and I told them the 
     facts.''
       Bilbray said he bulldozed a dam that had been illegally 
     erected, blocking the river. Two other such dikes are still 
     in place near the same area, he said.
       The river, which had become a breeding ground for 
     mosquitoes, previously flowed into a wall of willows that 
     caused the water to back up and flood, surrounding farm and 
     commercial properties, he said.
       By rechanneling the river to what he said was its original 
     course, Bilbray estimated that he helped reduce the area 
     previously covered by sewage by as much as 30 percent.
       ``The biggest problem that existed was because of the 
     blockage, and my action was to remove an illegal structure 
     that was constituting a health threat,'' Bilbray said.
       The water now flows into Lake Tijuana, also known as 
     Shelton Pond.
                                  ____


                   [The San Diego Union Jan. 1, 1991]

Emergency Sought on Pollution--Bilbray Seeks Fast Action on Cleanup of 
                          Tijuana River Valley

                         (By Graciela Sevilla)

       The County Board of Supervisors will consider declaring a 
     state of emergency next Tuesday to allow for the cleanup of 
     the sewage-infested Tijuana River Valley.
       Supervisor Brian Bilbray is recommending that the county 
     join forces with Assemblyman Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, to 
     request that the governor issue an emergency proclamation 
     releasing state funds and placing the cleanup on a fast 
     track.
       A declaration of emergency would override state regulations 
     that have prevented the removal of the underbrush that causes 
     the polluted waters to stagnate in the valley.
       ``The action really should be taken now to avoid the 
     situation becoming a chronic problem in the summer,'' Bilbray 
     said.
       Area residents complain that the stench and mosquito swarms 
     become intolerable during warm weather. The estimated 13 
     million gallons of contaminated water flowing daily from 
     Mexico also poses grave health threats.
       ``Without significant preventive control measures, serious 
     outbreaks of encephalitis and malaria will occur in this 
     area,'' J. William Cox, director of the county Health 
     Department, wrote last year.
       Although local health officials have called the sewage-
     infestation ``a disaster waiting to happen,'' the county 
     health officer cannot declare a public health emergency until 
     someone becomes sick from exposure to the waste.
       Timing is crucial because the river valley is home to 
     several endangered species of birds that nest and migrate in 
     the area during the spring and summer.
       ``If we wait, it becomes a choice between endangered 
     species and public health,'' Bilbray said.
       The county has yet to determine how much time or money it 
     will take to clear out the dense underbrush. According to 
     Peace, the Regional Water Quality Control Board has indicated 
     a willingness to fund the project if the emergency is 
     declared.
       For his part, Bilbray is optimistic that San Diego will 
     fare well with its bid for help from Sacramento once former 
     San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson is inaugurated as governor.
       ``We have one big advantage in that the guy filling that 
     office this month has got a very good background on this,'' 
     Bilbray said.
                                  ____


               [The San Diego Union, Fri., Jan. 4, 1991]

     Emergency Decree Might Unlock Help for Tijuana Sewage Problem

                         (By Graciela Sevilla)

       While county supervisors are poised to declare a state of 
     emergency on the contaminated Tijuana River next week, just 
     what would follow such an unprecedented action is being 
     heavily debated.
       County, state and federal officials are at loggerheads over 
     who is to blame for the delay in attacking the chronic 
     mosquito problem that a health official has called a 
     ``disaster waiting to happen.''
       ``I think something should be done before you have sick 
     people,'' said County Health Officer Donald Ramras. ``Sooner 
     or later, if something isn't done we're going to have 
     encephalitis or malaria down there transmitted by 
     mosquitoes.''
       About 13 million gallons of sewage a day flows from the 
     eastern hills of Tijuana into the Tijuana River Valley. For 
     years, the

[[Page H10174]]

     South Bay residents have complained that the stench and 
     mosquito swarms become intolerable during warm weather.
       In recent months, the residents formed a group called 
     Citizens Revolting Against Pollution to demand action from 
     public officials.
       Representatives from all involved agencies agree action is 
     needed to solve the serious health threat to the estimated 
     400 families who live beside the sewage-plagued waters, but 
     say there are significant hurdles to clear even if an 
     emergency is declared.
       First, a declaration of emergency is needed to release 
     state funds to finance the clearing of the heavy vegetation 
     that causes water to stagnate, enabling mosquitoes to breed.
       At the urging of Assemblyman Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, 
     county Supervisor Brian Bilbray will ask his colleagues 
     Tuesday to declare a state of emergency and to seek a similar 
     declaration from the governor.
       Until recently, the supervisors believed Ramras was the 
     only county official with the authority to declare a public 
     health emergency, something Ramras said he cannot legally do 
     in this case.
       A situation that has the potential for making people ill is 
     not enough, he explained. ``Basically you've go to show that 
     no only you have mosquitoes there but that they've actually 
     given someone encephalitis.''
       But Peace insists that Ramras can declare an emergency 
     under state code, but has resisted doing so. ``It's been an 
     emerging reality on my part that somewhere there's been a 
     reluctance to work on the problem,'' Peace said.
       Unsatisifed with Ramras' posture, Peace asked attorneys for 
     the state Legislature to search for a way around the impasse. 
     In November, he was informed that the California Emergency 
     Services Act allows boards of supervisors to declare a local 
     emergency.
       If that's done, Peace said funds would be made available by 
     the State Water Resources Control Board for removing the 
     underbrush clogging the river and hampering its flow. A 
     spokeswoman for the agency said the board would first have to 
     vote to spend the money.
       According to Peace, a governor's proclamation would suspend 
     state statutes and state agency regulations that have 
     hindered work efforts. However, federal agencies might still 
     invoke environmental concerns to limit the project.
       Depending on the scope of the proposal, which has yet to be 
     defined, the project could require a permit from the Army 
     Corps of Engineers, which must authorize any project that 
     involves filling of wetlands.
       The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would also evaluate the 
     project to determine if it would irreparably harm the 
     environmentally important area.
       ``Several state and federally listed endangered species 
     inhabit the river valley,'' said Martin Kinney, a Fish and 
     Wildlife biologist.
       Streamside vegetation along the Tijuana River provides one 
     of the rarest wildlife habitats in the state, Kenney said. In 
     San Diego County, about two-thirds of such streamside areas 
     were destroyed between 1970 and 1987, he said.
       Thus far, Kenney said the county has not presented a 
     proposal for removing brush. ``There's been constant talk 
     about doing things, but no one wants to put anything on 
     paper,'' he said.
       ``We get real defensive if they say there's an emergency 
     when county health and everyone has known about this for a 
     long time,'' the biologist said. ``Why do you wait till 
     January 1991 and suddenly say there's an emergency when 
     you've known about this for years?''
       Despite the agency's concerns, Kenney said, joint planning 
     of such a project could make the work possible while 
     preventing serious harm to the environment. ``We're not 
     trying to say no to everything.''
       Last year, cattail plants were cleared by hand from a river 
     valley pond after the agency revised health department plans 
     to burn all the vegetation in the area, Kenney said.
       Peace is quick to caution that even if the underbrush is 
     removed, that will not permanently solve the problems of the 
     contaminated river area.
       ``There are no cheap solutions,'' Peace said. ``The 
     ultimate solution,'' in his estimation, will be the building 
     of a new $195 million sewage treatment plant, still several 
     years off.
       In the interim, the International Boundary and Water 
     Commission is working with the governments of the U.S. and 
     Mexico to construct a pipeline that will divert errant 
     Tijuana sewage into Sand Diego's sewer system for treatment.
       That project, now being planned and built in Mexico, is due 
     to be ready in February, according to Jose Valdez, the 
     project's principal engineer.

               [From the San Diego Tribune, June 4, 1991]

            County May Act to Ease Effects of Mexico Sewage

                         (By Ruth L. McKinnie)

       A permanent solution to the Mexican sewage problem in the 
     Tijuana River Valley may be years away, but a reduction in 
     mosquito infestation and foul odor may be in sight.
       County Supervisor Brian Bilbray and state Assemblyman Steve 
     Peace, D-Rancho San Diego, are optimistic the county can use 
     emergency powers to clear dense vegetation that causes sewage 
     stagnation in the border-area valley.
       The county Board of Supervisors will consider calling a 
     local emergency when it meets Tuesday afternoon.
       An estimated 13 million gallons of sewage flows daily 
     through the valley, but a complex series of state and federal 
     restrictions intended to protect the environment prevent the 
     county from tearing out willows and cattails that dam the 
     flow and further damage the environment.
       The brush is habitat for several endangered birds, 
     including the least Bell's vireo and least tern.
       A local emergency declaration would clear the way for Gov.-
     elect Pete Wilson to call a state-level emergency and suspend 
     the environmental strictures, Bilbray said.
       Bilbray and Peace said Wilson, who is familiar with the 
     sewage problem from his years as mayor of San Diego, would 
     likely sign an emergency proclamation.
       In the meantime, disease-carrying mosquitoes known to bear 
     encephalitis, malaria and hepatitis continue to plague 
     residents of Nestor and other parts of the valley.
       And the wildlife and vegetation that the environmental laws 
     are supposed to protect are being destroyed, Peace said.
       ``If you continue to do nothing, we're going to have a hot 
     crisis,'' he said.
       Bilbray said the county cannot afford to wait months to 
     secure clearing permits. The removal must be done now, before 
     the birds return form their winter migration.

                [From the San Diego Union, Jan. 9, 1991]

             County to Ask Wilson's Help on Tijuana Sewage

                         (By Graciela Sevilla)

       The county Board of Supervisors will look to the new 
     governor for help in abating the ``extreme peril'' posed by 
     the contamination of the Tijuana River Valley with raw sewage 
     from Mexico.
       In a unanimous vote yesterday, the board declared a state 
     of emergency to exist in the South San Diego area, which is 
     flooded with an estimated 13 million gallons in raw waste 
     daily from across the border.
       The declaration will be forwarded to Gov. Wilson with a 
     request that he issue a similar proclamation and seek a 
     presidential declaration of emergency.
       Supervisor Brian Bilbray said he offered the resolution in 
     response to pleas for relief from some of the area's 400 
     residents who have lived with a terrible stench and mosquito 
     swarms as a result of the polluted waters.
       ``It's been reaching a crisis level in the last few 
     years,'' Bilbray said.
       Valley resident Rosemary Nolan, praising the action, said: 
     ``We hope that by declaring an emergency we can start on the 
     road to recovery for the South Bay community.''
       Last week, County Health Officer Donald Ramras 
     characterized the problem as ``a disaster waiting to happen'' 
     and warned that residents were at risk of being infected with 
     malaria and encephalitis by mosquitoes.
       Following the vote yesterday, Bilbray said he is optimistic 
     about winning Wilson's support because of the former mayor's 
     familiarity with the situation.
       ``I have worked with Pete Wilson on this program since 
     1979,'' Bilbray said. A gubernatorial declaration would 
     release needed state funds and suspend state regulations that 
     have stymied plans to remove the heavy underbrush that causes 
     the contaminated waters to stagnate.
       The state water board has approximately $3.5 million in its 
     cleanup abatement fund, some of which could be spent on the 
     Tijuana River Valley, according to a spokeswoman for Assembly 
     Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista.
       A letter petitioning Wilson will be mailed by the end of 
     the week, Bilbray said, adding, ``We could expect an answer 
     by the end of the month.''
       Thus far, the cost of the weed removal has not been 
     calculated, nor has a decision been reached on which agency 
     would be responsible for the work.
       In lobbying for the declaration, Bilbray cautioned the 
     audience not to look at the proposed cleanup as a final 
     solution. ``This will not cure the problem, but it is one 
     more thing we can do here at the country,'' Bilbray said.
       At the federal level, agreement has been reached between 
     the governments of Mexico and the United States to build a 
     new $195 million sewage treatment plant. That facility is not 
     expected to be in operation until 1995.
       In the interim, the International Boundary and Water 
     Commission is working on a binational plan to construct a 
     pipeline to intercept the errant Tijuana sewage and transfer 
     it into the San Diego sewer system for treatment.

                   [From the Star News, Jan. 9, 1991]

     Bilbray Says State of Emergency Needed to Deal With Raw Sewage

       Supervisor Brian Bilbray wants the governor to declare a 
     local state of emergency to deal with raw sewage in the 
     Tijuana River Valley, his office recently announced.
       Bilbray is trying to convince the County Board of 
     Supervisors to ask the governor to declare the emergency 
     suspending certain laws, and regulations in the emergency 
     area.
       Suspended along with those laws would be ``presumably, 
     those which prohibit or delay the removal of dense underbrush 
     in the valley,'' Bilbray said in a letter to fellow 
     supervisors. That underbrush hinders efforts to control 
     mosquitoes that pose not only an annoyance but also a health 
     hazard because they carry encephalitis and malaria.
       Bilbray is seeking action this winter to control the 
     mosquitoes breeding in the

[[Page H10175]]

     spring and summer and to protect environmentally sensitive 
     conditions in the valley.

               [From the San Diego Tribune, Jan. 9, 1991]

              Health Crisis Declared Over South Bay Sewage

                         (By Ruth L. McKinnie)

       Optimistic county officials say they hope that relief from 
     pesky mosquitoes and foul odors in the sewage-plagued Tijuana 
     River Valley is a month away.
       The Board of Supervisors yesterday unanimously proclaimed a 
     local health emergency in the border-area valley in hopes of 
     getting emergency powers from the state to immediately clear 
     away dense vegetation that causes sewage stagnation.
       Supervisor Brian Bilbray, who represents the South Bay, 
     said that this week the county would ask Gov. Wilson to call 
     a state-level emergency and suspend environmental 
     restrictions preventing the county from tearing out willows 
     and cattails that dam the sewage flow.
       An estimated 13 million gallons of Mexican sewage flows 
     daily through the valley. Residents have long complained 
     about the problem, but a permanent solution is years away.
       Last summer, the mosquito infestation became so acute that 
     residents could not go outside without being attacked by the 
     insects, which can transmit encephalitis, malaria and 
     hepatitis.
       ``It is reaching a crisis level,'' Bilbray said.
       The supervisor and Assemblyman Steve Peace, D-Rancho San 
     Diego, who have been pushing for emergency measures, say 
     money is available from the state Regional Water Quality 
     Control Board to pay cleanup costs.
       The county, Bilbray said, cannot wait months to get permits 
     to clear away the plants. He said the removal must begin 
     soon, before endangered birds that nest in the valley return 
     from their winter migration.

                 Wilson May Declare Crisis in South Bay

                             (By Ron Roach)

       Sacramento--The state Assembly yesterday voted to urge Gov. 
     Wilson to declare a state of emergency in the Tijuana River 
     Valley to eradicate mosquitoes and deal with sewage-polluted 
     water.
       A spokesman said Wilson, who is a former San Diego mayor, 
     is considering the request.
       Minutes before Wilson's State of the State address to the 
     Legislature yesterday afternoon, Assemblyman Steve Peace, D-
     Rancho San Diego, and Assemblywoman Dede Alpert, D-Del Mar, 
     won approval of the Assembly resolution, which follows 
     Tuesday's San Diego County supervisors' declaration of a 
     local health emergency in the border-area valley.
       Peace represents the border area and Alpert's coastal 
     district includes Imperial Beach.
       Peace said he discussed the resolution with Bob White, 
     Wilson's chief of staff, and ``was very encouraged by his 
     response. he said it would be great to start off with 
     something for San Diego'' in the first week of Wilson's 
     administration.
       James Lee, Wilson's deputy press secretary, said Wilson 
     would ``take a look'' at the problem but said ``there was no 
     positive go-ahead signal.''
       A state declaration would make funds available from the 
     state Regional Water Quality Control Board to bulldoze a 
     buffer area, kill mosquitoes and clear away dense willows and 
     cattails that cause sewage-polluted water to pool in the 
     riverbed, Peace said.
       It is important, said Peace, that work start while the 
     weather is cool, before the insects can multiply. Otherwise, 
     there could be threats of malaria, encephalitis and 
     hepatitis, he said.
       Peace said he and Supervisor Brian Bilbray and pushed the 
     county to act for almost a year. Normally, a county's board 
     of supervisors must make an official request documenting the 
     problem before a governor makes a disaster or emergency 
     declaration.

                [From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 1991]

        Tijuana River Valley May Get Emergency Status on Sewage

                        (By Bernice Hirabayashi)

       Gov. Pete Wilson was considering Thursday whether to 
     declare a state of emergency for the sewage-plagued Tijuana 
     River Valley in south San Diego County, state officials said.
       The declaration would make state funds available to clean 
     up the border valley, through which 13 million gallons of raw 
     sewage from Mexico flow daily. It would also speed the permit 
     process that would allow removal of cattails and willows 
     restricting the flow of sewage to the ocean.
       Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Rancho San Diego) released a 
     statement saying he spoke with Bob White, Wilson's chief of 
     staff, Wednesday morning and ``was very encouraged by his 
     response.''
       The Assembly threw its support behind the cleanup effort 
     Wednesday by passing a house resolution urging Wilson to call 
     a state of emergency for the area.
       The action was the first to be taken by the Legislature 
     this year, and came a day after the County Board of 
     Supervisors declared a local emergency for the area, prompted 
     by concerns that the summer would bring a repeat of last 
     year's unusually large swarms of mosquitoes, which thrive in 
     stagnant pools of sewage in the valley. The mosquitoes from 
     the foul-smelling sewage can transmit encephalitis, malaria 
     and hepatitis to humans.
       Money for the cleanup is available from the state Regional 
     Water Quality Control Board, said David Takashima, Peace's 
     chief of staff. The governor's discretionary funds, set aside 
     for economic uncertainty, could also be used for an emergency 
     cleanup.
       The county hopes to construct a channel that would keep the 
     sewage moving out to sea instead of forming stagnant pools, 
     said John Woodard, chief of staff for county Supervisor Brian 
     Bilbray, who represents the area and has been pushing for 
     emergency status along with Peace for a year.
       A bird on the federal endangered species list, the least, 
     Bell's vireo, nests in several of the valley's marshes 
     between fall and spring, so any work done in the valley 
     requires permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
     and should be kept to the winter months, Woodward said.

                    [From the Tribune, Mar. 5, 1991]

       Illegals Cross Sewage River--and Feds Ignore Both Problems

       In a near-disaster filled with symbolism and irony for San 
     Diego, a group of undocumented immigrants crossing the border 
     illegally got caught in the sewage-laden floodwaters of the 
     Tijuana River during last week's storm.
       Two floods met--a flood of immigrants and the flood of 
     sewage. Fortunately, San Diego firefighters and lifeguards 
     rescued the stranded immigrants.
       San Diego did its job even though both issues are federal 
     responsibility. But because there is little interest or 
     understanding in Washington, D.C., about the nation's 
     southwestern border, San Diego is left alone to try to cope.
       The federal government has agreed to help build a sewage 
     plant in the Tijuana River Valley to help clean up that fetid 
     estuary fed by millions of gallons of raw sewage every day. 
     But the plant won't be ready for at least five or six years. 
     Until then, the feds have no plans to help clean up the 
     sewage, which could breed encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes.
       The county Board of Supervisors has asked Gov. Wilson for 
     emergency funds to clean up the Tijuana River, but there has 
     been no response from Sacramento.
       As for illegal immigration, inaction by the federal 
     government has kept pace with the rising migration from 
     Mexico. Congress passed an immigration reform package last 
     year, and everyone in Washington cheered. Unfortunately, the 
     bill did absolutely nothing to solve the anarchy on our 
     border.
       The county and city get no federal or state money to help 
     pay for the burden of illegal immigration. And we've received 
     only a pittance to defray costs of services for hundreds of 
     thousands of legal immigrants here who received amnesty under 
     the 1986 Immigration Reform Act.
       San Diego is simply stuck with two serious problems not of 
     our making and far beyond our limited resources to handle. Is 
     anyone out there listening?
                                  ____


               [From the San Diego Union, Mar. 15, 1991]

                    State to Pay to Treat TJ Sewage

               (By Daniel C. Carson and Graciela Sevilla)

       Sacramento--Gov. Wilson today will announce he has signed a 
     declaration of emergency for San Diego County and is taking 
     other actions to help the border region cope with raw sewage 
     contaminating the Tijuana River, sources say.
       Wilson will be directing the state Water Resources Control 
     Board to release $860,000 to pay the first-year cost of 
     treating the Tijuana River sewage at San Diego's Point Loma 
     sewage plant, sources say.
       This sets an important precedent, because the cost of 
     treating border on sewer-system ratepayers in the city of San 
     Diego, sources say.
       Wilson's moves come in response to a resolution passed 
     unanimously by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on 
     Jan. 8 requesting the emergency decree and financial 
     assistance in stemming the sewage flows from Mexico.
       In winter months, an estimated 13 million gallons in raw 
     waste from the eastern hills of Tijuana pours into the river 
     each day.
       The U.S. and Mexican governments, in cooperation with the 
     city of San Diego and the state, are building a new $195 
     million sewage treatment plant in the South Bay that would 
     capture and clean up the sewage flows. However, that plant is 
     not expected to begin operation before 1995.
       In the interim, the U.S. International Boundary and Water 
     Commission is working on a plan to construct a pipeline to 
     intercept the flows and transfer them to the Point Loma plant 
     for treatment.
       The gubernatorial proclamation of a state of emergency 
     finds that ``conditions of extreme peril to the safety of 
     persons and property exist within the county of San Diego.''
       Word of the decree cheered Ruben D. Marshall, a farmer who 
     has worked the land near the river for 15 years.
       ``We've been through so much hell down here. It has just 
     been one nightmare,'' Marshall said.
       County Supervisor Brian Bilbray, who as mayor of Imperial 
     Beach during the 1970s worked on the Tijuana sewage problem 
     with Wilson--then San Diego's mayor, said Wilson's actions 
     signal a new state commitment to solving a long-standing 
     public health threat.
                                  ____


              [From the San Diego Tribune, Mar. 15, 1991]

                    Wilson Declares Sewage Emergency

                             (By Ron Roach)

       Responding to the environmental crisis posed by sewage 
     flowing north from Tijuana,

[[Page H10176]]

     Gov. Wilson today declared a state of emergency in San Diego 
     County and urged a state board to provide $860,000 to help 
     clean up the mess.
       ``The raw sewage flowing across the border creates an 
     extreme peril to people living and working in the area of the 
     Tijuana River estuary,'' said Wilson, who also called for 
     help from federal agencies.
       The Republican governor, a former mayor of San Diego and 
     former U.S. senator from California, was scheduled to discuss 
     his action at a news conference today at Imperial Beach City 
     Hall.
       The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 10 to 
     declare the county a disaster area and seek a state 
     declaration of emergency.
       The United States and Mexico have agreed to build a 
     treatment plant north of the border to deal with the daily 
     problem of millions of gallons of Tijuana sewage, but the 
     plant will not be completed until 1995.
       San Diego city government has agreed to divert the sewage 
     to its Point Loma plant, Wilson said, because of the need to 
     move quickly and resolve a public health threat caused by an 
     estimated 13 million gallons of sewage daily. The diversion 
     project, costing $860,000 a year, is expected to start in 
     April, the governor said.
       In a letter to Don Maughan, chairman of the State Water 
     Resources Control Board, the governor urged the board to, at 
     its March 21 meeting, approve $860,000 from the state Cleanup 
     and Abatement Fund as first-year costs of sewage treatment. 
     Although it is a state agency, the board is independent from 
     the governor's authority.
       Wilson also wrote to U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, 
     seeking help with his request that the International Boundary 
     and Water Commission provide treatment funds for the city for 
     the interim years, 1992 to 1995, or until the international 
     facility is operating.
       Writing to Baker, Wilson said: ``The City of San Diego is 
     unable nor should it be expected to bear these costs. 
     Commission or federal government funds should be provided to 
     San Diego to cover costs for interim treatment after the 
     first year.''
       The governor wrote a third letter, to U.S. Interior 
     Secretary Manuel Lujan, urging Lujan to direct the U.S. Fish 
     and Wildlife Service to help San Diego County divert sewage 
     flows by clearing brush along the Tijuana River to allow for 
     more effective use of insecticide to kill mosquitoes.
       Wilson said diverting sewage will reduce dry weather flows 
     in the channel, but mosquito problems will remain during wet 
     weather and possibly in standing pools at various times.
       ``To fully alleviate the mosquito and sewage problems, the 
     city and county of San Diego believe it will be necessary to 
     perform minor channeling and brush clearing in specific 
     areas,'' Wilson told Lujan.
       While there is a government duty to protect the nation's 
     wetlands, Wilson said in the letter to Lujan:
       ``We must not lose sight of the fact . . . that the 
     wetlands in question exist today because of raw-sewage flows. 
     Even raising the question of mitigations and offsets in this 
     case--as has been done by Fish and Wildlife Service--goes 
     well beyond the concept of sound environmental management. 
     Our focus clearly must be on protecting the public's health 
     and safety, by removing their exposure to raw sewage and the 
     attendant mosquito problem it has created.''
                                  ____


               [From the San Diego Union, Mar. 16, 1991]

    Border Breathes Sigh of Relief as Wilson Acts on Tijuana Sewage

                         (By Dwight C. Daniels)

       Imperial Beach--Jeanie Gomez breathed a sign of relief 
     yesterday as Gov. Wilson announced his move to combat the 13 
     million gallons of Mexican sewage that flow daily into the 
     dank and brackish Tijuana River estuary near here.
       Wilson's declaration of a state of emergency will serve as 
     a tool to get around international entanglements and federal 
     and state regulations to solve the effluent problem.
       The governor's action directs the Water Resources Control 
     Board to release $860,000 to finance first-year costs of 
     treating the diverted effluent at the Point Loma sewage-
     treatment plant.
       ``We've got people who have been unable to act, it seems, 
     because they were restrained by regulations and even by 
     law,'' the governor said, calling the raw sewage ``an extreme 
     peril to people living and working in the area.''
       He said he also sent a letter to Interior Secretary Manual 
     Lujan to ask for his intervention with U.S. Fish and Game 
     authorities to ``allow early action by the county . . . to 
     deal with this problem.''
       The governor's action was good news to Gomez and the 
     families who live in more than 400 homes that border the 
     estuary, which Wilson toured before his midmorning news 
     conference. The sewage has long caused county health 
     officials to voice concerns about possible water-borne 
     diseases.
       State and local officials echoed that relief after the 
     announcement, with county Supervisor Brian Bilbray and 
     Assemblyman Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, leading the chorus.
       Bilbray--who repeatedly has risked breaking state laws by 
     using a bulldozer to rechannel or block effluent in the 
     estuary--said the governor ``has the guts to take this issue 
     head-on when others would only talk.''
       Peace pointed out that Wilson overruled advice of key 
     staffers to take the move, which is seen as a precedent 
     because the full cost of sewage treatment has previously 
     fallen on San Diego ratepayers.
       The actions came after a unanimous vote by county 
     supervisors Jan. 8 requesting an emergency decree and 
     financial assistance.
       The governor's actions included a letter to U.S. Secretary 
     of State James A. Baker that urges the State Department to 
     intercede with the International Boundary and Water 
     Commission to fund the remaining years of work to build the 
     $195 million U.S./Mexican sewage-treatment facility set to be 
     completed in 1995.
       Rosemary Nolan, president of the Citizens Revolting Against 
     Pollution, a grass-roots coalition long involved in 
     advocating a solution to solve the sewage quandary, stood at 
     Wilson's side as he made the announcement.
                                  ____


   Congressman Bilbray's Statement for the Opening of the South Bay 
                International Wastewater Treatment Plant

       San Diego, CA--The following is a text of Congressman Brian 
     Bilbray's (R-CA) remarks during the opening ceremony of the 
     South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant:
       ``It gives me great satisfaction to be here to participate 
     in this event today. A great deal of blood, sweat, and tears 
     has been invested in the engineering showpiece we are here to 
     celebrate, and I'm not even talking about the actual 
     construction of the project. All of you who have been and 
     remain closely involved with the implementation of this 
     process, and there are too many to mention by name, know what 
     I'm talking about. You all have earned a great pat on the 
     back, and you're all to be commended for helping to get us 
     this far. It is my great hope that we can continue to set 
     aside what policy differences some of us may have, and focus 
     on the bottom line that we all share--that is putting our 
     money where our mouths are, walking the walk and not just 
     talking the talk, and working together to establish 
     functioning public health strategies that will keep our 
     children healthy and our beaches open.''
       ``It is a testimony to the magnitude of this project that 
     we have such a strong and diverse alliance here today to mark 
     its opening. Mayor Golding and I have been working on the 
     border pollution problem for longer than either of us care to 
     remember. Bob Filner and I have, with one or two notable 
     exceptions, been able to work together so well on the 
     pollution issue that we've managed to earn the scorn of our 
     more strident and partisan colleagues in both parties. And 
     all the dignitaries with us up here today have done so much 
     of the heavy lifting that I will leave the telling of it to 
     them.''
       ``With EPA, well, most of you know that I've done battle 
     with EPA in the past on other issues. But I've said from day 
     one, when EPA is right, I'll be in their corner; when they 
     aren't, then they'll hear from me. I think EPA, like the 
     other groups and individuals here today who care about the 
     South Bay, has during this process learned the value of 
     soliciting public input, listening to people's concerns, 
     and incorporating them into the final analysis. Without 
     these basic building blocks, without talking to the man 
     and woman on the street, all the finest Agency planning in 
     the world counts for nothing. This goes both ways--those 
     who choose to roll up their sleeves and participate in a 
     constructive manner in the planning and implementation 
     process will earn the credibility of their neighbors and 
     their peers, whether or not they agree 100%. Those who 
     prefer to set up obstacles to progress risk losing their 
     own credibility, if the greater good suffers as a 
     result.''
       ``And this treatment plant is clearly devoted to serving 
     the public good.''
       ``And so it goes forward from today--we must be guided both 
     by the people and by the science as it applies to the South 
     Bay. We must all be prepared--President Clinton, his 
     departments and agencies, Congress, and the communities--to 
     move forward with the next step. In order to provide the 
     needed level of protection to the public health, the 
     environment, and our ocean resources, we must especially be 
     led by sound science.''
       ``I have put my colleagues in the House of Representatives 
     on notice from Day One, and will be working in the months to 
     come to educate them to the threat which this facility, and 
     its future components, will help allay. The Administration is 
     well aware of the lengths to which I'm prepared to go--I will 
     do whatever is necessary to provide the appropriate and 
     required level of treatment at this facility. As it now 
     stands, the Clean Water Act requires certain standards be met 
     to protect the public health, and I expect nothing less than 
     a full commitment to this from the federal government--it has 
     entered into a pact with the people which must be kept.''
       ``For too long, it was easy to make excuses and hold these 
     border issues at arms length; there were other priorities, 
     other needs, and the border was far away--someone else's 
     problem. Now, we've thrown a rock through the proverbial 
     window, and served out notice that the time for excuses has 
     long passed. We have accomplished a great deal with the 
     official opening of this facility today, but we aren't done 
     yet. I look forward to continued cooperation and productivity 
     in ensuring that we can have another ceremony, not too long 
     from now, to celebrate the fact that this plant is operating 
     at the level it needs to be to protect our communities and 
     our oceans.''
       ``Thank you.''


[[Page H10177]]


  Mr. LUTHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner).
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time 
to me, and I rise reluctantly to oppose this measure this evening. I 
thank the chairman of the committee for his outline of the situation. 
He is correct. The situation is as he described, as someone who 
represents the adjacent district to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Bilbray) and whose district has that sewage flowing through it to Mr. 
Bilbray's. And I thank him for his attention to it, and what I heard 
was his commitment to resolve it.
  And when I say reluctantly, I say that to my friend, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Bilbray) because my colleagues should know that 
there have not been probably two people who have worked more closely 
or, I think, more effectively to resolve this issue over the last 
decade than the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) and myself. He 
was a county supervisor before he became a Member of Congress. I was a 
city councilman. Our districts completely interlocked, and we worked 
hand in hand to address this issue, and we had success. Nobody has made 
more progress over the last decade than we were able to do working 
together, working together in local government, working together in the 
Congress, working together with Mexico.
  We have seen the building of the international wastewater treatment 
plant which, when the out fall is completed by the end of November, we 
will open and go a long way toward resolving that problem. And that 
treatment plant was built in San Diego with the cooperation of Mexico 
and the City of Tijuana and the State of Baja. So the gentleman knows 
that we have worked hand in hand on these issues.
  I agree with the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) when he says 
he wants a forum to educate Congress and he wants to raise awareness, 
and we are doing that, but this is the wrong way to complete that job. 
It is only a sense of Congress, as the gentleman pointed out. It is not 
legally binding. So there is not much effect if it does pass.
  The language that the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) uses 
threatens sanctions with Mexico. It implies that we are going to look 
at loan guarantees and foreign aid. I will tell the gentleman, though, 
even if we eliminated the foreign aid, direct foreign assistance to 
Mexico, tomorrow, it constitutes less than 0.001 percent of our total 
trade. So I am not sure what effect it has in the real world, except 
the way Mexico and its officials take it and how they will react in the 
kinds of discussions that we have participated in for over a decade, 
and I am sure we will be continuing to participate in in the next 
decade.
  The resolution of the gentleman does nothing to clean up the 
pollution and the sewage that he so eloquently describes. It is a real 
problem for the gentleman's constituents, for my constituents. That is 
why we have worked together to develop infrastructure. That is why NAD 
Bank recently granted $16 million to develop a parallel sewage 
conveyance system and to help Tijuana upgrade its sewage treatment 
plant.
  That is why as I have a letter here from the commissioner of the 
International Boundary and Water Commission, Mr. Bernal, who we both 
know very well, who is reporting on an agreement on the Mexicali II 
project that was just executed. Mexicali working with both countries 
have put in the money for a wastewater system capacity for the city of 
Mexicali for a pump station and wastewater treatment plant. The U.S. is 
providing 55 percent; Mexico 45 percent. I think that is the kind of 
cooperation that we need.
  The problem is real. We have heard it. The answer is cooperation, not 
threats, not sanctions. We have made great progress. The gentleman 
knows that. The gentleman is one of the chief architects of that 
cooperation. Let us not put that cooperation in jeopardy.
  The administration, the State Department, opposes this bill. The 
Mexican Government opposes the bill. I would say to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bilbray) we have correspondence from the embassy and 
our good friend the consul in San Diego wondering why, after just 
having attended meetings with him, the gentleman has taken a position 
which seems to be very hostile. It puts people in a very difficult 
situation when we try and negotiate agreements all across our border.
  So I rise reluctantly because the gentleman and I have worked for so 
long together on these issues and I look forward to working with the 
gentleman over the next years on these to solve them but let us work 
with a cooperative tone and not a tone that threatens sanctions.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 additional minutes to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to my colleague from 
California (Mr. Filner) and point out that on environmental issues we 
should never threaten, but we should also never be afraid to hold 
people to standards. We should just be cooperative. Frankly, let us 
recognize about this, is that we have to date been very cooperative.
  The fact is, Mexico City and Washington, D.C. have not been as 
sensitive to the problem. As my colleague has pointed out, we have 
built a lot of projects, but the beaches are still polluted.
  A $2 million project for a pipeline by itself does not make the 
beaches any cleaner and does not make the public any safer. Let me 
point out to my colleague, he may not be aware of the meeting we had 
this August, but I participated in that meeting. Showing the lack of 
sensitivity we can get on both sides, we still have 9 million gallons 
of drinking water pouring into raw sewage, spreading the pollution more 
onto Mexico's side.
  The word I have gotten on this is that the resources and the 
commitment by Mexico City has been lacking. The frustration of the 
people in Tijuana is that Mexico City needs to be more aware of this. I 
appreciate the fact that the gentleman participated in this discussion, 
because the International Boundary and Water commissioner mentioned by 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) has this week delivered this 
sense of Congress to Mexico City. So hopefully it will tell everybody--
let us work together.
  Let me point out that my reference to reviewing treaties and existing 
commitments may not necessarily mean reductions, but may also mean 
increases in resources under existing relationships. But it does mean 
that we will look at this substantially.
  I challenge my colleagues again to say that outcome does not matter 
here. All I am saying is, all the treatment plants, all the talk, all 
the negotiations, all of the relationships are fabulous, but if they do 
not make the environment safe for the children of Tijuana and San Diego 
and Imperial Beach, then all we are is a bunch of diplomats and 
politicians sitting around talking, patting ourselves on the back while 
our children are exposed to hepatitis, and God knows what else.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to consider that and consider 
the kids that continue to be exposed. All I am asking is a sense of 
Congress that says this is important enough for us to review everything 
and let us talk about it, let us look it over. Let us set the standard 
that ending pollution is what we care about, not just the building of 
projects.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Blunt). The gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Luther) has 13\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman) has 5\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. LUTHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).
  (Mr. RODRIGUEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the 
resolution that is before us. The problems do exist in Tijuana but they 
also exist along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexican border, 
including my south Texas district. I represent probably the next 
largest sector next to one additional Congressman in Texas. I want my 
colleagues to know that I have problems also with potable water. I have 
problems with sewage. I have problems with Third World conditions and I 
am not talking about Mexico; I am talking about the United States.
  We also have an obligation to make sure that our cities have 
appropriate sewage plants, and we do not.

[[Page H10178]]

                              {time}  2215

  We are having a serious problem. I recognize that the efforts that 
are being made, and hopefully this will be an opportunity to bring to 
light what occurs in the area. But if anyone has received most of the 
NAD Bank money it has been Tijuana and not south Texas where we are 
suffering also for some of those same conditions.
  At this time is not the time to start pointing fingers at Mexico. We 
need to look at ourselves and what we are also doing to the river, what 
we are also doing to the environment, and in the way we are also 
allowing Maquilladoras to go across the border and create part that 
have pollution.
  This resolution is a heavy-handed, counterproductive approach that 
could set back existing cooperations with Mexico to deal with serious 
environmental issues along the entire border. I would attest to my 
colleagues that Mexico is making a sincere effort at moving in some of 
those areas, just like we are trying to do.
  I am frustrated because I recognize that my communities do not have 
the resources. I need 30 million in 1 little community, and I am 
talking again about the U.S. I am not talking about Mexico that 
requires some money for potable water.
  So, as I indicated to my colleagues, I do represent constituents on 
the U.S.-Mexico in south Texas who are facing pressing environmental 
problems on both sides of the border.
  Through the International Boundary Water Commission, the Border 
Environmental Cooperation Commission, and the NAD Bank, we are working 
to solve some of these problems. I know it is going to take a long 
time.
  I am hoping that the U.S. provides assistance to those Third World 
conditions that exist in the United States, and that we should take the 
initiative, and we should set the example, also, before we start to 
throwing stones across the river.
  The Board of environmental Cooperation Commission has approved 24 
environmental projects on both sides of the border with 14 in 
construction phase and eight pending construction. For every dollar we 
appropriate to the Board of Environmental Cooperation Commission, 
Mexico has been matching that. Do we want to jeopardize that ongoing 
projects? I do not think so.
  Sure, three or more problems are delayed with these projects, but the 
bottom line is this particular resolution will not solve those existing 
problems that we have there, and we need to begin to work cooperatively 
as we move forward.
  I want to also emphasize that the U.S. Department of State has 
indicated that they oppose this effort and that this is not the way of 
going about making things happen. I would ask that, as we move forward, 
that we look at that infrastructure that needs to be developed.
  I would also attest to my colleagues that we have got to be careful 
when we do that. We are right now at the verge of putting a waste site 
which is nuclear and right on the Sierra Blanca, right on the border. 
That has direct impact. Mexico has protested the fact because it 
violates certain other treaties.
  When my colleagues talk about the language on their particular, it 
does talk about treaties. What are we talking about? Look at all the 
treaties that we have had with Mexico ever since. Are we going to go 
back to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
  I think we need to be realistic about some of these items. I think we 
need to really look at the problems. But it does give us an opportunity 
to hold our own government accountable for Third World conditions that 
exist in the border.
  I am hoping that, if nothing else, this issue allows us an 
opportunity to look at that. But I would also ask my colleagues to vote 
against this effort. I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Luther) for allowing me this opportunity to say a few words. I ask my 
colleagues to vote no.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fox), a member of our committee.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to 
rise in support of H.Con.Res. 331, the legislation introduced by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).
  Certainly this is the kind of legislation that is positive. It is 
going to bring forth, hopefully, the kind of environmental improvement 
that is much needed in California.
  The flow of sewage from Tijuana has forced the beach closures. 
Certainly by bringing this problem to the attention of the Mexican 
government does not in any way jeopardize our relationship with them. 
We have a very close relationship with Mexico, working together with 
them on port access, loan guarantees, foreign aid. We have a very close 
relationship.
  However, we need to work jointly on this problem, and we will, 
because this just highlights the need of, frankly, the White House, I 
am sure working with Congress, can take the leadership of the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Bilbray) and others, bring up how we need to solve 
this issue.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) raises a very important 
point about the problems we have in Texas. That does not mean we should 
not work on the problem with Texas; but this resolution deals with 
Mexico, and we need to a make sure that we work on this particular 
resolution now, and we will deal with Texas next. That does not mean we 
should forsake one for the other.
  I frankly feel that the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) has, 
for a long time, brought to our attention, Mr. Speaker, the importance 
of environmental protection, the importance of saving our beaches and 
making sure the air and water are pure. I have to compliment him on 
bringing this issue forward and making sure we deal with it in a 
sensitive matter.
  This resolution, frankly, only advances that inquiry, brings us 
toward a solution, and we should support H. Con. Res. 331 in a 
bipartisan fashion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Blunt). The gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Luther) has 9\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman) has 3\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have the right to close, I believe, in 
which case, we suggest the gentleman go ahead. We have only one more 
speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUTHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Becerra).
  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman for 
yielding and for being here at this late hour managing this bill along 
with the chairman and my other colleagues who have taken the time to 
speak on this matter.
  Let me also thank my colleague and friend, the gentleman from San 
Diego, California (Mr. Bilbray), for raising this issue. But, 
unfortunately, I must disagree with the way he has done this.
  As the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) said, this is only a 
sense of Congress. This bill will not have any practical legal affect 
on our laws and how we conduct our affairs, at least not immediately.
  It is, in essence, a message bill. Unfortunately, the message it 
sends is not that this is just a sense of Congress that there is a 
problem between our two countries of Mexico and the U.S. along our 
borders, but it sends a different message. The message that will be 
received, not here, but in Mexico will be one of threats.
  While the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) raises a very 
important point that we must take care of our environmental matters 
between two sovereign nations, in this case, our country and the 
country of Mexico, I do not believe that anyone south of the border 
reading this sense of Congress would believe that this is a 
cooperative, collaborative approach to resolving the problems that are 
disturbing the folks in San Diego.
  Let us make it clear, the folks in San Diego have every right to be 
concerned. The folks in Tijuana, Mexico have every right to be 
concerned. But what we should not do is say that we will unilaterally 
take action if we do not believe the Mexican government and the Tijuana 
government have done enough to resolve this problem.
  That is what we are faced with in this sense of Congress, which will 
have no immediate legal effect. It is a message bill. But the message 
it sends is that we are doing this today. The message we may get back 
from the Mexican government and the Tijuana government is, tomorrow we 
will do something similar.

[[Page H10179]]

  Let me give my colleagues an example. For many decades, the Mexican 
public, the Mexican government has complained that the U.S. Government 
allows its people, its State governments, and local governments to 
extract too much water from the Colorado River, the best of the 
Colorado River; and also that our people, our governments, our industry 
is depositing too much into the Colorado River, which is not good. So 
that by the time the Colorado River crosses the southern border and 
gets into Mexico, what they have left of a very rich vibrant river is 
not much. They say you, U.S., you should be doing more about this. They 
have been saying this for decades.
  Would we want to see a resolution from the Mexican government that 
says they unilaterally are sending us a sense of their Mexican Congress 
that the U.S. has not done enough, and because it has not done enough, 
then the Mexican government can unilaterally start reviewing all its 
treaties, all its agreements with our country that it has signed?
  I do not believe we would take kindly to that, because we would say 
we are trying. I do not believe anybody thinks that the U.S. Government 
and its people are trying to give Mexico polluted, unusable, nonpotable 
water. But the Mexican government and the Mexican people probably would 
say, well, you may not believe it to be the case, but what we see is 
much different.
  Let me give my colleagues another example. Recently this Congress 
voted, this year this Congress voted, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Rodriguez) mentioned, voted to site a hazardous waste deposit site 
along the Texas Mexico border, the Sierra Blanca site in Texas.
  The Mexican government protested to the U.S. Government and to the 
State governments of the States involved that would be depositing this 
hazardous waste along the border that this was unjust, it was unfair, 
that much of the hazardous waste would migrate at the end into Mexican 
territory and affect the lives of Mexican people.
  They also pointed out, as we here pointed out, that this hazardous 
site is on top of an existing earthquake fault. And if ruptures as a 
result of any earth quake would occur, that could expose many people, 
Mexican and U.S. individuals, to the effects of this hazardous waste.
  All of that is to say this, we all have examples of how our 
governments, our peoples perhaps are not working in the fashion that 
the other people and the other government would like to see. What we 
should be doing is what we have done, and in the case of this 
particular environmental problem in and around Tijuana, the two 
governments have done, and they have worked cooperatively.
  Mexico and the U.S. have been working cooperatively for a number of 
years on the South International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is 
about to start up its operation. In addition, the U.S. and Mexican 
governments are working through the International Boundary and Water 
Commission to clean sewer lines and also to construct a back-up system 
to the current coastal sewage conveyance and treatment system.
  They are doing things. But we can certainly argue that we have not 
seen enough done. But is this the way we treat a partner, someone we 
say we cooperate with? I think that is the problem.
  If we are going to use threats, if we are going to use our muscle, 
then we should realize that we should be prepared to face the 
consequences of someone responding in kind. I do not believe that is 
what we should do with a solid trading partner.
  I do believe we send messages, but send messages as a partner would 
send a message that we want to work with them and we want to improve 
the conditions. We want to do it together. Because there are people on 
both sides of the border who will be affected.
  I believe the intent of the gentleman from San Diego is eminently 
good, well-intended, but I do not believe, unfortunately, this sense of 
Congress gets us there. I would urge my colleagues to vote against this 
resolution.
  Mr. LUTHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I simply want to say that I think this has been a good, 
healthy discussion. I appreciate the various points of view that have 
been presented. We all clearly wants to clean up the environment. That 
is not the issue here.
  I commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) for coming 
forth. I think it has been terrific that we have heard this debate 
because, clearly, it is a more complex issue than what initially meets 
the eye.
  There are many facets to this discussion, this debate. Of course that 
is why the administration has concerns about this legislation.
  I think the real issue here is how do we best clean up the 
environment. How do we best approach this? Do we do it through this 
approach in this legislation, or do we continue the cooperative efforts 
that the administration has embarked upon in the past and are 
continuing to undertake?
  So I would simply ask the Members to vote their conscience, vote 
their point of view on this particular issue. I know there is a variety 
of points of view within our caucus as I am sure there are in the 
gentleman's.
  I thank the Members again, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), 
for his bringing this before us. I urge everyone to look at this issue 
carefully and to simply vote their point of view on the issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  2230

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Luther) for conducting a very good debate on this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, to close our arguments on our side, I yield such time as 
he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues. I really 
want to thank my colleagues who have experience related to the 
Fronteras pollution problems. Let me just tell my colleagues, this is 
20 years that I have been trying to address this issue. The reason why 
I came to Congress probably more so than anything else is the 
reputation I have had trying to confront the environmental problems.
  The fact is that in 1980 I almost went to jail over this issue. 
Somebody that was willing to stand up, and senior citizens and children 
stood up and said, enough is enough. Our government has to start 
addressing this issue. They were frustrated because they were just a 
working-class community. They did not have a lot of political clout, a 
lot of influence, but they felt, we are Americans. We have as much 
right to be defended and protected from environmental problems as 
wealthy people. Just because the color of our skin may be a little 
darker, we may be a little poorer, does not mean we do not have 
environmental rights.
  Now, I say to my colleague from Texas, I agree with him, and I want 
to work with him, and I will commit myself to working with him. The 
fact is that the Clean Water Act should apply just as much for 
pollution across the border as it does for within the border. But the 
frustration of a working-class neighborhood that is told by EPA that 
they will go to jail if they dump their sewage while that same working 
community is polluted by somebody else, and the EPA does not clean it 
up.
  The NAD Bank, there can be more things done with the NAD Bank, and I 
would really point out that there is agreements by the bank to build 
projects in the Republic of Mexico 60 miles from the border, which I 
think ought to be taken care of, the landfill at Punta Penasco and the 
sewer treatment plant in Ensenada. But the border problems should be 
given the highest priority, because they are the ones that are really 
the threat to our growing prosperity.
  Now, let me get back to this issue. I met with Mexico, articulated to 
Mexico that this is as much a message to the Federal Government of the 
United States as it is to Mexico. They understand the concerns. Those 
who say that we do not want to disturb Mexico or they might take it 
inappropriately, let me assure my colleague, in 1978, that is exactly 
what the young neighbor at Imperial Beach was told by the Carter 
administration, because an oil deal was going through, and they did not 
want to jeopardize an economic oil deal over just an environmental 
problem in a working-class neighborhood in the corner of the United 
States.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I do not think anyone here believes that we should 
be

[[Page H10180]]

selling out the environment for any economic deal. Those days are over 
with. The fact is, we need to send a very clear message, not just to 
Mexico, but to ourselves, that we will not allow the continuation of 
the pollution of our environment just because it is convenient to look 
the other way for economic or political reasons; that every 
neighborhood in the United States has the right to a clean, healthy 
environment, and the Federal Government of the United States has as 
much responsibility to the environment along the border as it does 
anywhere else in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not half as concerned as the message this body 
could send to Mexico. We have already sent it, it has been delivered. 
What I am concerned about is the message we send to our fellow citizens 
here in the United States. There is much prejudice against Mexico, and 
I want to stop that, and I think the one way we stop it is by sending a 
clear message to American citizens that this body, the sense of 
Congress, is that we will not sell out the environment of America for 
economic advantage. We will place the environment of the United States 
and the citizens who live in that environment first and foremost in all 
of our relationships.
  I ask my colleagues, please, to pull together and just say, let us 
work together so that we make sure our relationships with Mexico and 
the United States and the environment are all cleaned up together. That 
kind of commitment is what I am asking for today.
  I ask for approval of this resolution, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
California for his very eloquent argument.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Blunt). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 331.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule 1 and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________