[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E755-E756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             EARTH DAY 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 1999

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as a member of this body, I would 
like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Earth Day. We have made 
great strides in elevating the protection and knowledge of our 
treasured natural resources.
  Mr. Speaker, Earth Day matters. It raises the awareness of Americans 
and is a catalyst for positive change. Since the first Earth Day in 
1970, Americans have gathered to celebrate the preservation of our 
environment and to focus on the work that is left to be done. Earth Day 
has always been a day to celebrate the environment and our natural 
heritage. It has also served to mark the importance of environmental 
protection and responsible living.
  Earth Day has been a catalyst for the enactment of some of our 
nation's most important laws. Laws such as the Clean Air Act of 1970; 
The Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Act and the Community Right-to-
Know laws. These laws have enabled regulatory agencies to better 
understand what, where, and when pollutants enter our environment.
  I am proud of my strong environmental voting record. I strongly 
support H.R. 525, the Defense of the Environments Act. I challenge my 
colleagues to work towards its passage. I can think of no better way to 
commemorate the importance of Earth Day than to pass this comprehensive 
bill.
  I am also proud to support H.R. 960, Endangered Species Recovery Act 
of 1999. If passed, this bill would ensure the recovery of our Nation's 
declining biological diversity; reaffirm and strengthen this Nation's 
commitment to protect wildlife; safeguard our children's economic and 
ecological future; and provide assurances to local governments, 
communities, and individuals in their planning and economic development 
efforts.
  Earth Day must also serve as a reminder that even today, we still 
have a need for improvement. People in our poorest communities are 
struggling for environmental justice. They continue to struggle for 
their civil and human rights here and abroad. From Louisiana's ``Cancer 
Alley'' to Native American reservations' nuclear problems, and from the 
plight of the people living along the border in the Maquilidora region 
to Chicago's West and South Side, millions of Americans live in housing 
and surrounded by physical environments that are over-burdened with 
environmental problems from hazardous waste, toxins and dioxins, 
incinerators, petrochemical plants, lead contamination, polluted air 
and unsafe water. These factors continue to pose a real and grave 
threat to our nation's public health.
  Environmental Justice matters. We must begin to eliminate the 
mentality that our nation's poorest communities can be used as dumping 
grounds for our industrial achievements. We must begin to look at the 
issues of unequal distribution and disproportional impacts on 
minorities, as well as the problems of green space and living 
standards. Low income communities must not bear the brunt of selective 
environmental standards. Today we must mark a new dedication towards 
bringing a more proper balance to the widening gap between rich and 
poor community standards.
  I also want to speak briefly about our commitments to the 
international community. It is clear today, maybe more so than in 1970, 
that there is a global connection through the environment. Since the 
formation of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1949 and the 
more recent meeting of the Kyoto convention, we have begun the needed 
international monitoring and protection of our environment on a global 
scale. We now must begin to realize the responsibility we have in 
providing under developed nation with the environmental technology that 
will allow them to grow as they move towards a more industrialized 
society.
  So today as we mark the 29th anniversary of the first Earth Day, I am 
reminded that although we in the United States have made major 
improvements in the last 20 years, we have a way to go and look forward 
toward this improvement. We must also strive as global citizens toward 
safer drinking water and cleaner air at home and abroad.

[[Page E756]]

  In closing, I leave you with this thought, it is not a question of 
whether we can afford to protect the environment, rather it is a 
question of whether we can afford not to.

                          ____________________