[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 136 (Thursday, October 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11115-S11116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 STRIPPING JIM LYONS' AUTHORITY AT USDA

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the Founding Fathers intended that the 
legislative process work through strongly held policy differences to 
establish the law of the land. They saw open dialogue as central to our 
democracy, and their vision has served the American people well for 
over 200 years. It is regrettable, therefore, when policy disagreements 
degenerate into acts of retribution against individual public servants 
whose only transgression is to execute the directives of the President 
they serve.
  That is exactly what happened recently when a provision was inserted 
into the fiscal year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations Bill stripping the 
USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, Jim Lyons, 
of his authority to administer the Forest Service and the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service until his term in office expires in 
January 2000. This provision is not only unfair to Mr. Lyons, it 
undermines the separation of powers doctrine because it is designed 
solely to intimidate administration officials who are faithful to the 
policies of the President.
  What has Mr. Lyons done, you might ask, to warrant such rebuke? The 
simple answer is: he has done a difficult job conscientiously.
  Mr. President, Mr. Lyons was confirmed as the Under Secretary for 
Natural Resources and Environment by the Senate in May of 1993. As 
Undersecretary, he administers two important agencies--the Forest 
Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service--that include 
nearly half the employees in the Department.
  I have worked closely with Mr. Lyons over the past 8 years and 
respect greatly his work ethic, his understanding of the issues within 
his agencies' jurisdiction and his commitment to the public policy 
making process. We have had policy disagreements, but I have never had 
reason to question Mr. Lyons' dedication to his job or fitness to serve 
as Undersecretary.
  Mr. Lyons has provided steady and clear leadership during his tenure 
at USDA, tackling many complex and controversial issues that have 
plagued the conservation and forestry communities for years. While many 
of these policy challenges defy easy solution, Jim Lyons never shirked 
his responsibility to address them. Further, it has been his hallmark 
to solicit and discuss the views of all parties in a search of common 
ground in the pursuit of Administration objectives. That approach was 
particularly evident in the policy dispute that culminated in the 
Agriculture Appropriations rider relieving Mr. Lyons of line authority 
for the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
  The Office of the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and 
Environment, NRE, has responsibility within USDA for working with the 
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, on issues affecting clean water 
and air, agriculture, forestry and other environmental concerns. It was 
in this role that Mr. Lyons entered into negotiations with the EPA to 
reduce the impact of EPA's proposed Total Maximum Daily Load, TMDL, 
rule on agriculture and forestry, while helping to ensure our continued 
progress in improving the quality of the waters of the United States.
  After months of negotiation with the EPA, Mr. Lyons helped construct 
a rule that would provide for measured progress in reducing non-point 
source pollution through the use of voluntary, incentive-based programs 
administered largely through the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service. Many of the provisions objectionable to commodity groups and 
the Farm Bureau were dropped from the final rule or significantly 
modified. The provisions affecting silvicultural activities and 
forestry were dropped altogether.
  In August, the President announced the final TMDL rules, and, in 
response to concerns expressed by Members of Congress, delayed their 
implementation for one year. Nonetheless, some who were upset that EPA 
had elected even to proceed with the rules decided to take their 
frustration out on Mr. Lyons, charging that he had not done enough to 
fight this rulemaking. As a consequence, language was added to the 
House version of the fiscal year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations bill 
defunding Mr. Lyons' office.
  At the urging of Senator Cochran and his colleagues on the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, the House agreed to restore funding for the 
Undersecretary's office, but eliminate Mr. Lyons' authority to manage, 
supervise or direct his agencies--the job he had sworn to do and for 
which this

[[Page S11116]]

body had confirmed him nearly 8 years ago. While policy differences 
certainly are an important and accepted part of the legislative 
process, acts of retribution against individual public servants--which 
this rider is--should not be tolerated.
  Mr. Lyons does not deserve this treatment. During his USDA career, he 
has faithfully pursued the President's policies, spearheading major 
reforms in the management of both the Forest Service and the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, NRCS, and helping to develop the Forest 
Service's new natural resources agenda, which is focused on watershed 
protection, recreation, road management reform and sustainable 
forestry.
  Under Mr. Lyons' leadership, the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service has assumed a leadership role for the Administration in 
promoting conservation of the nation's private lands and has taken on 
an expanded role in protecting clean water and fish and wildlife 
habitats. Mr. Lyons has advocated establishing riparian buffers to 
capture nutrient and pesticide runoff, promoted efforts to protect farm 
and forest lands threatened with development, and encouraged strategies 
to protect drinking water supplies at their source.
  Mr. Lyons was also the principle architect of the President's 
Northwest Forest Plan conserving old-growth forests and promoting 
sustainable forestry. He has initiated efforts to assess forest 
ecosystem health in the Columbia River Basin, the Sierra Nevada and the 
southern Appalachians. He directed key acquisitions and additions to 
the National Forest System, and has overseen purchase of lands 
including New Mexico's Baca Ranch and the New World Mine near 
Yellowstone National Park. He was instrumental in the establishment of 
the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
  Mr. Lyons continues to lead USDA efforts on the presidential 
initiative to protect remaining national forest roadless areas. He 
helped craft the President's report on this year's devastating 
wildfires and then worked to shape the emergency funding package that 
will be used to restore fire-damaged forest lands and reduce the risks 
to communities from future wildfires. Mr. Lyons has promoted outdoor 
recreation on the national forests and created new programs and 
partnerships to improve urban forestry and conservation activities.
  In the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mr. Lyons worked with me to 
resolve differences between the timber industry and environmentalists 
that allowed timber harvesting to proceed in a responsible and 
environmentally sensitive manner. This experience demonstrated Mr. 
Lyons' ability to work with diverse interests in the pursuit of sound, 
common sense policies that reconcile multiple use objectives.
  President Clinton's approach to the stewardship of our national 
resources is clear, and Mr. Lyons has been faithful to that vision. His 
public record over the past eight years identify him as a leading 
conservationist and an effective agent of change, not only within the 
Department of Agriculture, but also within the Administration.
  Mr. President, I regret that, as the end of the Clinton 
Administration approaches, one of its longest serving subcabinet 
officials has been targeted for retribution as a result of a 
disagreement over policy. Personal attack should never become an 
accepted method for settling policy differences. I hope that the 
politics of personal intimidation can be removed from our policy 
debates.
  Finally, I ask unanimous consent to print a recent New York Times 
editorial on this subject in the Record.
  There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       Pettiness on Capitol Hill

       Marion Berry, a Democratic Representative from Arkansas, 
     has raised Congressional arrogance to a new level.
       Gripped by ideological fury in June, Mr. Berry added a 
     provision to the agricultural spending bill stripping funds 
     from the office of James Lyons, an under secretary of 
     agriculture who oversees the Forest Service and the Natural 
     Resources Conservation Service. Mr. Lyons' Republican critics 
     later modified the amendment so that it left the funding 
     intact but stripped him of his authority to run the agencies. 
     Either way, it was clear that Mr. Lyons had been singled out 
     for special abuse, and that Mr. Berry had started the 
     crusade.
       What had Mr. Lyons done to deserve this? According to Mr. 
     Berry himself, the under secretary's main sin was to side 
     with the Environmental Protection Agency when it decided to 
     enforce a long-dormant provision of the Clean Water Act to 
     get a better grip on polluted runoff from so-called ``non-
     point'' sources like farms, city streets and golf courses. 
     Mr. Lyons helped the E.P.A. establish a timetable that would 
     enable farmers to comply with the law on a reasonable 
     schedule. But he never challenged the agency's authority to 
     enforce the law, as some agricultural lobbyists had hoped he 
     would, nor was he, in Mr. Berry's view, sufficiently pro-
     farmer in his negotiations.
       A conservationist, Mr. Lyons has angered members of 
     Congress before, not least for his support of President 
     Clinton's plan to put millions of acres of the national 
     forests off-limits to new roads, as well as his efforts to 
     enlarge protections for Alaska's Tongass National Forest. But 
     nobody had gone so far as to undermine his job. The White 
     House, already worn out from its efforts to block anti-
     environmental riders in other bills, is unlikely to fight 
     this one, in part because it will have no serious effect on 
     the two agencies or even on Mr. Lyons himself. The provision 
     expires Jan. 20, when Mr. Lyons will leave Washington to 
     teach at Yale. But it is still a petty gesture that brings no 
     honor on Mr. Berry or the other congressmen who have 
     willingly gone along with his vendetta.

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