[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S659-S660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF GALE NORTON

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise today to express my 
strong support for the President's nominee for the Secretary of the 
Interior, Gale Norton. I know there are some groups out there that have 
mischaracterized her record and have indicated some fears or concerns. 
I remember similar fears and concerns being expressed about me. It 
didn't seem to work out the way some thought it would. They have 
resorted to name calling, misrepresenting her record, making false 
accusations. We are probably going to hear some of those accusations 
repeated on the floor today, regretfully.
  I begin by trying to set the record straight. I think this business 
of personal attacking and trying to destroy people personally is a 
mistake that is uncalled for. It is one thing to disagree on the 
issues. It is another thing to begin to get into name calling and 
making accusations about people's character that are not justified.
  Let me stick to the record. Gale Norton has a strong environmental 
record. Certainly, if we look at the facts in Colorado at Rocky Flats 
and Rocky Mountain Arsenal, she has a strong record of enforcing 
Federal and State environmental laws vigorously and fairly. As attorney 
general of Colorado, she fought to make the Federal Government and 
private companies clean up hazardous and nuclear waste left behind at 
the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Rocky Flats.
  At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, she fought all the way the U.S. 
Supreme Court for the State's right to hold the Federal Government to 
the same stringent cleanup standards that she applied to private 
companies. She sued not to try to weaken the cleanup standard but to 
strengthen it. Today the Rocky Mountain Arsenal is a national wildlife 
refuge. That is not an accident. That is strong leadership on the part 
of this nominee for Secretary of the Interior.
  The extreme environmental groups also blame Ms. Norton for the 
Summitville mine disaster and suggest that she didn't do enough to 
enforce the law. Again, their facts are wrong completely. Ms. Norton 
did go after the mine operator shortly after she took office. Because 
of her actions, the mine operator was forced to operate a water 
treatment facility to prevent contamination from spreading. She also 
brought an enforcement action against the mine operator recovering 
millions of dollars to pay for the cleanup. She did not let the 
polluter off the hook. To the contrary, she made the polluter pay.
  This ``let the polluter off the hook'' is a favorite expression of 
the left to somehow assume that if you try to work to get cleanup and 
you are not extracting every last dollar from every person who has it, 
somehow we are letting polluters off the hook. As we know, we have 
crossed this rubicon in the past. We have crossed that threshold, and 
it depends on which polluter we are talking about. What is a polluter? 
Is a polluter somebody who throws a ballpoint pen in a landfill? Under 
some definitions, yes. We have to be very careful how we throw that 
term around.
  We are going to hear it a lot today in the debate, that somehow she 
let the polluters off the hook. The facts are, she did not.
  These are just a few examples. Anyone who looks at her record--
instead of the environmental groups' characterizations--will see that 
Ms. Norton enforced the law and she protected the environment at the 
same time.
  She appreciates the value of preserving our land. She grew up in 
Colorado. She understands what wilderness means and what it means to 
live in a beautiful, pristine area such as central Colorado.
  The extreme environmental groups have also suggested that Gale Norton 
cannot be trusted to protect our public lands, our national parks and 
refuges and wilderness areas. That is not true. Her record demonstrates 
that Ms. Norton values our public lands and she will protect them. 
Again, just look at the record.
  As attorney general, she worked with Congress to craft the Colorado 
wilderness bill that established 19 new wilderness areas in the State. 
That doesn't sound like somebody who is opposed to cleaning up our 
environment and protecting our wilderness.
  That bill was enacted in part because of Ms. Norton's efforts to 
build consensus for the preservation of those lands.
  Her record at the Department of Interior, where she was Associate 
Solicitor for Conservation and Wildlife from 1985 to 1987, shows once 
again that she was an effective advocate for protecting our public 
lands and natural resources, including endangered species.
  Let me name just a few of her accomplishments in the Solicitor's 
Office:
  She represented the Fish and Wildlife Service in its successful 
effort to add 80,000-90,000 acres to the Big Cypress National Preserve.
  She was involved in an effort to add 5,000 acres to complete the 
Florida Panther National Wildlife Reserve in Florida.
  She fought to ensure the success of the captive breeding program that 
saved the California condor when environmental groups sued to try to 
stop

[[Page S660]]

it. If they had succeeded, the condor would now be extinct.
  She fought for the acquisition of land to extend the Appalachian 
Trail.
  She worked on the regulations that banned lead shot for migratory 
birds, saving millions of birds.
  She secured funds for the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue 
of Liberty.
  And she negotiated the original agreement with Senator McCain to 
restrict overflights in the Grand Canyon.
  Again, these are just a few of her accomplishments over the past 15 
years, but they paint a clear picture.
  They paint a picture of someone who has dedicated her life to public 
service, to preserving the environment and natural resources, and to 
enforcing the law.
  They paint a picture of an individual who is highly qualified to be 
the next Secretary of Interior, and the first woman to serve in that 
position.
  I urge my colleagues to consider the facts, not the distortions, in 
making their decisions about Gale Norton.
  I strongly support Ms. Norton's nomination to be Secretary of the 
Interior, and look forward to working with her on the many challenges 
that lay ahead.

                          ____________________