[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 29 (Thursday, February 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2244-S2245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. McCain):
  S. 432. A bill to amend the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and 
Excellence in National Environmental and Native American Public Policy 
Act of 1992 to honor the legacy of Stewart L. Udall, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator McCain 
in introducing a bill to amend the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and 
Excellence in National Environmental Policy Act, both to enhance the 
Udall Foundation and to honor one of the foremost environmental 
visionaries of American history, Stewart L. Udall.
  The Morris K. Udall Foundation was established by Congress in 1992 to 
provide federal-funded scholarships to the growing number of students 
in America who wish to become environmental professionals in the public 
and private sectors and importantly, to identify and educate new 
generations of leaders in Indian Country. By now, there are more than 
1,100 young Udall Scholars and Udall Native American interns around the 
country. The educational programs of the Foundation have earned 
national significance and are among the most sought after on American 
campuses.
  In 1998, Foundation grew to include a new Federal environmental 
mediation program created by Congress. Named the U.S. Institute for 
Environmental Conflict Resolution, the agency has played a quiet 
leading role to find common ground on issues as diverse as Everglades 
Restoration to the joint tribal-federal management of the National 
Bison Range Complex. The Institute's small in-house staff, often 
working in partnership with members of its national roster of 
mediators, have handled important conflict resolution processes in 
collaboration with many federal departments including Interior, 
Defense, USDA Forest Service, and Transportation. Now more than ever, 
these skills are needed to move infrastructure projects and restore the 
economy.
  The Udall Foundation is also a founder and funder of the Native 
Nations Institute, NNI, a graduate educator and policy center for 
Indian Country. NNI teaches a new way of governance on the reservations 
which embraces tribal identity as a core principle and smart business 
practices as a way to assist Indian nations rebuild their economies. In 
the last 5 years, more than 2,000 Native American leaders have 
benefitted from its courses. New leaders emerging from the Foundation's 
education programs are beginning to take their places in Tribal 
governance.
  The Udall Foundation's Parks in Focus aims to connect underserved 
youth to nature through the art of photography. The Foundation 
organizes week-long trips, introduces members of local Boys & Girls 
Clubs, many of whom have never before left their communities, to some 
of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the country; provides them 
with Canon digital cameras to use and keep; and teaches the basics of 
photography, ecology, and conservation while exploring national parks, 
wildlife refuges, and other public lands. The Foundation will be 
expanding the Parks in Focus program significantly in the coming years.

[[Page S2245]]

  The proposed legislation includes additional resources for operations 
of this fine agency as well as renaming it the Morris K. Udall and 
Stewart L. Udall Foundation, in recognition of the historic Interior 
Secretary's contributions.
  Stewart Udall was Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy 
and Johnson, where his accomplishments earned him a special place among 
those ever to serve in that post and have made him an icon in the 
environmental and conservation communities. His best-selling book on 
environmental attitudes in the U.S., The Quiet Crisis, 1963, along with 
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, is credited with creating a 
consciousness in the country leading to the environmental movement.
  Stewart's remarkable career in public service has left an indelible 
mark on the Nation's environmental and cultural heritage. Born in 1920, 
and educated in Saint Johns, Arizona, Udall attended the University of 
Arizona for 2 years until World War II. He served 4 years in the Air 
Force as an enlisted B24 gunner flying 50 missions over Western Europe 
for which he received the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He 
returned to the University of Arizona in 1946 where he played guard on 
a championship basketball team and attended law school. He received his 
law degree and was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1948. He married Erma 
Lee Webb during this time. They raised 6 children.
  Stewart was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona 
in 1954. He served with distinction in the House for 3 terms on the 
Interior and Education and Labor committees. In 1960, President Kennedy 
appointed Stewart Udall Secretary of Interior. In this role, he oversaw 
the addition of four parks, 6 national monuments, 8 seashores and 
lakeshores, 9 recreation areas, 20 historic sites and 56 wildlife 
refuges to the National Park system. During his tenure as the Interior 
Secretary, President Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act, the 
Water Quality Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and National Trails 
Bill. Stewart also helped spark a cultural renaissance in America by 
setting in motion initiatives that led to the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap 
Farm Park, the National Endowments for Arts and the Humanities, and the 
revived Ford's Theatre.
  Stewart currently resides in Santa Fe, NM, and will turn 90 years old 
in the coming year.
  The Udall Foundation is an exemplary organization doing remarkable 
work and I am pleased to support additional resources to this agency. 
In addition, Stewart displayed significant leadership in helping to 
enact much of the legislation that protects our environment and lands 
today as well as being one of the first people to point to problems in 
the environment. For these and many other reasons, he deserves 
inclusion in the Foundation on par with his brother, Morris.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure swift passage 
of this bill.
                                 ______