[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IN TRIBUTE TO RUSSELL E. TRAIN

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                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 21, 2012

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
friend, Russell E. Train, one of our country's most influential and 
accomplished environmentalists, who died on September 17, 2012 at age 
92.
  Russell Train was instrumental in developing our nation's 
environmental policies. He served under Presidents Nixon and Ford as 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Under his 
leadership, the nation made large strides in protecting our air, water, 
and wildlife, including the adoption of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 
the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Clean Air Act, coastal zone 
management, national land-use policy, environmental impact statements 
and the Endangered Species Act. During his tenure, EPA banned four 
extremely toxic farm chemicals--aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor and 
chlordane--and instituted automobile emission limits.
  Mr. Train developed the concept and promoted the establishment of 
UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization) World Heritage program, which provides vital protection 
to 730 cultural and natural sites around the world and builds on the 
American national park concept.
  Mr. Train's passion and dedication for conservation and the 
environment were strengthened by travels with his wife Aileen to 
Africa. In 1961 he founded the African Wildlife Leadership Foundation 
and in 1965 he resigned as a United States Tax Court judge to become 
president of the Conservation Foundation. He served as the Foundation's 
president until 1969, when he was appointed Under Secretary of the 
Department of the Interior.
  Mr. Train then served as the first chairman of the Council on 
Environmental Quality from 1970-73 before leading the EPA from 1973-77.
  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was an important part of Mr. Train's 
life for over fifty years, from its founding in 1961 until his death. 
Mr. Train was the first vice-president of WWF-US and was Chairman of 
the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund and of the Conservation 
Foundation from 1985 until they merged as WWF in 1990. In 1994 Mr. 
Train was elected WWF Chairman Emeritus and served as Chairman of the 
WWF National Council from 1994-2001. Mr. Train led WWF-US through 
extraordinary growth from its inception to become the leading global 
conservation organization it is today. Mr. Train remained active on the 
WWF-US Board of Directors and was regularly seen at the WWF offices, 
encouraging staff and extolling the importance of the EPA. Carter S. 
Roberts, President & CEO of WWF-US, says of Mr. Train, ``Russ was a 
true national treasure and an inspiration to all of us who embrace 
conservation as their life's work. He will be well remembered, and 
forever missed.''
  Mr. Train received many awards and recognitions, including the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Heinz Award and the Teddy Roosevelt 
International Conservation Award.
  Russell E. Train was born in Jamestown, Rhode Island and grew up in 
Washington, DC. He graduated from Princeton University and Columbia 
University Law School. Mr. Train served in the U.S. Army during World 
War II.
  Mr. Train believed that conservation and environmentalism weren't 
Democratic or Republican issues--they were national and international 
issues of importance to everyone who cared about the future of our 
planet. In 2003, Train published Politics, Pollution and Pandas: An 
Environmental Memoir, tracing his career and providing a history of the 
U.S. environmental movement. In his memoir, Mr. Train wrote, ``I felt 
strongly that environmental issues needed a sharp, cutting edge in 
government, one that had high visibility to the public.'' Fortunately, 
he noted, ``this view finally prevailed.''
  I hope we can return to a time when protecting our air, water, and 
the environment is a shared, bipartisan goal. I am proud to have 
counted Russell Train among my friends and am grateful for his support 
for our ongoing efforts to follow in former President Teddy Roosevelt's 
tradition of protecting and preserving our national heritage. At this 
time in our country's history, we need more Russell Trains. We will 
miss him dearly, but his legacy is all around us in the cleaner air we 
breathe, the safer water we drink, and the wildlife that he fought to 
preserve. When we think of Russell Train, we must block efforts to roll 
back the victories he won and fight to build upon his noble legacy.
  I extend my deepest condolences to Russ Train's wife of 58 years, 
Aileen Bowdoin Train; to his four children, Emily Rowan, Nancy Smith 
Gustin, Charles B. Train and my grade-school classmate, Errol T. 
Giordano; and to his twelve grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
Russell E. Train for his extraordinary contributions to our country and 
our world.

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