Volume 144, No. 133 covering the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress (1997 - 1998) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S11130-S11131 on Sept. 29, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL RIDERS CONTAINED IN THE FY 99 INTERIOR
APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to support the Senior Senator from Montana (Mr. Baucus) in his efforts to describe some of the provisions of concern that were attached to the Interior Appropriations legislation, the fate of which is now uncertain. I hope that all the provisions that will harm the environment, impede the enforcement of environmental law, or weaken federal environmental policy, will be removed from this legislation if it either returns to the floor or is incorporated in a broader appropriations bill.
This is not the first time that I have supported the Senior Senator from Montana in his efforts to address environmentally harmful legislative riders in appropriations legislation. In September 1995, I joined in his efforts to mitigate the effects of riders in the FY 96 VA-HUD appropriations legislation regarding the operations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Once again, I applaud his leadership in championing the protection of the environment.
Mr. President, for more than two decades, we have seen a remarkable bipartisan consensus on protecting the environment. As a consequence of this broad agreement, today we breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water, and enjoy spectacular public lands.
Unfortunately, again during this Congress, we have faced numerous proposals to modify the environmental protections upon which American families depend. We have seen bills that would undermine the Wilderness Act and the management of our public lands, block implementation of the Endangered Species Act, rollback wetlands standards and weaken enforcement of clean water laws, and slow down or stop cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Congressional consideration of these proposals has been divisive, time-consuming, and ultimately unproductive.
Mr. President, I believe we have a responsibility to the American people to protect the quality of our public lands and resources. That responsibility of stewardship requires that I oppose legislative efforts to include proposals in routine spending bills that weaken environmental laws or prevent potentially beneficial environmental regulations from being promulgated by the federal agencies that carry out federal law.
In addition to my substantive concerns, Mr. President, I also share with the Senator from Montana a procedural concern about these riders. The people of Wisconsin have been calling my office in the last few weeks to express their grave concern that when riders are placed in spending bills major decisions regarding environmental protection are being made without the benefit of an up or down vote. Wisconsinites have very strong views that Congress has a responsibility to discuss and publicly debate matters effecting the environment. Thus, the Senior Senator from Montana is making an important procedural point for the Senate. We should be on record with regard to our position on this matter of open government and environmental stewardship.
Though I have substantive concerns about all of the riders that the Senior Senator from Montana has detailed, and others, I wanted to share my concerns by highlighting in detail a few riders contained in the Interior Appropriations legislation.
I am concerned about the language on forest road decommissioning that is contained in Title II of the Interior bill. This language prohibits the use of funds to decommission National Forest System roads until the Regional Forester certifies that all ``unauthorized'' roads are decommissioned or reconstructed. Mr. President, this mandate simply does not recognize that maintaining existing roads is a priority both in Wisconsin's national forests and throughout Forest Service Region 9. Our existing road system in the Nicolet and Chequamegon National Forests not only serves those who visit our forests, but also serves our local communities. Forest Service roads are important routes between communities in the northern part of my state. I also travel them when I attend Listening Sessions and other events in northern Wisconsin. I am concerned that if our forests have to spend time documenting all unauthorized roads this fiscal year, such as snowmobile crossings and other rights of way, we will neither get to accomplish any needed decomissioning, nor any much needed maintenance.
I also oppose the rider regarding logging in Tongass National Forest contained in the Interior bill. While Wisconsin's national forests have struggled to bring their timber sales above cost, I am concerned that this rider requires that the Forest Service offer for sale, and allow the logging of, ninety percent of the timber volume proposed by the Tongass Land Management Plan, a plan which is currently under appeal to the Secretary of Agriculture. Moreover, this rider contains a dangerous, precedent-setting provision that makes this requirement legally enforceable. I strongly believe that taxpayers should be getting a better return for the sale of timber from public lands, and I am concerned about increasing cut volumes when we still need to address below cost issues on the Tongass.
These are a few of my concerns, Mr. President. I believe that the Senate should act to strip these riders from the bill and send clean Interior funding provisions to the President for his signature. I encourage my colleagues to take the advice of the Senior Senator from Montana, and act to fund the programs we must fund without taking environmental policy actions that the public opposes.
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