NATURA1 RESOURCES AND TH1 ENVIRONMEN1 



973 



mittee who designed the joint initiative and who later became Brown's 

 subcommittee staff director during the 95th Congress. In preparation 

 for these hearings, in response to a joint request from Brown and 

 Representative Robert L. Leggett (Democrat of California) of the 

 Merchant Marine Committee, the Congressional Research Service pro- 

 duced a 587-page pamphlet which examined all angles of "Long Range 

 Planning." 



In September and October 1976, the Brown subcommittee held four 

 days of oversight review on the issue of "Water Quality Research." 

 Federal and municipal officials, consulting engineers, equipment manu- 

 facturers, and members of the academic community testified on the 

 most modern technology being utilized to protect water quality and 

 improve waste disposal and municipal sewage treatment plants. 



BROWN APPRAISES THE PROS AND CONS 



Reflecting on the work of the subcommittee in an unusually 

 candid appraisal printed in the Congressional Record of October 26, 

 1976, Brown weighed some of the pros and cons of his subcommittee's 

 work during the 94th Congress: 



Any new arrangement, such as that which created this subcommittee, causes 

 contusion and conflict. I must confess that the first two years of operation of the Sub- 

 committee on Environment and the Atmosphere had more ditficulties than I expected. 

 In spite of this, I believe the record of this subcommittee deserves attention and 

 praise, because it has accomplished much in its two years of existence. 



The main source of difficulty comes from the fact that the jurisdiction of the 

 subcommittee originally comes from other committees and continues to overlap with 

 many other committees of Congress. Because of this, both I, as chairman, and the 

 committee staff needed to make a special effort to work cordially and effectively with 

 other committees. 



Brown mentioned especially the close working relationships he had 

 established with subcommittees of the Commerce and Merchant Marine 

 Committees. The nature of these cooperative relationships were 

 uniquely successful, leading Brown to conclude: 



My experience during this Congress, in this subcommittee and in others, has 

 convinced me that joint activities between subcommittees of the Congress is an 

 important and necessary activity for the effective functioning of this body. 



This approach contrasted with that of some committee chairmen and 

 subcommittee chairmen who seemed more concerned with protecting 

 their turf and their sole right to attract the media attention which 

 accompanied single-handed action. Brown took the long-range view 

 toward working to develop a consensus to produce progress, and he 

 almost studiously avoided confrontations. 



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