NATURAL RESOl R< 1 S AND THE ENVIRONM] N I 997 



Environment Conference, National Governors Association, Conserva- 

 tion Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, United Steelworkers 

 of America, American Public Health Association, Blue Cross and 

 Blue Shield Association, National Health Council, and Washington 

 Business Group on Health. The conference helped enhance public 

 awareness of containing medical costs through preventive health 

 care, relying in part on control of environmental factors which affect 

 health. In opening the conference, Brown remarked: 



I must sav that getting two subcommittees of the Congress to cooperate is 

 probably as hard as getting labor and management to cooperate.* * * 



Wirth, who addressed the conference on "Legislative Response to 

 Environmental Health Issues," stated: 



This coalition can be developed in three ways: Fust, by advocating and support- 

 ing research. Second, bv educating people to environmental health hazards. And 

 third, bv assisting us in the governmental decision-making process. 



Brown also challenged the conference to work toward a new level 

 of partnership, through a better network of communication. He also 

 called for better data to provide for more regulatory precision. Unlike 

 many one-shot conferences, this one proved more durable, as the 

 coalition continued to work after the disbandment of the conference 

 toward the goals which had been set. 



ORGANIZATION MEETING 



When the committee Democratic caucus assembled on February 1, 

 1979, for its first meeting at the opening of the 96th Congress, there 

 was great uncertainty about both the jurisdictions of the subcom- 

 mittees, the chairmen, and even how many subcommittees there would 

 be. Since all of the final negotiations were open to the public, a visitor 

 wandering into the huge committee room could have drawn several 

 erroneous conclusions before the morning's organization meeting had 

 proceeded very far. It was also obvious that almost all of the caucus 

 members themselves were surprised by the totally unpredictable 

 developments. 



Having completed a highly successful two terms as chairman of 

 the Subcommittee on Environment and the Atmosphere, Brown was 

 expected to move up to a more prestigious position. Not that his sub- 

 committee was unimportant; he had seen to that. It was just that 

 his had been the seventh choice in 1975, and it was generally assumed 

 that he might choose to chair one of the two very powerful energy sub- 

 committees. This assumption seemed confirmed when Chairman Fuqua 

 indicated near the start of the caucus meeting that Brown had been 

 the coauthor of one of the proposals for dividing up the energy juris- 

 dictions. Everybody on the committee and among the public onlookers 



