16 



The acid rain issue was of great importance and it captured 

 public attention, but no legislation moved to the floor of the Senate 

 until George Bush entered the White House. He gave the issue 

 Presidential leadership. He gave us his own acid rain program and 

 his commitment to get a bill enacted. The deadlock was broken, 

 compromises were reached, and a truly ambitious acid rain control 

 program is now under way. 



Presidential involvement is the point of this bill. It is also the 

 only hope of this bill. And there is the challenge. Cabinet status for 

 EPA has been pending before the Congress since July of 1988. We 

 all believe it is a good idea. There is political capital in the idea for 

 all of us. But the capital has been frittered away on the many 

 other issues that members have tried to attach to this engine. As 

 so often happens in this branch of Government, a good engine is 

 grinding to a halt by an excess of baggage. 



President Clinton says he is for this bill. But if past experience is 

 any guide, it is going to take much more than endorsement to get 

 this train moving. It is going to take real Presidential involvement. 



Last week the President recommended that the Council on Envi- 

 ronmental Quality be abolished and replaced with a White House 

 Office of Environmental Policy headed by a deputy assistant to the 

 President. I ask you, is that real involvement? I would call it devol- 

 vement by President Clinton. The proposal was described as a net 

 plus for the environment, but it is not. No economist would trade 

 the Council of Economic Advisers for a deputy assistant to the 

 President. No environmentalist should be happy with a comparable 

 trade. 



If EPA is at the Cabinet table as a matter of law, the loss of CEQ 

 as a voice for the environment in the ongoing structure of Govern- 

 ment would be much less troubling. But I have been involved with 

 the Cabinet bill from the beginning, and I know that is a big "if." 



EPA will formally join the Cabinet only if the President exer- 

 cises personal leadership to move this bill. For a President to en- 

 dorse the idea of the Cabinet bill without making the personal 

 effort to move it through the Congress is to miss the whole point. 

 There will be plenty of time to consider the future of CEQ after we 

 have a Department of Environmental Protection. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Chairman Glenn. Thank you very much. 



Senator Chafee. 



TESTIMONY OF HON. JOHN H. CHAFEE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 



Senator Chafee. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Sena- 

 tor Roth, Senator Lieberman. I am delighted you are taking up this 

 measure. 



It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, the problem before us is not 

 whether or not there should be legislation making EPA a Cabinet 

 post. I think we all agree on that. The question is what kind of leg- 

 islation there should be. I think that is the problem before us. 



I urge you to approve legislation that addresses the simple prob- 

 lem of converting EPA to a Cabinet department and to avoid the 

 temptation to address other issues. 



