46 



TESTIMONY OF DR. JAY D. HAIR/ PRESIDENT, NATIONAL 

 WILDLIFE FEDERATION 



Dr. Hair. Thank you, sir. 



I am grateful to have the opportunity to testify before you today 

 to urge that S. 171 be passed in this Congress to place EPA in the 

 Cabinet. Elevation of EPA to Cabinet is long overdue. The National 

 Wildlife Federation recognized this fact in 1986, when we first 

 launched this important initiative. 



Mr. Chairman, you and your staff are to be applauded for once 

 again taking the lead in this vital issue. Let us hope that by this 

 Earth Day, April 22, your efforts will finally come to fruition, and 

 we pledge our efforts to work with you to make that happen, sir. 



With your permission, I will briefly summarize three points, if I 

 could have my entire text included in the official statement. 



Chairman Glenn. It will be included in the record. 



Dr. Hair. First, the protection of the Nation's environment is 

 critical to the quality of life of every U.S. citizen and to the coun- 

 try's economic vitality. Therefore, environmental concerns must be 

 central to deliberation of the Nation's highest policymaking forum, 

 the President's Cabinet. 



Second, protecting the environment and conserving natural re- 

 sources is a global issue requiring strong, aggressive United States 

 leadership. Unprecedented cooperation among nations will be 

 needed to tackle trans-boundary environmental problems. In its 

 current status, EPA is unable to directly negotiate on issues like 

 global warming and ozone depletion because international protocol 

 reserves that authority to Cabinet-level officials. 



There is no better illustration of this point than the position of 

 U.S. officials at last year's Earth Summit in Rio. Negotiations on 

 global environmental issues on behalf of the United States were led 

 by the State Department, while EPA officials were relegated to 

 supporting roles. It is astonishing that the United States is one of 

 the few nations that does not have a Cabinet-level minister or de- 

 partment for the environment. 



Finally, I want to touch on a thread that leads to my other two 

 points that we need, both in this country and abroad, to make envi- 

 ronmental protection the centerpiece of economic growth. As Presi- 

 dent Clinton told the Joint Session of Congress last night and the 

 Nation, one of the major challenges of this decade will be to incor- 

 porate environmental stewardship into our way of doing business. 

 In contrast to the theme of the Reagan-Bush years, that the Nation 

 must choose either economic or environmental protection, it is be- 

 coming increasingly clear that environmental protection is critical 

 to economic competitiveness. Economies resting on a dwindling ma- 

 turing resource base are doomed to failure. 



Finally, in addition to elevating EPA, S. 171 establishes a bureau 

 of environmental statistics within the new department, a presiden- 

 tial commission improving environmental protection, and also 

 urges the convening of an international meeting on energy efficien- 

 cies and renewable resources. These provisions will improve the 



* The prepared statement of Dr. Hair appears on page 252. 



