24 



[The questions submitted by Mr. Hamburg and the answers sup- 

 plied by Ms. Norcross can be found at the end of the hearing.] 



Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER. I thank the panel for their cooperation 

 and I especially thank Mr. Mattole. 



The second panel will please come forward, Mr. Lyons, Mr. 

 Houck, Mr. Archie, and Mr. McKenzie, please. Thank you very 

 much, gentlemen. At this point the chair recognizes Ms. Furse for 

 an opening statement. 



STATEMENT OF HON. ELIZABETH FURSE, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM OREGON 



Ms. Furse. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really want to express 

 my sincere appreciation to Chairman Studds for holding this hear- 

 ing on these two very important bills. As you know, there is a crisis 

 facing our Nation's rivers and streams. More than 80 percent of 

 them are severely polluted, channelized, culverted and otherwise 

 degraded. This enormous problem has significant economic, envi- 

 ronmental and social consequences in the form of diminished public 

 health, damaged ecosystems, degraded fisheries and foregone rec- 

 reational opportunities. 



I want to compliment Congressman Hamburg on his introduction 

 of 4481, which I was proud to be an original cosponsor of. I have 

 introduced the Waterways Restoration Act, H.R. 4289, with 21 

 original cosponsors, and I am happy to say to you that as of today, 

 there are 37, including 10 colleagues from both sides of the aisle 

 of this Committee. 



I am also pleased to tell you that an identical companion bill was 

 introduced in the Senate yesterday by Oregon senior Senator Re- 

 publican Mark Hatfield. This underscores the broad bipartisan sup- 

 port that this legislation has. 



The Waterways Restoration Act has a simple goal; it is to help 

 citizens restore degraded streams and creeks in their own commu- 

 nities. My bill accomplishes this goal by creating a new technical 

 assistance and grant program within the Soil Conservation Serv- 

 ice's existing Small Watershed Program that was created by Public 

 Law 566 in 1954. 



The watershed program created by Public Law 566 has histori- 

 cally focused on structural projects in rural areas. My new program 

 will fund nonstructural community-designed projects to restore 

 streams, rivers and wetlands in both rural and urban areas. 



This program will promote such projects as greenway parks, 

 revegetation and removal of channels and culverts and it is indeed 

 a bill about reinventing government. It does not call for new money 

 or creating any new program in this time of budget constraints. It 

 takes an existing program and retailors it to better meet the needs 

 of the community. It brings the Soil Conservation Service into the 

 1990's and it broadens its constituency. 



It is about environmental protection. We had a problem on the 

 Tualatin River and the Columbia Slough in Portland. This bill 

 would support communities cleaning up polluted waterways. It is 

 about job training and creating new jobs. Environmental restora- 

 tion is a growth industry and the skills that young people learn 

 will prepare them for future environmental jobs. And it is about 

 environmental justice, Mr. Chairman. 



