27 



like Senator Jackson and Senator Bible on this side, and others on 

 the other side, who agreed that this was the best that they could do 

 at the time and told me that. On that basis, although my colleague 

 had stopped the bill the year before, it was my task as a member of 

 this committee to make the judgment under our practice in Alaska, 

 and I said no, we are going to let it go. We are going to see this bill 

 through and make it work. 



Now, the people who brought about the basic compromise want 

 to renege. I tell you, it goes beyond the concept of canceling a con- 

 tract. This was a commitment to a whole people of a state that re- 

 solved the worst issue — Mr. Chairman, we had been 7 years in this 

 committee. 



Every year, for seven years, we faced this issue, and every year 

 the Alaskan senators found a way to stop it until we got to 1980. 

 At that time, I said, we have come a long trail. We have got to re- 

 solve this, and we have got to accept this even though we are going 

 to vote against it and we did that. Now, perhaps we would have 

 been better off. 



I remind you that if we had stopped that bill that year, the con- 

 trol of the Senate changed in 1981. We could have easily written a 

 very different bill in 1981. Many of my friends wanted me to go 

 back and do just that, and I refused to do that at the time when 

 the control of the Senate changed, and I hope that you gentlemen 

 will allow the continuum to continue until we have the proof as to 

 whether or not this is in the best interest of the country. 



Senator Bumpers. I withdraw my question. Senator McClure, do 

 you have any questions? 



Senator McClure. Obviously, Senator Stevens will have a great 

 deal of opportunity to talk to you and your colleague as we proceed 

 in the legislative trail with respect to this legislation, and I will not 

 burden the record this morning with all the conversations we will 

 have. 



Yet I do not want to subject either you or myself, or this commit- 

 tee, to the idea that somehow we are conducting business out of the 

 public view. There has to be at least enough of it expressed here in 

 the public forum so the public will understand what the issues are, 

 as you and I have discussed and will discuss. 



Senator Bumpers touched something that is very troublesome to 

 me. That is, whether or not the federal government is ever a reli- 

 able partner in any agreement. We are going through a period of 

 time now when we are looking at the clean-up of various nuclear 

 weapons facilities, and one of the greatest problems we have in 

 that issue is getting people to trust the government. 



I know Senator Wirth's state and my state both have weapons 

 facilities, and that is one of the very great problems we have, is 

 getting anybody to trust the commitments that the government is 

 making, and we must have a government that you can trust, in my 

 judgment. 



Senator Bumpers mentioned the difficulty we have of changing 

 something after it is done, and I am very much concerned about 

 the fact that none of these commitments made in these areas are 

 worth the paper they are written on. 



I do not expect that senators who were not a member of this 

 committee at the time we did this legislation will feel as personally 



