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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President


For Immediate Release March 4, 1998

STATEMENT OF VICE PRESIDENT GORE

ON PENDING SUPERFUND LEGISLATION

Despite the best efforts of Chairman Boehlert, Ranking Member Borski and Administrator Browner late into last night, negotiations to develop reasonable Superfund reform legislation have been unsuccessful. As a result, a subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is poised to mark up a bill that the Administration strongly opposes.

I regret that our efforts to develop common-sense reforms continue to be stymied by extreme proposals advanced by a small army of specialinterest lobbyists. We must develop strong Superfund legislation that will protect the health of our people, speed the cleanup of toxic waste sites, and reduce excessive litigation. Unfortunately, the bill before the subcommittee would weaken vital protections of public health, the environment, and natural resources for the American people.

I have asked Administrator Browner and Secretary Babbitt to continue to search for common ground on Superfund and natural resource restoration, and I applaud Chairman Boehlert for his constructive work with us. I also ask Congress to support this effort by disavowing proposals that would weaken cleanup standards, hamstring the restoration of natural resources, and compromise the principle that polluters must pay for the harm they cause.