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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President


For Immediate Release September 29, 1998
                   STATEMENT OF VICE PRESIDENT GORE
                ON REPUBLICAN ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL RIDERS

With the new fiscal year just two days away, Congress has completed action on just two of the 13 appropriations bills. Maybe the Republican majority has failed to meet its most basic governing responsibility because it has been so busy lacing these bills with anti-environmental riders.

The last Republican Congress tried a full frontal assault on the environment. President Clinton stood firm and sent them running.

Now they're back. This time, they're trying a sneak attack, burying their special-interest riders deep in budget bills where they hope no one will find them. They know their proposals to carve roads through wilderness, force overcutting on our national forests, sell taxpayers short, and keep us from addressing global warming can not stand the light of day. So, they are resorting to stealth tactics that endanger our environment -- and our democratic process.

It's time for Congress to get back to business -- and to conduct it in the open where everyone can see. Congress must end its backdoor assaults and send the President clean bills, free of anti-environmental riders.

We are once again putting Congress on notice: We will not tolerate stealth tactics that do unacceptable harm to our environment or threaten public health.

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