MCCAIN EXPLAINS HIS PROPOSAL

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

MCCAIN EXPLAINS PROPOSAL TO CUT ENVIRO BUDGET

 Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) sent a letter to 
Defense Secretary Perry on January 23, 1995, to explain 
his earlier call to slash $930 million from the 
environmental budgets in the Defense and Energy 
Departments. McCain appeared to soften his position, 
supporting the Defense Department's cleanup program in 
principle. However, he argued that research and training 
expenses, as well as other costs that he distinguishes from 
cleanup, should be more broadly distributed.

 In his letter, he provided no more detail on the $930 
million, however.

 In the current anti-cleanup climate in Washington, 
McCain's letter is welcome. Still, he fails to acknowledge 
the value of research and development in cutting both the 
cost and duration of cleanup, as well as the fact that a 
great deal of the military's environmental technology work 
focuses on unique military problems such as munitions 
clearance and solid rocket demilitarization.

 The full text of McCain's letter follows as a response 
to this item.

Lenny Siegel