Cantwell faces challenging start

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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JANUARY 12, 2001

Freshman Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) received her committee assignments on Thursday and fulfilled one of her wishes by gaining a seat on the Energy and Resources Committee.

The assignment may soon prove to be the first test of her commitment to the environment, to the Northwest, and to tribes not only in her state, but all over Indian Country. Next week, the committee will conduct the confirmation hearing of one of President-elect George W. Bush's most controversial nominees: Gale Norton for Secretary of Interior.

As head of the Interior, Norton would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife, and the National Park Service. The agencies have significant impacts on issues affecting the Northwest and tribes.

Endorsed by environmental groups and tribal leaders, Cantwell now faces a tough challenge with the Norton hearing. Norton's primary foes are conservationists who say she will open up federal lands to oil, gas, mining, and other development.

They also say her defense of property rights, her work to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and her support "self-auditing" environmental laws which limit fines for offending companies spells trouble for the environment.

Meanwhile, Cantwell campaigned on a pro-environment platform, advocating against development and for preservation. Criticizing her opponent Slade Gorton as having one of "worst" voting records on the environment, she also said she would work to "make polluters pay" for contaminating the environment, preserve roadless areas in national forests, protect wetlands and wilderness, change "wasteful and polluting mining practices" on federal land, and support "lasting" protection for national parks.

Cantwell's support of these environmental policies puts her at odds with many Republican critics of the Clinton administration who say the government has taken too much power away from local decision-makers. In 1998, Norton herself testified that federal environmental laws and regulations should be changed to transfer more power to state governments.

Norton also questioned several decisions made by the Clinton administration affecting public lands, arguing last month that "there was no consultation" at the local level. She promised to discuss these issues at her confirmation hearing, providing Cantwell and other Democrats with potential material next week.

But Cantwell won't just participating in the hearings of the controversial Norton. On Thursday, she was also named to the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will conduct hearings on another contested Cabinet designee: John Ashcroft for Attorney General.

Ashcroft's hearing is scheduled for January 16 and is expected to last several days. Norton's hearing is set for January 18 and may spill over to the next day.

Relevant Links:
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee - www.senate.gov/~energy
The Senate Judiciary Committee - www.senate.gov/~judiciary
Senator Maria Cantwell - www.senate.gov/senators/cantwell.html