John Kerry: “I want to thank Senator Stevens for working with us to address grave concerns we had with Section 342 of the bill. Mr.…”

“I want to thank Senator Stevens for working with us to address grave concerns we had with Section 342 of the bill. Mr. President, I would like to make a few comments about Section 342 and discuss why I had such great concerns over the impact it would have had on environmental compliance. Section 342, as it was passed out of the Armed Services Committee, would have weakened a fundamental environmental principle that protects the environment and public health in communities across the nation. It is the principle that national environmental laws should apply to the federal government in the same manner as they apply to state and local governments and to private facilities, including companies, universities, hospitals, and nonprofit entities. Section 342 would have created a double standard by subjecting corporations, state and local facilities to one legal standard and Department of Defense facilities to a second, weaker standard. More importantly, it had the great potential to undermine compliance with national environmental and public health protections at military facilities across the nation--putting the environment and citizens at risk.”