Jeremiah Smith: “I point out, Mr. President, that with the addition of Senator Wellstone, that makes 70 cosponsors to this legislation.…”

“I point out, Mr. President, that with the addition of Senator Wellstone, that makes 70 cosponsors to this legislation. That runs the entire political spectrum, from Helms to Wellstone. I think it is a great tribute to the type of legislation it is that we could forge this kind of bipartisanship. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks, there are a number of stakeholders who have written to express their support for S. 350. I did enter those letters in the Record and obviously will not read them all, but I would like to highlight just three or four. One of those letters was from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The quote from that letter is: The mayors believe that this legislation can dramatically improve the nation's efforts to recycle abandoned or other underutilized brownfields sites, providing new incentives and statutory reforms to speed the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of these properties. I think that is a very dramatic statement. As the Presiding Officer knows, the mayors are a bipartisan group from both political parties all across the country and are across the political spectrum as well. Another letter we received was from the Trust for Public Land. One paragraph of that letter states: Brownfields afford some of the most promising revitalization opportunities from our cities to more rural locales. This legislation will serve to help meet the pronounced needs in under-served communities to reclaim abandoned sites and create open spaces.”