Frank Lautenberg: “what we are looking at is a way to relieve the taxpayers of having to come up with $8.3 billion, relieving pressure on…”

“what we are looking at is a way to relieve the taxpayers of having to come up with $8.3 billion, relieving pressure on the budget to the extent of the $8.3 billion. We have so many sites in so many places, as I earlier discussed, in States such as Montana, Nebraska, and Maine. Some of these sites are huge. We see the same situation in Utah. I cannot believe that in this body at this time we would not say the communities across the country are being burdened by all kinds of discontinued programs, by all kinds of reductions in grants that went to the communities. A lot of the programs have been absorbed into grants, single grants, and let the communities use whatever they can for whatever they choose to but always at a diminished rate. This is a chance to set the record straight and let the public know this administration does not really care about what happens in these communities; that this administration would rather say to their friends, the polluters, many of which are listed on the contributors list for the campaign: Listen, we excuse you big companies from the dirt and the mess you made in these communities; we forgive you, but we will not pay it any other way except through the taxpayers' pockets. This is a chance to set the record straight. I submit that every Senator who casts a vote against this amendment is saying to the people in his or her State: It is too bad you have those polluted sites. So what.…”