Robert Torricelli: “I rise to support Christine Todd Whitman as President Bush's nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection…”

“I rise to support Christine Todd Whitman as President Bush's nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. During her years as Governor we have waged many fights together from open space preservation to ending ocean dumping. President Bush has made a wise selection. The EPA and the country will be getting an Administrator who is qualified, battle-tested and ready to tackle the challenges that lie ahead for this Agency. With this nominee, there will be no learning curve. There are few training grounds that could better prepare someone for this position than the Governor of New Jersey. As Chief Executive of the State, Governor Whitman has the managerial and administrative experience of running an agency as large as the EPA. But more importantly, no state has a better sampling of the issues facing the incoming Administrator of the EPA than New Jersey. With 127 miles of shoreline, Governor Whitman has dealt extensively with issues of clean water and non-point source pollution. She knows first-hand the threats to the economy and the environment from ocean dumping. Governor Whitman has increased funding for beach cleanups, and under her watch, beach closings have dropped from 800 in 1989 to just 11 in 1999. With more Superfund sites than any other state in the Union (111), she knows what works and what doesn't in the Superfund program.”