May 24, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE S7385 

Mr. President, this is a responsible 

bill. It cuts funding and contributes to 

deficit reduction. It provides emergency funding which is urgently needed 

to assist victims of disasters. It makes 

long overdue reforms and corrections 

in programs which need fixing. And 

this bill needs to be enacted without 

further delay. I urge the White House 

to set politics aside, and begin working 

with us to make this conference agreement law. 

INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I would 

ask the Senator from Missouri three 

questions about the provisions in this 

bill on the auto emissions inspection 

and maintenance program required by 

the Clean Air Act. The bill would prevent EPA from apply an automatic 50 

percent discount in emissions credits 

for State programs that included testand-repair, as opposed to test-only, stations. It is my understanding that the 

bill requires EPA to examine each program a State has submitted and assign 

the appropriate emissions credits. 

Based on various features of a State’s 

program, EPA might assign emissions 

credits equal to 100 percent of a testonly program. Or EPA might find the 

appropriate credit is only 75 percent or 

25 percent, depending on how a State 

program is structured. Is that a correct 

reading of the bill? 

Mr. BOND. The Senator is correct. 

EPA is to examine the entirety of each 

State inspection and maintenance program and is to assign the appropriate 

emissions credits based on the actual 

program the State submits. No automatic discounting factors should apply 

and the determination of the appropriate emissions credits should be 

based on good science and engineering 

analysis. 

Mr. CHAFEE. The report language 

accompanying this bill indicates that 

EPA may give a State up to 2 years to 

make a demonstration that justifies 

the credits it is seeking. Is EPA required to grant a 2-year demonstration 

period to every State that requests it? 

Mr. BOND. No. The 2-year period to 

demonstrate the effectiveness of a 

State program may be granted by EPA, 

if the Agency believes it to be reasonable. This allows the Agency to implement the inspection and maintenance 

requirements in a more flexible way. 

But unreasonable proposals that surely 

would not merit the emissions credits 

claimed need not be granted a 2-year 

demonstration period. It is not an 

automatic extension for any and all inspection and maintenance programs 

that may be submitted by the States. 

Mr. CHAFEE. Finally, I would ask 

whether this provision affects any 

other aspect of the plan submissions 

and attainment demonstrations that 

States are to make under the Clean Air 

Act? 

Mr. BOND. No. The sole purpose of 

this language is to prevent EPA from 

requiring States to adopt enhanced inspection and maintenance programs 

based on the I/M240, test-only model 

and to prevent EPA from automatically discounting programs that use 

test-and-repair stations by a factor of 

50 percent. The language has no other 

effect on State obligations under the 

Clean Air Act. 

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask 

first of all to yield back the balance of 

time under the order of the Senator 

from West Virginia. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. COCHRAN. Does that conclude 

the authority under the conference report, under the order previously entered? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. There 

are still 6 minutes for the Senator from 

Minnesota, Mr. WELLSTONE. 

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I 

yield the time back on behalf of the 

Senator from Minnesota. 

f 

MORNING BUSINESS 

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that there now be a 

period for the transaction of routine 

morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes 

each. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO LES ASPIN 

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I 

knew Les Aspin for 25 years. In 1970, I 

was a junior in high school in Janesville, WI, when I signed up as a volunteer on Les’ first campaign for the 

First Congressional District seat in 

Wisconsin. He won that election after a 

tough recount in the primary, defeated 

the incumbent Congressman. 

I then interned in his Janesville, WI, 

Post Office basement office in 1971 and 

in 1972 during the summers. During the 

next quarter century, we had a continuing friendship, as he carved out a 

distinguished career in the United 

States House of Representatives, eventually rising to become the chairman 

of the Armed Services Committee 

while I prepared for and began my own 

career. 

By temperament and training, Les 

Aspin was a man who listened to ideas 

and demanded facts. His mind was 

trained at some of the best educational 

institutions in the world: Yale, Oxford, 

and MIT. 

Sometimes the conclusions he 

reached after thoroughly probing a 

problem were not welcomed by all who 

heard them, but they were always the 

product of a rigorous and honest intellectual process. Les Aspin enjoyed the 

successes and endured the setbacks 

common to all Members who choose a 

career in public service. 

His service was marked by unflagging 

dedication. I believe he always did 

what he thought was right and he always did his best. 

One thing was readily apparent. He 

came from our strong Wisconsin reformist tradition. He was long an opponent of waste and fraud and abuse in 

Government, including but certainly 

not limited, to the military. 

He fought against junk telephone 

calls as well as junkets. He unearthed 

cost overruns in big-ticket weapons 

projects, punched holes in corporate 

propaganda campaigns, and dragged 

some highly questionable foreign business practices out into the spotlight. 

He also criticized the insular environment that enveloped the Defense 

Department and the defense industry 

that fostered the waste of taxpayers’

money. 

Along the way, Les Aspin became 

recognized as one of the Congress’ leading experts on military policy. I would 

say one of the leading experts of any 

time in the history of our Congress. 

Les Aspin served his country diligently in many capacities. As an Army 

captain, he worked as an analyst in the 

Pentagon; he served on the staff of 

President John Kennedy’s Council of 

Economic Advisors; he represented 

Wisconsinites for 22 years in Congress; 

he enthusiastically took on the giant 

task of steering the Defense Department into the uncharted waters of the 

post-cold war era. 

When Les Aspin suffered his fatal 

stroke, he was chairing the President’s 

Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 

working with his friend and colleague, 

CIA director John Deutch, on needed 

reforms in our intelligence communities. 

Mr. President, Les Aspin was a man I 

deeply respected and admired. As I 

look back at the fact that my own 

entry into politics began in his first 

campaign for office in 1970, I feel a profound sense of loss at his passing. He 

was a good friend and a dedicated public servant. Far too soon we have lost 

an exceptional human being. 

I thank the Chair. I yield the floor. 

f 

WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? 

THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES 

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, before 

turning to today’s bad news and it is 

terrible about the Federal debt, let us 

go through our pop quiz routine once 

more. You remember—one question, 

one answer: 

Question: How many million dollars 

in $1 trillion? While you are arriving at 

an answer, let us acknowledge that it 

was the U.S. Congress that ran up the 

Federal debt that now exceeds $4.8 trillion. 

To be exact, as of the close of business yesterday, Tuesday, May 23, the 

Federal debt—down to the penny—

stood at $4,885,334,984,188.51, meaning 

that every man, woman, and child in 

America now owes $18,544.81 computed 

on a per capita basis. 

Mr. President, how many million in a 

trillion? There are a million million in 

a trillion, and the Federal debt now exceeds four million million, 885 billion 

dollars. Get the picture? 

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