the confidence of the producers; got them to enter into voluntary restraints on how they dealt with this problem; and set it in place. That's my idea, Mr. Chairman, of what a maturing of the EPA should be. It shouldn't be, "We're the Government, we're the authority, this is the deal, this is what you do," because it won't get done. It won't get done.

It is a unique talent-I shouldn't say "unique"-it is a talent that is not always found among very bright, committed people who want to protect the environment. He has the ability to cross over and get people who are reluctant to take on the responsibility that they are required to take on under the law, and understand their own interest in it happening.

I don't want to make it more than it is, but it was near miraculous in my State, politically, the way in which he got it done. And it's a big deal, in my view. His efforts on this last round led to a workable, common-sense solution based on individual States' needs and resources, not "one size fits all" solutions that we see so often in Government or major bureaucracies and corporations.

In addition to his achievements on the environmental front, Mike is a very strong supporter of the community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Delaware Arts Council and Delaware's Futures, an organization that provides at-risk youth with scholarships for colleges in our area.

Mike is the father of two young girls, Morgan and Alex, and is joined here today by his wife Maria, and I feel privileged to call them both my friends and I am very proud Mike, and the State of Delaware is proud of Mike.

As Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, I know Mike will continue to serve to the best of his ability and provide our Nation with the considerable leadership and expertise and talent that he has.

I will close, if I may-and I apologize for trespassing on the time of the committee I told you a story yesterday, Mr. Chairman, on the Floor of the Senate. Mike was Communications Director at a time was a pretty low ebb in my career at home, when I had been accused of my wife says I should never use the word again—accused of plagiarizing in a Presidential campaign. It bothered me more than anything that ever happened to me in my life, so I did something strange, and against the recommendation of everyone. I sued myself in the Delaware Supreme Court, our court of highest jurisdiction, because there was a question on the bar application, number 42, that you swear to under the penalty of perjury. And it said, "Is there anything else in your background that would negatively reflect on your background?" And I wrote, "No." Now, obviously, if I had been accused of plagiarizing in law school, if I had plagiarized, I had committed perjury and not only should be disbarred, but a criminal penalty should pertain. And I initiated a suit with bar counsel, as we are able to do in most State bars, to have this proceeding, a formal complaint against myself.

After 8 or 9 months, when they went back and interviewed every single, solitary professor that I ever had-only one had passed away-they, on four levels, concluded unanimously, including the Court itself, that I never did plagiarize in law school, and no one ever said I did in law school.

Now, I was sitting down here one day when this happened, and as I said, it was the most important thing in my life at the time. And a headline in the morning paper, our statewide paper, said, "Supreme Court Clears Biden of Plagiarism." I was so excited, it was like someone gave me a billion dollars. So I called up to Wilmington and I got one of Mike's assistants, a young woman, and I said, "Send that reporter," whom I never had dealt with, really, in this thing, a woman named Robin Burns, "send her two dozen long-stemmed roses." So this kid, taking me literally, goes and gets two dozen long-stemmed roses, at 2:30 in the afternoon, walks into the newsroom, and hands them to her, from me, in front of everyone, obviously ruining her credibility and mine.

So I called Mike, and I said, "Mike, how could this happen?” I was crazy. I said, “I assumed”—and this is what talent he has, he said, "Joe, we have an expression in my family”—I'll not tell you literally what it was-he said, "In my family we have an expression: Assumption is the mother of all screwups."

The point I want to make is this. This thing that he has that we need in Government, Mr. Chairman, is that he has the ability and understanding that we should not assume anything about our constituencies, and we should explain to them. This is not a matter of the guy in my church, after church he directs traffic and all of a sudden-he preaches all the Christian virtues when he's in church, and out there becomes a little dictator, directing traffic. This is a guy who understands his role. His role is that he works for the various people he is regulating. He doesn't back off on what should be done, but he makes the first effort to try very hard for them to understand why they have to act; and if they don't, he is prepared to act.

I think that, in my observation, Mr. Chairman, including an Agency that I love and I'm a strong supporter of the EPA-that is not always the case.

So I hope that if you confirm him, and I hope that you will, you will be proud of the fact, based on his record, that he will serve us well, serve the law well, but make us proud of the way in which he goes about doing it.

I thank you all for your indulgence, and I hope my support of him will not in any way diminish his prospects.

Thank you very much.

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Senator Biden.

Does any member have a question of Senator Biden before he leaves?

[No response.]

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Senator Biden.

Mr. McCabe, why don't we start with you, if you wish to make any opening comments? Your written statement will be made part of the record, as will yours, Mr. Eberhard, but I would like, if either one of you has an opening statement, why don't we do them both right now?

We will start with you, Mr. McCabe.

STATEMENT OF W. MICHAEL MCCABE, NOMINATED BY THE PRESIDENT TO SERVE AS DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Mr. MCCABE. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Senator Biden, for that extraordinary introduction. I feel that any statement that I may make will pale in comparison to what the Senator said.

I just would like to make a personal comment on that. In Washington, the Senator is known for his expertise on foreign policy and authorizing the crime bill and the Violence Against Women Act. He is known for those things, too, in Delaware, but he is also known for protecting Cape Henlopen State Seashore, and protecting the White Clay Preserve. I think that when we look at his legacy as a member of this important body, people will look to those issues, as well as some of the outstanding contributions that he has made to the State of Delaware. I am honored that he would introduce me today.

Mr. Chairman, committee members, it is an honor to have been nominated by the President to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and to appear before this committee today. I greatly appreciate the confidence shown in me by the President and Administrator Browner. And, Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for scheduling this hearing so soon after my nomination.

Mr. Chairman, I would also like to introduce my wife, Maria, who is here with me today. I think that, as many of you know, the public often underestimates the sacrifices that spouses make on our behalf to fill these important positions. I know that I couldn't be doing this without the support of my wife, particularly given that I'm going to be living down in Washington and she's still going to be up on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border. So I am pleased that she can be with me today.

Protecting the Nation's public health and natural resources is one of the most important legacies that we can leave for our children. As a father of two daughters, ages three and seven, who both have a better chance of living to be 100 than at any time in human history, I am acutely aware of the responsibility we have to leave them an environment better than the one we inherited. Protecting the air they breathe, ensuring that their drinking water is safe and clean and that they can swim and fish in our lakes and streams, managing the pesticide residues on the foods they eat, and storing and disposing of solid wastes in ways that prevent harm to their health is critical not only to my daughters' futures, but to all of us. Protecting all of us is the Agency's mission.

In the year ahead I hope to put my skills and experience to work pursuing the Agency's mission. Helping to lead this Agency is a daunting responsibility, but I think it provides me with a real good opportunity to use my regional experience to help shape policy and to help forge coalitions and collaborate with groups outside of the Agency.

I will work hard to keep that regional perspective. As I mentioned, I am still living on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border, and I will be returning home on weekends. I am sure that you under

stand better than most the importance of staying grounded in our own State and of maintaining that common-sense perspective.

I am sure that I'll be getting into details about the accomplishments that I hope to have over the coming year. I think that my background and experience in the environmental area and in management suit me well for this position. I would like particularly to note, as Senator Biden mentioned, something that I am very proud of, and that is the work that I did very early in my career. My first management experience 24 years ago was to be Staff Director of the Environmental and Energy Study Conference, and it happened at a time in the 1970's when many of the Nation's laws were being developed. It was a time of extraordinary bipartisan cooperation and collaboration in building the foundation of the environmental laws which have served us so well over the last 30 years.

The Environmental and Energy Study Conference was unique in Congress. It was an ad hoc Congressional caucus. It had rotating Chairs between Republicans and Democrats, and the Senate expansion included Senator Gary Hart, who was my former boss, and Senator Chafee. As it turned out, after the third year of the Senate expansion, Senator Chafee took over as the Senate Chair, and I was able to serve under him as Staff Director. It is an experience that I valued, and I mourn the loss of such a great advocate of environmental protection and the bipartisan cooperation and spirit which built our environmental laws.

I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, and the rest of the committee in that spirit, and I hope that together we can help better protect public health and the environment.

Thank you very much.

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Mr. McCabe.

Mr. Eberhard, why don't you make your comments, and then we'll go to questions?

STATEMENT OF ERIC D. EBERHARD, NOMINATED BY THE PRESIDENT TO SERVE AS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR THE MORRIS K. UDALL SCHOLARSHIP AND EXCELLENCE IN NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY FOUNDATION

Mr. EBERHARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It is a privilege and an honor to be here today and have potentially an opportunity to assist the Udall Foundation, should the committee and the Senate confirm my nomination to the Board of Trustees.

In the very short life of the Udall Foundation, it has already built a record of solid accomplishment in its primary missions of providing scholarships and internships to Indians and Native American students, and in conducting research and in assisting in the development and implementation of Federal environmental policy. I think one measure of its success is the recent mandate from the Congress to expand its functions to include the establishment of a U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, a true vote of confidence in the work that the Board of Trustees is carrying out.

With the leadership of the Board of Trustees and its able Chairman, who is here with us this morning, Mr. Bracy, the Foundation

is financially and programmatically sound and poised for even greater success in the years ahead, and I hope to be able to contribute in some way to that success as the Foundation moves into the new millennium.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank

you.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much.

There are a couple of perfunctory questions that we are required to ask, under committee rules, of each witness, so let me just ask you both these questions. Just answer yes or no.

Are you willing, at the request of any duly constituted committee of the Congress, to appear in front of it as a witness?

Mr. MCCABE. Yes.

Mr. EBERHARD. Yes.

Senator SMITH. And second, do you know of any matters which you may or may not have thus far disclosed which might place you in conflict of interest if you are to be confirmed in this position? Mr. MCCABE. No.

Mr. EBERHARD. No.

Senator SMITH. All right, thank you.

Mr. McCabe, in our conversation yesterday I had indicated that I intended to move forward on an effort which is called, basically, the EPA authorization, which would give us a chance to look at more of a wide range of issues and priorities at one time, rather than the "rifle bore" of each piece of legislation, to take a big picture look. My idea is to look across programs, to help you set priorities, to help the Congress do more oversight-the Senate, in this case, do more oversight, and essentially to make sure that taxpayers are getting the most cleanup and risk reduction out of their dollars. We do it in the Armed Services Committee and we do it in the other committees.

I would like just a brief reaction from you on that approach. Mr. MCCABE. Mr. Chairman, as you know, this year EPA celebrates its 30th anniversary in December, and a lot has happened since EPA was first established 30 years ago. A number of the laws that we operate under, obviously, were passed in that first decade. We think that taking a look at where we are now, how we function under all the different laws, and how we really have grown into much more of a multimedia Agency is something that would be very beneficial, and I think that looking at the Agency from that overall authorization perspective would be something that we would be willing to work with you on.

Senator SMITH. I appreciate that response, and we look forward to working with you in this effort. I just want to make sure that the word is out among the EPA Assistant Administrators and the rest of the organization that that is the goal here, to try to have this committee look at cross-program decisions rather than intonot one tunnel, but to look at cross-program decisions to help all of us in the oversight and you in the implementation of the programs to try to see where we can do a better job, perhaps save some in one area and put it in another area, or whatever.

One issue that just comes to mind off the top of my head is that EPA over the past several years has continually decreased the number of Superfund sites in America; more and more are coming