Concern Raised About Interior Nominee's
1996 Speech
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two environmental groups
on Wednesday raised concerns about a 1996 speech by
President-elect George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s
designated interior secretary, Gale Norton, in which she
likened the struggle to preserve states' rights to the cause
of the Confederacy and said ``We lost too much'' when
the South was defeated in the Civil War.
In the speech to the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank in
Denver, Norton, who was then Colorado's attorney general, described
slavery as ``bad facts'' that undermined the South's struggle for state
sovereignty.
She also described her intention -- later dropped -- to sue the federal
government for forcing Colorado to add a wheelchair ramp to the statehouse
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, calling it ``a really
ugly addition to the state capitol.''
The Environmental Working Group and the Community Rights Counsel, in a
letter dated Jan. 10, asked Norton to clarify her positions, which they
described as ``alarming.''
They noted that the phrase ``states' rights'' had often been used by ``extremist
and racial groups with which we are certain you have not associated and do
not want to be associated.''
``We remind you that 'states' rights,' an otherwise neutral term, has been used
as code over the years for a number of dubious causes: the 'massive
resistance' to school integration, violence against environmental activists and
government environmental employees in the West, and the loosening of
strong enforcement of federal environmental protections,'' the leaders of the
two groups wrote in the letter.
``Who is 'we' in the phrase 'we lost too much,' and what specifically was 'lost'
when the Confederacy lost and slavery ended in 1865?'' they asked.
Norton Not Sympathetic To Confederacy-Spokeswoman
Jeanie Mamo, a spokeswoman for Norton and the Bush transition team, said
Norton was making ``a strong case for local and state rights'' in the speech,
and did not intend to express any sympathy for the Confederacy.
She said the speech also focused on the 10th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which grants to the states ``powers not delegated to the United
States.''
Regarding the comment on slavery being ``bad facts,'' Mamo said, ``What
she's saying is that it's wrong, that clearly slavery is wrong. That's a legal
term.''
``She absolutely believes slavery is wrong,'' Mamo added.
Like other Bush nominees, Norton is not expected to personally address the
controversy until her Senate confirmation hearing, which is scheduled for Jan.
18.
Bush's nominee for labor secretary, Linda Chavez (news - external web site),
withdrew her bid on Tuesday after reports surfaced that she had sheltered
and possibly employed an illegal alien in the 1990s.
Mike Casey, spokesman for the Environmental Working Group, said it was
crucial that Norton set the record straight about her personal views and the
remarks in the 1996 speech.
``These are remarks she should promptly clarify. If she leaves them stated as
such, she is using the same code as a lot of racist, extremist organizations,'' he
said.
He described Norton's speech as a ``jaw-dropper'' and said it was
particularly troubling, given the fact that she would be heading an agency that
employs more than 72,000 people, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
and is pursuing its own diversity goals.
If confirmed as interior secretary, Norton would also be responsible for
making federal park lands and facilities accessible to people with disabilities,
Casey noted.
Moreover, he noted, the federal mandating equal treatment for people with
disabilities was signed into law by former President George Bush, the father
of the president-elect.
If confirmed, Norton would also have substantial power to decide how far
the department should go in requiring states to comply with federal
environmental laws and rules governing mining, drilling and grazing leases.
States Should Stand Against Federal Government
The speech Norton gave focused primarily on her efforts as Colorado
attorney general to fight for states' rights, and she described that fight as being
long from won.
``This is a battle where we are still very much in the trenches in trying to make
a difference,'' she said.
In the speech, she recalled visiting a Civil War graveyard in Virginia after a
``massive battle'' with the Environmental Protection Agency over federal
regulations, and said she was taken aback by a memorial to ``all the Virginia soldiers who died in defense of the
sovereignty of their state.''
``Sure, I had been filing briefs and I thought that was pretty brave,'' she said.
Noting that ``we certainly had bad facts in that case where we were defending state sovereignty by defending
slavery,'' Norton continued, ``But we lost too much. We lost the idea that the states were to stand against the
federal government gaining too much power over our lives. That is the point I thin we need to reappreciate.''
Asked about Norton's remark about the wheelchair ramp, Mamo said it arose out of frustration that the federal
government had not allowed the state of Colorado to determine the architecture of the ramp, and how it would
blend in with the design of the Colorado statehouse.
``She believed there should be a wheelchair ramp, but the state should decide the architecture of the wheelchair
ramp,'' Mamo said. dailynews.yahoo.com |
