October 27, 2003
Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
on Governor Leavitt Nomination
"Over the last several weeks my office and I have been in negotiations with the White house over the serious matters concerning the clean up around Ground Zero and the continuing threat of contamination in residences and workplaces in Lower Manhattan. Today we have reached an agreement and I have received a commitment to action from the White House to address these indoor air quality concerns.
This is not everything that I would have wished for and it is not exactly what the Inspector General has recommended, but I will continue to work with the White House and the EPA to make sure that we go wherever the evidence leads us and that we have independent outside validation of whatever it is the EPA does from now on. But we have reached agreement with the White House for additional testing to verify that residences that have been cleaned have not been recontaminated. And in addition, the White House has committed to forming an expert panel consisting of both government experts and outside experts to reevaluate a range of issues raised by the Inspector General's Report.
I believe this is an important step forward in addressing the concerns raised by New Yorkers about the safety of the air we breathe. It is not enough - I want to make that absolutely clear - it is not enough. But it is a step forward. And I believe that it will provide a venue in which all of our concerns can be addressed. And in the spirit that lead us to that agreement reached by my office with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, I will be voting for Governor Leavitt when his nomination comes before the Senate, because I intend to work closely with him as we implement this agreement.
I know that there are many who will say "but it's not everything we should have gotten" and I agree with that absolutely - if I could have written it myself I would have adopted all of the Inspector General's recommendations - but on the other hand we now have a process and a venue in which to discuss these maters and to try to make progress together".
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