Bill OK’d to put ‘Clinton’ on EPA site

— A bill that would rename the Environmental Protection Agency’s Washington headquarters after former President Bill Clinton has passed in both chambers of Congress and awaits President Barack Obama’s signature.

Clinton is one of four former statesmen whose names will be emblazoned on federal buildings, barring a presidential veto. A federal courthouse in Midland, Texas, will be named after former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. A government edifice in southwest Washington, currently known as Federal Office Building 8, will be named after former House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill.

The language naming the buildings after the four politicians was added to a piece of environmental legislation that sailed through Congress this week.

The bill, which updates the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, passed unanimously in the Senate on Monday. The House approved it late Tuesday without any objection.

Calls and e-mails to the Clinton Foundation in New York were not returned Thursday.

A White House spokesman did not return calls.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, said naming the building after Clinton was appropriate because the former president actively pushed for new environmental regulations. Boozman, who has been critical of the agency, isn’t crazy about its headquarters.

“I don’t get warm and fuzzy when I walk by the EPA regardless of who it is named for,” Boozman said. “But the state of Arkansas is proud of the contributions Bill Clinton made to his state and to the nation.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat from Arkansas, said Clinton fought for the environment, while keeping business concerns in mind.

“He had a pragmatic streak when it came to environmental issues,” Pryor said.

David Goldston, director of governmental affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Counsel, a Washington environmental group, called Clinton a champion for the environment and said the name change is “a deserved tribute.”

Goldston said Clinton helped fight back attempts by a Republican Congress to roll back signature environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, and used his executive powers to protect millions of acres of land from development. He said Clinton had an early recognition that climate change was a pressing issue and pushed, unsuccessfully, for Congress to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement on the issue.

“He understood environmental progress and economic progress can move forward in tandem,” Goldston said.

The EPA headquarters at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. is less than half a mile from the White House, and Clinton passed by it countless times during his two terms in office. It is between the Executive Mansion and the U.S. Capitol.

Built in the 1930s, the eight-story neoclassical building was originally constructed for the U.S. Postal Service and was known as the “New Post Office,” according the U.S. General Services Administration.

The exterior of the semicircular building features marble columns in the Doric and Ionic style. Inside, are large chandeliers and twin seven-story spiral staircases.

In 1985, the building was named for Ariel Rios, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was killed in the line of duty in 1982. The building at one time housed that agency.

In addition to the Clinton building, lawmakers have acted on other pieces of legislation that would name federal buildings for Arkansans, during the waning days of the current Congress.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation that would name the post office in Rose Bud after Nick Bacon, an Arkansan who was given the military’s top honor for combat valor in Vietnam.

As a U.S. Army staff sergeant, Bacon survived more than 100 firefights in Vietnam. He received the Medal of Honor for bravery in a battle near the town of Tam Ky. He served in the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs before he died in 2010.

The House passed corresponding legislation in July, so the measure is headed for Obama’s desk.

On Thursday, the House was poised to take up a bill to name Little Rock’s main post office after Sid McMath, Arkansas’ 34th governor.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., who is McMath’s distant cousin, would name the post office at 600 E. Capitol Ave. the “Sidney ‘Sid’ Sanders McMath Post Office Building.”

McMath received the Silver Star and Legion of Merit awards as a U.S. Marine serving in the Pacific during World War II. He was governor from 1949-53 and died in 2003 at the age of 91.

With limited time before Congress adjourns, it is unclear whether the McMath bill will clear both the House and Senate. Boozman and Pryor said it is possible that the Senate will take it up late next week, when lawmakers return to wrap up remaining legislation.

“I think we can get it through,” Pryor said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/21/2012

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