Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508030047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALAN FRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Add the National Rifle Association to the list of voices that urged House members to reverse themselves this week and block the Environmental Protection Agency from carrying out anti-pollution laws.
In a letter sent to lawmakers shortly before Monday's House vote, the gun lobby urged them to restore limits on environmental enforcement that they had rejected just three days earlier on a 212-206 vote. The House revived the Republican-written enforcement restraints on a 210-210 tie, after 11 Democrats missed the vote.
NRA Federal Affairs Director Joe Phillips, who signed the letter, says his organization joined the fray because the EPA wants to over-regulate the use of lead, as in bullets.
``It's tough to shoot bullets that are made out of plastic,'' he said.
But the letter itself did not mention that concern. Instead, it complained of a bureaucracy that has ``grown too powerful.'' It singled out the EPA for regulating ``beyond the degree necessary or statutorily authorized to protect human health and the environment, imposing over-burdensome and costly requirements on individuals and small business.''
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., who led 50 GOP moderates who tried to protect the EPA's powers, said he believed the influential NRA sent the letter at the behest of House Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, a leading opponent of federal regulations and a foe of gun control.
``I think the leadership probably called all its chits in and said, `This is an important issue and I'd like you to weigh in,''' Boehlert said.
Phillips and DeLay spokesman James Lafferty said that was not true. Lafferty acknowledged that GOP leaders mobilized a coalition of business and conservative groups earlier this year to lobby lawmakers to support Republican legislation.
by CNB