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Conservation
Group Pegs Anti-Environment Congressional Candidates For Defeat
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WASHINGTON
- June 23 - The League of Conservation Voters (LCV)
Action Fund today named the first six Congressional candidates to its Dirty Dozen list of
anti-environment legislators targeted for defeat in the November elections.
The first six Dirty Dozen targets are: incumbents Helen Chenoweth (Idaho-1), Charlie
Stenholm (Texas-17), John Hostettler (Ind.-8), Mark Neumann (Wis.-1, running for Senate),
Bill Redmond (N.M.-3) and challenger, former Congressman Bob Dornan (Calif.-46.) The
remaining six Dirty Dozen candidates will be announced later in the fall.
"We've named these six candidates to the Dirty Dozen because they consistently vote
against public health and safety protections and conservation of our natural
resources," said League President Deb Callahan. "They vote to please the
polluting special interests, not the public's interest in a clean and healthy environment.
Our Dirty Dozen campaigns will take their anti-environment records directly to the voters.
After failing to represent their constituents' concerns about the environment, we believe
the voters will flunk the Dirty Dozen candidates at the ballot box."
In 1996, LCV's first Dirty Dozen campaigns helped defeat seven of the 12 candidates pegged
by the LCV Action Fund as the most vulnerable anti-environment candidates for Congress.
The list of defeated candidates includes former Congressmen Michael Flanagan (Ill.-5),
Fred Heineman (N.C.-4), Jim Lightfoot (Iowa-Senate candidate), James Longley (Maine-1),
Steve Stockman (Texas-9), Randy Tate (Wash.-9), and former Senator Larry Pressler (S.D.),
the only incumbent Senator to lose in 1996. The average environmental rating for the
defeated Dirty Dozen members was 13 percent, their replacements have since earned an 84
percent rating.
LCV Action Fund plans to dedicate $2 million to its 1998 Dirty Dozen efforts, 25 percent
more than in 1996. The money will be spent on advertising, polling, voter education and
local grassroots organizing efforts.
"People of all political stripes want, and deserve, public health and safety
protections and an environment they can enjoy," said Mike Hayden, LCV board chair and
former Republican Governor of Kansas. "The candidates we've targeted for the Dirty
Dozen aren't responsive to conservation concerns, and as a result, may find themselves in
November with a one-way ticket home."
According to the LCV Action Fund, each of the Dirty Dozen targets has compiled an extreme
anti-environment record.
------
Rep. Helen Chenoweth (Idaho-1)
Lifetime LCV Score: 2 percent
Rep. Chenoweth was targeted as a member of the Dirty Dozen in 1996, and was narrowly
reelected with only 50 percent of the vote. While in office, Rep. Chenoweth has voted
against environment and public health protections 98 percent of the time. Chenoweth's
chairmanship of the House Forests and Forest Health subcommittee jeopardizes the
protection of national forests and public lands.
--
Rep. Charlie Stenholm (Texas-17)
Lifetime LCV Score: 15 percent
Rep. Stenholm has the worst lifetime environmental record of any non-freshman Democrat in
Congress. He has been an outspoken opponent of stronger clean air standards and led the
effort to block implementation of new food safety protections. Although he labels himself
a "fiscal conservative," Stenholm consistently votes for anti-environmental
pork-barrel subsidies that jeopardize the environment at taxpayer expense.
--
Rep. John Hostettler (Ind.-8)
Lifetime LCV Score: 14 percent
Rep. Hostettler has voted against environment and public health protections 86 percent of
the time during his two terms in Congress. Although Indiana has the most river-miles under
a mercury pollution advisory of any state, Hostettler consistently votes against water
quality protections and enforcement. Hostettler's vote to slash EPA's 1996 budget would
have cost Indiana $50 million in environmental enforcement funds-fortunately, these
measures failed.
--
Rep. Mark Neumann (Wis.-1, Senate)
Lifetime LCV Score: 29 percent
Rep. Neumann vowed to "wage war" on the EPA by cutting funding for environmental
enforcement. Neumann voted for the "Dirty Water Bill" which relaxed public
health standards on water. He also cosponsored H.R. 1984, the "Dirty Air Bill,"
to delay implementation of updated clean air rules. His anti-environment record will not
be well-received by Wisconsin voters in his effort to move up to the Senate.
--
Rep. Bill Redmond (N.M.-3)
Lifetime LCV Score: 21 percent
In his first term in office, Rep. Redmond has vowed to greatly decrease environmental
funding. His cosponsorship last year of H.R. 1984, a measure to delay implementation of
the updated clean air standards, has drawn criticism from the media and concerned citizens
in his district.
--
Former Rep. Bob Dornan (running in Calif.-46)
Lifetime LCV Score: 14 percent
During his 18 year tenure in Congress, Dornan voted against environmental protections 71
percent of the time. He consistently voted anti-environment on clean water, even though
his Orange County district would have benefited from stronger public health protections.
------
The non-profit League of Conservation Voters is the bipartisan political voice for the
environment. LCV is the only national conservation organization dedicated full-time to
holding Members of Congress accountable for their environmental votes. The LCV Action Fund
endorses Democratic and Republican pro-environment candidates, makes donations to
individual campaigns, encourages citizen support for Congressional candidates with proven
environmental commitment through the EarthList program, and runs the biannual Dirty Dozen
campaigns.
------
To learn more about LCV, the Dirty Dozen campaigns or Congressional environmental voting
records, access the LCV web page at http://www.lcv.org.
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