Commemorating the life of William D. Ruckelshaus.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 753 Commemorating the life of William D. Ruckelshaus. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2019 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. KILMER, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. HECK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform RESOLUTION Commemorating the life of William D. Ruckelshaus. Whereas William D. Ruckelshaus was born on July 24, 1932, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Marion Doyle and John K. Ruckelshaus; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus served for two years in the United States Army, as a drill sergeant at Fort Lewis in Ta- coma, Washington; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus graduated from Princeton Univer- sity with an A.B. (cum laude) in 1957 and from Harvard Law School with an LL.B. in 1960; Whereas, in his early career, Mr. Ruckelshaus served as dep- uty attorney general of Indiana, where he helped draft the State’s first air pollution control laws and obtained VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR753.IH HR753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 753 IH court orders to prohibit industries and municipalities from polluting the State’s water supply; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus was a longtime resident of Seattle, having moved his family to the Seattle area in 1975 to serve as Vice President of Legal Affairs for Washington State-based timber company Weyerhaeuser, and became a leading Northwest voice for the environment; Whereas, in 1969, former President Richard Nixon appointed Mr. Ruckelshaus assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice; Whereas, in 1970, President Nixon appointed Mr. Ruckels- haus to serve as the founding administrator of the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency (EPA), which he returned to lead again from 1983–1985; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus helped build the EPA from the ground up, devising its enforcement strategy and later developing air-pollution controls, holding companies and cities responsible for water pollution and banning the use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) for domestic agriculture, a major factor in the survival and rebounding of the bald eagle; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus was named by Time magazine in 2008 as among the best Cabinet secretaries in United States history for his work focusing the EPA’s mission and drawing significant public support and visibility for the agency; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus later said of his time at the EPA: ‘‘At EPA, you work for a cause that is beyond self-inter- est and larger than the goals people normally pursue; You‘re not there for the money, you’re there for some- thing beyond yourself’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR753.IH HR753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 753 IH Whereas, in 1973, Mr. Ruckelshaus returned to the Depart- ment of Justice to serve as the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then as top deputy to Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson, where he suc- cessfully pursued corruption charges against Vice Presi- dent Spiro Agnew; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus joined Attorney General Elliot Richardson in resigning and refusing to implement Presi- dent Nixon’s unlawful order to fire the independent spe- cial prosecutor investigating Watergate in the 1973 events known as the ‘‘Saturday Night Massacre’’; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus’ diverse private sector career in- cluded 12 years as chief executive of Browning-Ferris In- dustries, where he led the company to shift away from the business of hazardous waste disposal and toward re- cycling operations; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus was appointed in 2007 by Wash- ington State Governor Christine Gregoire as the first leader of the Puget Sound Partnership, an environmental agency in Washington State, to organize the cleanup of the Puget Sound and salmon recovery; Whereas the William D. Ruckelshaus Center was established as a joint effort between the University of Washington and Washington State University to foster collaborative public policy in Washington State and the Pacific North- west and continues to carry on Mr. Ruckelshaus’ legacy by assisting public, private, Tribal, nonprofit, and other leaders to build consensus, resolve conflicts, and develop innovative, shared solutions; Whereas President Barack Obama awarded Mr. Ruckelshaus the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, the highest VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR753.IH HR753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 753 IH civilian honor in the United States, recognizing his serv- ice to the country; Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus died on November 27, 2019, at the age of 87 at his home in Seattle, Washington; and Whereas Mr. Ruckelshaus is survived by his wife, Jill Ruckelshaus, their children, Jennifer and William Ruckelshaus and Robin Kellogg, his daughters, Catherine and Mary Ruckelshaus, his sister, Marion Ruckelshaus Bitzer, and 12 grandchildren: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) honors William D. Ruckelshaus for his prin- 2 cipled service to our Nation, his commitment to the 3 rule of law throughout his career, and his work to 4 ensure a livable planet for future generations; and 5 (2) expresses profound sorrow at the death of 6 William D. Ruckelshaus and offers condolences to 7 his family, friends, and colleagues. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR753.IH HR753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS