Since World War II, air pollution had greatly increased, causing ill health to people and considerable property damage. The committee received letters such as this one from a Tampa, Florida physician who had treated a “young lady” who had been…

Senator Muskie received support from clean-air advocates who backed tough, national air quality standards. This supporter of S. 306 wrote that “The air we breathe is not private property, and because of this it should be illegal to pollute it.”

This briefing paper for subcommittee members and staff outlined the major parts of S. 306 that would receive attention during the hearings to be held in Washington D.C. and Detroit, Michigan. The briefing paper outlined the subcommittee work plan…

The subcommittee’s 1964 report declared that the technological skills and equipment to reduce air pollution had “passed the research stage” and that there was “no valid reason to delay” adoption of emissions control equipment in newly manufactured…

On the first day of the subcommittee hearings, the Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), James M. Quigley, made comments that seemed to place the administration at odds with Muskie and S. 306. Quigley declared that the…

This letter to Muskie from R. C. Brown, the Director of Research at Caterpillar Tractor Company in Peoria, Illinois, indicated that the air quality control provisions of S. 306 affected an array of economic interests. As the nation’s leading…

On May 18, 1965, the Senate passed S. 306 by a voice vote without debate. On September 24, the House passed an amended S. 306 by a vote of 294 to 4. On September 29, Acting Secretary of HEW, Wilbur Cohen, wrote Muskie of the administration’s…

In the spring of 1964, President Johnson sent a request to Congress to authorize special aid to the economically depressed Appalachian region, and on September 25, 1964, the Senate passed an Appalachia bill that closely followed the president’s…

On January 6, 1965, Senator Edmund S. Muskie (D-ME) introduced S. 4, an administration-backed bill, and in this press release on the same day, declared that the purpose of the bill “is to encourage prevention of pollution as well as to attack the…

On May 3, 1965, Senator Howard W. Cannon (D-NV) wrote Muskie about the serious threat to the Las Vegas Valley water supply if the House version of S. 4 became law and hoped “that you and other Senate conferees will insist that the Senate position on…