ABSTRACT
In both the 97th and 98th Congresses, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce was unable to report out any Clean Air Act Amendments. Acid rain was only one of several key Clean Air Act issues sharply dividing that committee in both Congresses. Subsequently, on June 23, 1983, Representative Gerry Sikorski, with the support of Representative Waxman, introduced H.R.3400—their proposed "compromise" on acid rain. The administration's commitment to increased research funds resulted in an increase in the planned budget of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, the federal comprehensive acid rain research program from $27.6 million in fiscal year 1984 to $55.5 million in 1985. In March of 1985, the acid rain issue was one of the topics discussed by President Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, at their St. Patrick's Day "Shamrock Summit." American politics has shown an alarming tendency to become more and more polarized on many issues along ideological lines.
