Clean Water: Muskie and the Environment


Muskie as wrestler cartoon, undated

Muskie as wrestler cartoon, undated
Item 25721   info
Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library

Many people contributed to writing and marking up the bill, and Muskie worked with colleagues of both political parties to settle on language and provisions before sending the legislation to the floor of the Senate for a vote. It passed 86-0 in the Senate and 380-14 in the House.

The House and Senate then spent 39 days in conference to work out their differences.
The Conference Committee report was passed with similar large margins.

President Richard Nixon vetoed the 1972 Clean Water Act, but on October 18, 1972, the veto was overridden and the bill became law.

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