Environmental Questions For Whitman

Since the president-elect said the job was hers, Gov. Christie Whitman has been doing double duty, preparing to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and run New Jersey's state government.

Whitman's first test of her new career comes Wednesday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

"No question it's been a very busy time for the governor," Whitman spokeswoman Jayne O'Connor said.

Whitman has been in Washington juggling meetings with President-elect Bush's transition team and members of the Senate committee. In New Jersey she has met with members of her staff and close political advisers.

"At the same time she's been preparing for her confirmation hearing, she has been preparing for an orderly transition to the (state) Senate president," O'Connor said.

Many expect Whitman's hearing to last less than half a day and focus on her environmental record in New Jersey.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, wants Whitman to discuss clean air and water issues.

Reid also plans to ask Whitman questions specific to Nevada, including her position on issues related to a nuclear waste storage site, spokesman Mark Schuermann said.

"Her environmental record as governor will probably come up," Schuermann said.

New Jersey's U.S. Sens. Robert Torricelli and Jon Corzine will formally introduce Whitman to the committee.

Reid will offer a statement, then Whitman will address the committee, whose new members include freshman Democrats Corzine and Hillary Clinton.

Whitman is the only scheduled witness, Schuermann said.

If the committee approves, Whitman's name will be forwarded to the full Senate. A vote on her nomination could come soon after Bush takes his oath of office.

By taking the job, Whitman effectively resigns as New Jersey governor. Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco, R-Union, would become acting governor. DiFrancesco has plans to succeed Whitman as the Republican nominee for governor this year. Whitman is barred by law from seeking a third consecutive term.

Critics claim Whitman has been insensitive to environmental issues in New Jersey. Minorities target what they say is a faulty record, especially in the state's racial profiling controversy.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., and members of the New Jersey Legislative Black and Latino Caucus became the first New Jersey politicians to publicly oppose Whitman's nomination.

The president of the New Jersey NAACP, black ministers and Rev. Al Sharpton joined the lawmakers in their demonstration. Sharpton, whose protests over racial profiling shut down the Atlantic City Expressway, said Whitman's handling of the racial profiling situation in New Jersey shows poor judgment.

Many minorities also fault Whitman for appearing in a 1996 photograph in which she is patting down a black drug suspect in Camden. Whitmn herself said that was a mistake.

Protesters have threatened to display the photograph during Whitman's upcoming appearances in Washington.

Administration officials defend their environmental record by praising Whitman's plan to preserve 1 million acres of open space. They also cite a brownfields program labeled a national model.

On racial profiling, Whitman has repeatedly said New Jersey was the first to admit the practice and to take steps to eliminate it.

Whitman might hear questions on her employment of illegal aliens.

Running for her first term, Whitman disclosed that she and her husband had employed two Portuguese natives for more than three years. The husband and wife had been in the country illegally.

Whitman released the information in 1993 when national attention was focused on Zoe Baird, President Clinton's early choice for attorney general, for failing to pay Social Security taxes for a husband and wife from Peru who worked as her driver and nanny.

Four days after the announcement, Whitman's staff said she paid $14,467 in federal income and Social Security taxes for the couple she employed and that an additional $8,227 in state taxes would be paid.

Emma and Antonio Franco were employed by Whitman and her husband, John, to help look after the Whitman's two children. The Portuguese couple also did work on the family's farm in Oldwick.

Whitman worked with an immigration attorney to pursue legal residency, which the couple obtained in 1991.