Environmental Protection Agency headquarters will take Bill Clinton’s name during a private ceremony at the agency’s main building on Wednesday, the acting administrator wrote to staff in an email Tuesday.
“In December 2012, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to name our Agency Headquarters building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. as the ‘William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building,’” Bob Perciasepe, who heads the agency pending Gina McCarthy’s confirmation, wrote in an email to staff. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wrote the legislation.
Clinton’s name will displace that of Ariel Rios, a special agent in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who died in the line of duty while working undercover in 1985.
“The ATF will honor the memory of Special Agent Ariel Rios by naming the reflecting pool at the current ATF headquarters as the ‘Ariel Rios Reflecting Pool,’ in accordance with the wishes of the family,” Perciasepe wrote.
Perciasepe’s message:
name the EPA Agency Headquarters in honor of President Bill Clinton. We
invite you to join in this historic occasion by viewing the event in selected
video conference rooms around headquarters and our regions or watching it on
IPTV.
In December 2012, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to name our Agency
Headquarters building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. as
the “William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building.”
At that time, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who authored the legislation,
stated that “Bill Clinton demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting
public health and the environment . [his] Administration created the Office of
Children’s Health Protection, tightened drinking water standards for toxins
such as arsenic, and reduced harmful air pollution that causes heart
attacks, strokes, and premature deaths. He has continued to champion the
environment.”
The event to honor the two-term president, which is being organized by the
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and President Clinton
‘s office, will be held in the Rachel Carson Great Room (Green Room) at
EPA Headquarters. This event is by invitation only.
As you may be aware, our Headquarters building was previously known as the
“Ariel Rios Building,” and was formerly the location of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) headquarters. The ATF is now
located at 99 New York Avenue, NE in Washington, DC. The ATF will honor
the memory of Special Agent Ariel Rios by naming the reflecting pool at the
current ATF headquarters as the “Ariel Rios Reflecting Pool,” in accordance
with the wishes of the family.
Sincerely,
Bob Perciasepe
Acting Administrator
