In contrast to the environmental record of the 95th Congress in its first session, which displays an emphasis on pollution prevention, the focus of attention in the second session clearly shifted toward natural resources conservation. Though some significant accomplishments in this area were recorded in 1978, the luster of these gains was dimmed by lack of action on several important issues and the failure to fully protect environmental values in some instances. In its first session in 1977, the 95th Congress amended the principal air¹ and water² pollution control laws, incorporating changes that represented a partial retreat from the strict statutory standards they replaced. The new strip mining law,³ toward which environmentalists had been working for years, was not as strong as the bill that had been vetoed in 1976 by President Ford. In 1978, Congress extended special environmental protection to large areas of the public lands, but it failed at the last minute to settle the fate of the great tracts of untouched public lands in Alaska. The House of Representatives sustained President Carter's veto of the expensive public works bill authorizing vast sums for several environmentally detrimental water projects. On the other hand, Congress continued funding for a number of questionable water resources projects and failed to impose a substantial fee on commercial users of inland waterways to pay for facility maintenance. Although funding for Endangered Species Act programs was reauthorized, the Act was weakened through amendment, drawing strong criticism from many quarters that there was no need for Congress' dilution of its strict prohibition against federal activities which threaten protected species.