I'm willing to bet...
...that the blame can be laid solely at the feet of the entire elected Federal Government. Congress+President. I'm sure that when the document was signed, there was every intention of moving forward with it, and then the horse-trading started...
Clinton failed in leadership.
Congress failed by grandstanding.
Any deity worthy of a graven image can cobble up a working universe complete with fake fossils in under a week - hey, if you're not omnipotent, there's no real point in being a god. But to start with a big ball of elementary particles and end up with the duckbill platypus without constant twiddling requires a degree of subtlety and the ability to Think Things Through: exactly the qualities I'm looking for when I'm shopping for a Supreme Being.