Military Construction, The Department of Veterans Affairs, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016--Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Montana for his incredible support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I love the picture showing the Senator from Montana and his wife because, just like Montana, in my home State of New Hampshire, there are so many beautiful places to hike. We have the White Mountain National Forest and places where the Land and Water Conservation Fund has made such a difference in giving anyone an opportunity to ensure the use of our public lands. In fact, having been born in New Hampshire and having grown up there, I have so many fond memories of my childhood of hikes in our beautiful forests in New Hampshire.
Without the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we would not have been able to do--at this point there have been 650 individual acquisition projects in the State of New Hampshire that have been supported by this incredible fund. In fact, one of my favorite things to do--as we think about the important work that the Land and Water Conservation Fund does, it is in our forests such as the White Mountain National Forest, but it is also in our cities. I live in Nashua, NH. It is our second largest city. We have Mines Falls Park, which is a real jewel right in the middle of the city. In the mornings, when I am in New Hampshire, my favorite thing to do is get up early and go for a run through these parks that are beautiful with forested areas in the middle of the city that so many people in Nashua enjoy every single day, including myself and my children. As I am running along, I see so many Granite Staters who are taking a beautiful walk in the morning in the beautiful woods in the second largest city in New Hampshire.
So as Senator Daines has said, I am very disappointed that we did not include the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the continuing resolution. Within hours, the authorization for LWCF expires, so I believe we should act immediately to reauthorize this program. We should be permanently reauthorizing this program. That is what I have supported in legislation so that we are not in this position and in this situation again in the future.
It is important to understand that the funds that go to LWCF under the law were supposed to be there from leasing revenues from oil and gas leasing that were supposed to be specially dedicated for this purpose of giving the American people more access to public lands and preserving our natural beauty. Yet, historically, unfortunately, this money has been diverted, and not all of it has gone to the purpose for which it was collected, which is a classic Washington move. That is why I would like to see the funds go to where they were designated. I would like to see reauthorization of this important program because there is bipartisan support for reauthorizing it and for preserving our great outdoors for everyone to enjoy.
There have been thousands and thousands of acres in New Hampshire that have been preserved and protected for people to be able to use for all kinds of outdoor recreation in our State. In New Hampshire, as in Montana, the outdoor industry is important to the economy and to who we are in the ``live free or die'' State. In fact, if we look at what the outdoor recreation industry generates, it is $4.2 billion in consumer spending in our State annually, which directly supports 49,000 New Hampshire jobs. In addition to that, the Outdoor Industry Association estimates that at least 76 percent of Granite Staters participate in outdoor recreation each year, but that doesn't surprise me. Having been born in New Hampshire, having grown up there, I love our State, and the great outdoors is such an important part of our State. People in New Hampshire love to go hiking, fishing, hunting, and use all types of recreation in enjoying the beauty of our great State.
Protecting our outdoor spaces is not a partisan issue. We need to work together to ensure the preservation of our environment for future generations to enjoy. As the mother of a second grader and a fifth grader, a big part of my kids' life too is enjoying the beauty of New Hampshire. I know that if we reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, not only in New Hampshire but across this country, we will continue to preserve the beauty of our country and the open spaces so that everyone can enjoy them and get the exercise and be healthy and enjoy the clean, fresh air they have an opportunity to breathe, as well as our beautiful forests and beautiful lands in this country.
LWCF also has funds granted to the Forest Legacy Program, which has helped conserve New Hampshire's forests, supporting our forest products industry, and aiding wildlife preservation, to make sure we have healthy, working forests, which is so important to our forest industry.
I call on my colleagues to act immediately to reauthorize this essential program, which has helped preserve the beauty of New Hampshire and our Nation. This is one that I hope, with pending legislation we bring to the floor, we will include a vote on reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Our country is beautiful, and this money was specially designated for this purpose. We should stop diverting it. We should continue to use it for this very purpose so that everyone can enjoy the great outdoors and the beauty of the United States of America.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I yield the floor.
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Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I have great respect for the senior Senator from Tennessee, but I disagree with him on his objection to extending the Perkins Loan Program for 1 year. This is why I disagree. I very much appreciate the work he has laid out and the goals he has laid out in reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. Certainly, I think we all want to make sure it is easier for students to repay their loans, and I share the goal of also making college more affordable and more accessible for everyone.
But as I look at this timeframe of where we are with the work that will be done by the HELP Committee, which the Senator from Tennessee chairs, by the end of the year, this is, unfortunately, what happens too often in Washington. With the Perkins Loan Program, 5,000 of our students in New Hampshire receive a loan from this program. So it is important to 5,000 Granite Staters.
If we wait until the end of the year and let it lapse, and then the Committee does its work, there are so many other pressing things that need to be addressed in the Senate--this is pressing too--and if we don't get to it, we are in the position where the Perkins loans lapse.
I appreciate the work done by the HELP Committee--which I hope is bipartisan--to address this important issue of making it easier for students. But I don't think we should let this program lapse in the interim. I think there is a very reasonable position here to say, let's extend this program and not leave people hanging out there.
Apparently, the House of Representatives agreed unanimously to extend it a year, to give that breathing room, and send over here earlier this week the Higher Education Extension Act of 2015, to do that for the students who are including the Perkins loan as part of their student aid package and, as I understand it, for those for whom this loan makes sense--low-income students, vulnerable students, the ones we want to fight for here--to make sure they have access to the American dream. That is about $2,000 for students who are some of the most financially in need.
I understand there are other loans available. But when you look at a student aid package, it is usually a combination of loans, especially if you are someone who comes from a background where you aren't able to pay for college yourself. I think the reasonable position here would be this: Let's extend this; let's provide that certainty while the HELP Committee is doing the work that I think we all agree on needs to be done to address higher costs, to make it easier for students, to give more transparency in this system for students and for parents, and to make it easier for students to repay these loans.
I am here fighting for the 5,000 students in New Hampshire and for others like them. I don't want them to be a victim of Washington uncertainty or those who come after them for whom the Perkins loans make sense. Until we get to this broader discussion, which is an important discussion, let's not let this lapse on behalf of those students. I think there is a reasonable position that allows the important work of the HELP Committee to go forward, but it extends this important loan program.
With all the respect I have for the senior Senator from Tennessee, this is something on which I agree with my colleague from Wisconsin and others who have said: Let's not leave them hanging on this issue.
I yield the floor.
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