Underfunding National Parks

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, from the mighty redwoods to the headlands and beaches of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in my bay area, backyard to the ancient sequoias of Yosemite, to the scorching deserts of Death Valley, we know our national parks are worth protecting.

Parks not only protect nature and wildlife but our history, too. And they are economic engines supporting thousands of jobs. But Donald Trump's dirty budget and infrastructure scam would bulldoze right through this American success story.

Trump is proposing a 7 percent cut to the National Park Service, meaning even less maintenance and visitor services, and a 17 percent cut to the Department of the Interior overall, while giving Secretary Ryan Zinke free rein to continue his drilling spree on our public lands.

These cuts, combined with Trump's ongoing effort to hike entry fees for working families, threaten access to these places that drive millions of visitors to our communities and small businesses each year, while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity.

Underfunding our national parks puts visitor access at risk. We should reject this budget and work together.

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