Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chair, I want to thank my distinguished colleague from South Carolina for his leadership on this amendment.

With respect to the Member from Arizona, I, given his comments, look forward to him voting for this amendment as well. It is an incredibly important amendment, and, ultimately, this program has been our Nation's premier conservation program for over 50 years.

I would like to thank the Appropriations Committee for their work to reprioritize the program after the President's budget actually proposed drastic cuts to LWCF. As a result of their efforts, the bill before us today would provide the highest level of funding for the program in 17 years.

I have the great honor of representing the State of Colorado, and I have seen firsthand the benefits that LWCF brings to our State. Colorado received $278 million in LWCF funding over the last decades, including for a variety of areas in my district: Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, to name just a few.

LWCF not only conserves critical land; it is an investment in outdoor recreation economies. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in the LWCF is $4 in economic value from natural resource goods and services.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina for bringing forth this amendment. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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