Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Reauthorization Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 2427 reauthorizes appropriations at current levels for the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 taking us through the year 2025.

Much of the early history of our country was written on the Chesapeake Bay. Eight recognized American Indian Tribes maintain ancestral homes there. It is the site of Jamestown and the early English settlements. It was a center for the great Yankee trading ships, the birthplace of George Washington, the site of Fort McHenry, and the main line of the Underground Railroad which took so many to their freedom.

The Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network, originally authorized through the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998, set up a network of Chesapeake Bay-related sites such as parks, wildlife refuges, and trails. The program includes 160 sites in six States and the District of Columbia. The National Park Service provides matching grants for projects that enhance public education about and access to the Chesapeake Bay.

At a time when so many are losing touch with our country's proud heritage--or even denigrating that heritage--it is all the more important to keep alive the memory of those great days that set the American Nation on its path to prosperity and freedom.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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