Great American Outdoors Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on an entirely different subject, while the Senate remains the only Chamber in this Capitol with its lights on, we are going to continue with legislative work for the country. We will take our first vote today to advance the Great American Outdoors Act--a generational bill from Senator Daines and Senator Gardner--that will secure the future of our Nation's natural treasures.

America is home to 419 national park sites, 567 national wildlife refuges, and hundreds of millions of acres of public lands. Every year, millions of Americans turn to these lands for recreation, inspiration, and for their livelihoods. These resources exist because of the visionary actions of prior Congresses. Now it is our turn to secure them for generations yet to come.

Our colleagues' legislation does two big things: It improves access to parks and public lands by investing in maintenance and upkeep, and it secures permanent support for the missions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Their legislation has already persuaded 59 cosponsors here in the Senate. It has earned the bipartisan endorsement of the last six former Secretaries of the Interior, and a diverse coalition of independent advocates--from The Nature Conservancy to the Outdoor Industry Association to the American Battlefield Trust--have called on us to pass this bill.

This bill has unusually broad, bipartisan, and vocal support because the issues at hand affect so many different communities so concretely. Every year, visitors to America's national parks bring more than $40 billion in economic impact to the gateway towns that surround them. The State and local parks, stewarded by the LWCF, help to generate another $166 billion in local economic activity and support more than 1.1 million jobs.

My fellow Kentuckians and I know this firsthand. At least 120,000 jobs are supported by active outdoor recreation in the Commonwealth. From hunters and anglers in the Daniel Boone National Forest to tourists visiting Mammoth Cave, our State's natural treasures occasion nearly $13 billion in annual consumer spending. Yet Kentuckians also know that tight budgets for maintenance often mean that historic sites go without important repairs and upgrades that would ensure safe access and smooth operations. So we are acutely aware of the need to address the deferred maintenance backlog, which this legislation tackles head- on.

So I am very grateful to our colleagues from Montana and Colorado for shepherding this legislation. I am proud of the stand they have taken in support of our Nation's natural wonders and the millions of American livelihoods that depend on them. I look forward to discussing this landmark legislation more in the days ahead, to supporting it here on the floor, and to urging every one of my colleagues to join in.

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