TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Continued
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, it is an honor to stand here today in support of one of the most historic pieces of conservation legislation in decades--some are saying 50 years.
The Great American Outdoors Act will have a lasting impact on generations to come. That is why, as Montana's voice in the Senate, I am standing here today to make the Great American Outdoors Act a reality.
Over the last few days, we have seen very strong bipartisan support both here in the Senate and around the Nation. Senators from both sides of the aisle, representing States all across our great Nation, have been coming down to the floor to share stories and photos and to show support for the bill. It is a very personal piece of legislation because we all love the outdoors.
At this point, plenty of us have spoken in support of this bill, but today I want to share some quotes from Montanans who are also in support of the Great American Outdoors Act.
David Brooks from Montana Trout Unlimited says:
As the Senate takes up the legislation this week, we are also excited to see progress on addressing decades of maintenance backlogs on our public lands that benefit our wild and native fish and their habitat.
Speaking of trout, this picture was taken at the Yellowstone River. The main channel is over here. There is a little side channel as well. That is Emigrant Peak. That is in a valley called Paradise Valley. It is appropriately named. It is south of Livingston--between Livingston and Gardiner. If you were to come visit Yellowstone National Park, one of the entrances is in Gardiner, and that would be on the way to Yellowstone Park.
As I mentioned before, that is, in fact, where in 1979 we had our high school homecoming dinner, and I proudly took a date in a Griswold station wagon with some couples, and we drove down to Chico's. It is right by where this picture was taken. There are a lot of memories when I see a picture like that. There was a lot of fish caught as I fished that river many, many times. I do it several times a summer.
Ben Horan with Mountain Bike Missoula says:
There is a good reason the Land and Water Conservation Fund has enjoyed bipartisan support since the 1960s. It is just good policy. For more than 55 years, LWCF has supported and funded open spaces and public lands that we in Montana rely on for our work, for our play, and for our way of life.
Kyle Weaver from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation had this to say:
This important conservation program allowed the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to complete more than 80 land protection and access projects that conserved more than 152,000 acres of habitat for elk and other wildlife. RMEF strongly urges Members of the Senate and House to rally alongside Senator Daines, pass this measure, and forward it to President Trump's desk so it can be signed into law.
Land Tawny with the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said this:
Sportsmen and women have been the leading voices in this effort to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as providing maintenance funding for the agencies that manage places critical for public access and fish and wildlife. Our public lands and our waters have traditionally been places of refuge, of solace, and of adventure.
Never has this been truer than right now when we need to recenter and get our minds right. Now is the most strategic time for investing in these places of refuge by funding shovel-ready projects that sustain important habitat, increase public access opportunities, and get people back to work.
Mayor Bill Cole of Billings said:
Over the years, Billings has received almost $2 million to fund construction repairs on our parks. The Great American Outdoors Act will be a great help as we plan future projects that address the backlog of maintenance needs. Parks and trails are critical to our Western quality of life, they attract visitors, and they support our economy.
The city manager of Great Falls, Greg Doyle, said this:
For many years, the city has utilized the LWCF appropriations to complete a wide variety of projects. These projects help support and develop park land and recreational facilities for Great Falls residents and visitors.
Alex Kitchens with the Mystery Ranch. The Mystery Ranch--that sounds kind of mysterious, doesn't it? They actually make some of the best backpacks in America. In fact, when my wife and I and children get out in the wilderness area every summer, we all are carrying Mystery Ranch backpacks. They are some of the very best. In fact, in the early days of this company, back in the seventies when I was going to high school in Bozeman, I had a Kletterworks pack. Kletterworks was the precursor to Mystery Ranch. In fact, the book bag that I then took to Montana State University and carried my books in throughout my college experience in Bozeman--I took that same pack to the top of Granite Peak, our highest point in Montana, and the summit of the Grand Teton, just south of Montana there--beautiful country outside of Jackson, WY. It was a small pack. We went very ultralight with bivy bags, kind of a sense of a quick up and down because of weather. We wanted to get up there quickly on both peaks, and we made it. That was the precursor to the Mystery Ranch, which are the packs we have today. They are larger packs. You can carry more weight into the backcountry.
Alex said this: The Great American Outdoors Act is landmark conservation to protect our public lands. The full funding of the LWCF is a benefit to our parks and our forests at the local and State level.
We have Glenn Marx with the Montana Association of Land Trusts. I will quote Glenn:
Passage of the Great American Outdoors Act means LWCF funding and tremendous rural community, national park, and outdoor recreation economic benefits for Montana and the nation. More legislative steps to go. Let's finish the journey.
I couldn't agree more, Glenn.
Finally, I want to highlight a letter. It is a letter signed by every former Secretary of the Interior, from Secretary Babbitt, who served in 1993, to Montana's very own Secretary Ryan Zinke.
In fact, Ryan and I were Boy Staters together back in 1979. Ryan was a junior, soon to be a senior, at Whitefish High School, and I was a junior, soon to be senior, at Boozman High in 1979. Little did we know when we were Boy Staters then that Ryan, after a distinguished military career in the U.S. Navy as a Navy SEAL, would go on to be our Secretary of the Interior.
The letter says this: ``The Great American Outdoors Act will help ensure a better, brighter future for nature and for all of us.''
By the way, if you look at those Secretaries, those are Secretaries who served under Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents.
Needless to say, Montana has its fair share of support for the Great American Outdoors Act, and the list of support goes on.
Montanans know what it takes to conserve their public lands. Ensuring full mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund will make sure our public lands are managed correctly and that Montanans and Americans around the country will have better access to share public lands.
Dealing with the $12 billion maintenance backlog in our national parks will be so beneficial for the employees who are working so hard in national parks. We are seeing record visitation levels in many of our parks, but our employee housing in many cases is terrible-- crumbling infrastructure, wastewater treatment systems that are in desperate need of repair and upgrades. That maintenance backlog needs to be addressed, and that will improve the visitor experience.
When I think about our national parks, I think of these parks as the office of first impression. For visitors who come to our great country from around the world, when they visit our national parks, they leave with a profound impression. It is what sets America apart from any other country--our national parks, our outdoor heritage, and preserving and protecting that for generations to come.
The Great American Outdoors Act will directly impact everybody who visits, who recreates, and who enjoys our public lands. This will be truly one of those defining moments for conservation that so many will remember for generations to come. It is one of these laws that we will pass, and when the President signs it, it will truly be a legacy for future generations. It makes me smile just knowing that so many others will be able to have our public lands to enjoy, just as my wife and I and my children all have done and continue to do, once we pass the Great American Outdoors Act.
Thank you.
I yield back.
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