Taxpayer First Act of 2019

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak today in support of the Great American Outdoors Act. I would like to thank my colleague from Arizona, the distinguished chairman, Chairman Grijalva, for his leadership; and also thank my colleague from South Carolina, Representative Cunningham, for introducing this bill.

The Great American Outdoors Act, as you have heard today, Mr. Speaker, would provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and address the significant maintenance backlog on our Nation's public lands.

Since its inception, the LWCF program has established many of our Nation's most coveted and incredible public lands. The program has invested in over 41,000 parks, including Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, Lory State Park, and so many other iconic parks in my district, the Second Congressional District of the State of Colorado.

Nearly 1,000 LWCF grants have leveraged over $147 million dollars for local government and State park investments in Colorado. In my district alone, there have been 191 LWCF projects. Therefore, establishing permanent and full funding truly is critical.

Additionally, deferred maintenance, as you have heard my colleagues on both sides of the aisle discuss today, on our public lands is a mounting problem that we can no longer afford to ignore.

As one of our country's most popular National Parks, Rocky Mountain National Park faces a significant maintenance backlog of $84 million. Our park employees are working incredibly hard, but they can't do it alone. We must address this by increasing funds designed to upkeep and rebuild infrastructure on our Federal public lands.

I have consistently urged Congress to fully fund LWCF and address these challenges, and I am so heartened to see this collaborative effort considered on the House floor today and, of course, grateful to the county commissioners, and to so many local officials, conservation groups, anglers and outdoor recreation businesses who have come together to contribute their time and dedication to this effort. Let's get this bill passed.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source