The Public Lands Rehabilitation And Job Creation Act

* Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job Creation Act.

* The landscape of America is dotted with national treasures, including our national parks, monuments, and forests. From Yosemite National Park in my home state of California to Acadia National Park in Maine, national parks are of recognized for the natural splendor that surrounds us and conserving our precious natural resources for future generations must be a priority.

* Since 1916, the National Park Service has admirably preserved and protected our natural treasures. In recent years, however, a log jam of maintenance and safety issues has developed. Structures are unsound, trails overgrown, roads impassable, and cabins unusable. A lack of resources, both money and manpower, has contributed to this situation. If we invest in repairing, rebuilding, and rehabilitating these resources now, we will not only have a safer infrastructure and a brighter future, we will employ tens of thousands of people across the nation.

* Since January 2008, the number of unemployed Americans has grown each month. In some areas, the unemployment rate has reached more than twenty percent. We have taken steps to stimulate the economy and catch people in the social safety net, but we have not done enough. While a stronger safety net helps families survive, in the end, Americans don't want unemployment checks, they want to work.

* We have people without work and work without people. The solution could not be clearer. We can put people back to work now and restore our national treasures by passing this bill to increase funding for the National Park Service and National Forest Service.

* Despite almost 8,000 permanent and seasonal employees, nearly every park manager asserts that their current staffing level is woefully insufficient to take on identified maintenance issues. Within four to six months of receiving additional funds, the Park Service can prepare needed plans and complete essential hiring. These new employees will resurface roads; rehabilitate trails; repair visitor centers, museums, and campsites; and restore wild areas to their previous pristine nature. The new opportunities will range from lower-skilled, entry-level work to highly paid, highly skilled, professional and master craftsman jobs.

* Similarly, the Forest Service can create at least fourteen and a half direct hire jobs in well-paying fields like engineering, design, and construction for every million dollars we invest in road repair and decommissioning.

* Opportunities to improve roads, buildings, and other infrastructure exist in urban and rural areas across the nation, from the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City, to Fort Sumter in South Carolina; and from Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego to the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan.

* Without additional investment, our infrastructure problems will continue to grow and hinder use and enjoyment of our nation's natural resources. Theodore Roosevelt once said that we should ensure the mountains and trees and canyons and streams are preserved for our children and our children's children, ``with their majestic beauty all unmarred.'' If we continue to neglect our greatest national treasures, our problems will fester and future generations will have less to enjoy.

* We can cure this oversight through increased investments that will put more than 50,000 Americans back to work, performing needed, meaningful tasks that our children and grandchildren will enjoy for years to come.

* Congress rarely has a chance to act on opportunities this well paired. We should put Americans back to work and preserve our public lands for future generations. We cannot let this opportunity slip by. We need these jobs, and we need to pass the Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job Creation Act.

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