Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, Ken Burns, paraphrasing Wallace Stegner, called the national parks ``America's best idea.'' This is true not just for the intrinsic value of these lands, but also for the economic impact on rural communities across the country. Countless small business owners rely on outdoor recreational visitors for their livelihood.

Unfortunately, last month's government shutdown caused the visitors to stop. For 16 days this year, at the peak of the fall color season restaurants and hotels were empty. Roadside stands had no passers-by. Canoes and kayaks, hiking maps, and bait-and-tackle sat unsold on store shelves. One of my favorite places in Virginia, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, saw not one but two major events cancelled: the reopening ceremony of the historic Assateague Lighthouse and the Chincoteague wild pony roundup. These events usually draw thousands of visitors. The pony roundup, in particular, also serves as a fundraiser for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Unlike park rangers, the local businesses that rely on visitors got no backpay.

That is why I am introducing this legislation to suspend entrance fees at national parks and wildlife refuges for a period of 16 days, equal to the duration of the shutdown. The fee suspension leads up to National Park Week in April 2014. This will encourage more visitors to turn out to the parks and give area establishments time to publicize the free days and to drum up more business. The bill is deficit-neutral, and considering the breadth of the national park presence across the nation, I hope it will garner bipartisan support.

We must negotiate a workable path forward on the federal budget so that the American people are never again caught up in the middle of battles in Washington. No act of Congress can reimburse the hard-working business men and women around the nation who got hit by the shutdown, but I believe this bill will nudge a few more vacationers out of town to take in the natural beauty of our country and support the local economies while they're at it. Given the attention that national parks got during the shutdown, I also believe the American people deserve a larger conversation about the importance of maintaining our natural resources for future generations. I hope this bill will spur that discussion.

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