Steven Holt: “despite the fact that a majority of Americans believe that we should do more, not less, to protect our environment…”

“despite the fact that a majority of Americans believe that we should do more, not less, to protect our environment, President Bush is pursuing several policies to roll back environmental progress. Let us look at our national parks. Despite the clear evidence that snowmobile use is not compatible with the preservation and public enjoyment of Yellowstone, our world's oldest national park, the President is pushing to roll back a rule that would prevent snowmobile use there, a rule that the EPA said was among the most thorough and substantial scientifically based rules they had seen. Right now, the administration and the Republican majority here is also trying to roll back a ban on personal watercraft like jet skis in our national parks, despite the clear indication from rangers that these have a negative effect on the enjoyment and preservation of the parks. Mr. Speaker, our environment and our national parks belong to all of us, and we cannot let these series of environmental rollbacks ruin them for us.”