Heidi Alexander: “Prior to doing that, I want to join Senator Portman in acknowledging the leadership of Senator Mark Warner of Virginia…”

“Prior to doing that, I want to join Senator Portman in acknowledging the leadership of Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, along with the conservation community, in developing the bones of this bill. We had competing bills; he and Senator Portman were out there first, so we did what we should do. We put them together, and look at the result. That happens a lot more than people notice. When an airplane lands safely, it is not news; when it crashes, it is. This is an example of one landing safely. My prediction is that if all of those 100 conservation groups and all of those Senators in Congress who already support this will sign up with this quickly in January, we can get this train moving, and we can begin to fix the roofs and repair the bathrooms and build the roads and take America's best idea--our national parks--and make it what the American people expect it to be. I thank Senator Portman and Senator King for their leadership as well.”