Political Quotes

“There is a lot of work that has gone into this legislation. There is a lot of, I hope, hopeful signs that we will not address this issue too soon unless there is some misapplication of the legislation by the Department of Interior. I have been a strong supporter of the concessionaires because they bring visitors to the parks and they open the parks for the people I believe they should be serving. There has been some policies of the Park Service to exclude people from the parks for their own services. I think that is very unfortunate. But I would like to address section 419, that ensures it does not disrupt the ongoing bidding process for cruise ships entry permits in Glacier Bay National Park. The administration does support this provision. It grandfathers the 1998 Glacier Bay Prospectus in current law. The prospectus was issued last February, and is the basis for awarding cruise ship entry permits in Glacier Bay. These are 5 year permits lasting from the year 2000 to the year 2004. Without this language, the bill could force the Park Service to redo the prospectus. Years of expensive work and extensive negotiations will be thrown out the window. The measure provides that terms and conditions of existing law apply to the prospectus, and also sunsets a preference to renew Glacier Bay entry permits on December 31, 2009. I believe this solves a unique problem in a unique problem. Section 419 does not apply to any other park in the Nation.”