On the recordMay 25, 2016
The Democratic motion would instruct House conferees to insist that section 5002 of S. 2012 be included in the final conference report on this energy package. Section 5002 of the Senate bill would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund and make other minor changes to the program. The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 is based on a simple idea. If we are going to allow Big Oil to make huge profits from drilling off our coasts, then a small percentage of those profits should be set aside for parks and recreational opportunities onshore. The oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf belongs to all our constituents, so it is only right that all of our constituents should see the same benefit when Big Oil develops these resources. Fifty years later, the program has been a huge success. More than $36 billion has accrued to the fund. Millions of acres have been conserved and projects have been funded in every State in the Union. Meanwhile, the companies paying into the fund have become some of the most profitable multinational conglomerates in human history. Over the same five decades, States with large amounts of public land have developed robust tourism and recreation economies, with job and economic opportunities and a quality of life attractive enough to make them among the fastest growing communities in the country.…
