Tom McClintock

The Subcommittee meets today to hear testimony on two bills that seek to reduce the National Park Service's $11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog.

This responsibility requires active management--not benign neglect.

I think it is time to act. And this body can be enormously helpful in that effort.

We set three over-arching objectives for Federal lands: to restore public access to the public lands; to restore good management to the public lands; and to restore the Federal Government as a good neighbor to those communities impacted by…

We imposed laws years ago that have made the management of our forests virtually impossible, all in the name of improving the forest environment.

What do you think is better, water shortage or water abundance?

Breathtakingly bad public policy that has made it impossible for us to meet the water needs of Californians.

Until a budget is in place you should not be able to pass legislation that costs money.

Medicare and Social Security are insolvent in 2034.

I tend to agree with you, although as far as the breakdown of the budget process, I look at the process as laid out in law.

We have 21 trillion in debt going to the kids. Right? Intergenerational theft.

I wish we had politically neutral scores and bias and all that, but I do not think we do.

The point, though, is it is spending in general, whether it is discretionary or mandatory.

The problem with that is that puts Members' personal interests ahead of their public duties, and that is always a bad place to go.

Perhaps the way to fix the budget process is to say you cannot spend money until you have got a budget in place.

I mean hiring to take care of the stuff that we can't take care of.

I asked him, 'What would be your preference, as far as prioritizing money, maintenance or acquiring new land?' He said maintenance.

But we can't take care of the land we have.

I think that would be very enlightening for all of us.

What regulatory hurdles have you encountered in addressing these deferred maintenance needs?

The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Fund provides grants to state fish and wildlife agencies for hunter education programs.

And you said the overall industry is about $70 million, so this is about 10 percent.

I also want to thank one of my heroes, Representative John Lewis, and my friend, Representative Joe Kennedy, for joining the Hoosier delegation as original co-sponsors.

I especially want to thank Chairman Bishop for his leadership and hard work regarding this matter and Ranking Member Grijalva for his leadership, as well.

H.R. 4851... designate the site in Indianapolis... as the Kennedy-King National Historic Site.