Cord Byrd: “I am very honored to join with my colleague, the distinguished Senator from Montana, Mr. Burns, in bringing before the…”

“I am very honored to join with my colleague, the distinguished Senator from Montana, Mr. Burns, in bringing before the Senate H.R. 2217, the Interior and related agencies bill for fiscal year 2002, as amended, by the Senate Appropriations Committee. This is the first of the 13 annual appropriations measures to be considered by the Senate this year. In my opinion, this is a well-crafted bill. It balances both the needs of the American people and the resources available to the committee. We only have so much money available and 'we ain't going to spend what we ain't got.' That being the situation then, I urge my colleagues to adopt this bill in a timely fashion so we can proceed to conference with the House of Representatives. H.R. 2217 provides more than $1.2 billion in much-needed funding to attack the deferred maintenance problems at our national parks, our national wildlife refuges, our national forests, and other federal recreational facilities across this nation.”