Political Quotes

“I thank my colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee, and I thank Representative Westerman for yielding me time to speak. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 4300, the Alexander Lofgren Veterans in Parks Act. I was so proud to introduce this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation with a fellow veteran, Congressman Gallego. Our commonsense legislation would give our servicemembers, veterans, and Gold Star families free passes to all of our beautiful national parks and Federal lands for life. This is a reasonable piece of legislation that will support those who sacrifice so much for our liberties. Our Nation is blessed to have some of the most beautiful national parks and public lands. Each year, millions of Americans access the more than 2,000 Federal recreation areas, including national parks, national forests, and wildlife refuges. This includes some of the Nation's most iconic national treasures, from Acadia National Park in Maine and the Dry Tortugas in Florida to the Redwood National and State Parks forest in California and the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska. In 2020, the America the Beautiful annual pass became free for veterans and Gold Star families. However, this change for veterans has never been put into law and could be undone in future years. My bill protects these veteran passes by codifying them into law and making them lifetime passes instead of annual passes that would have to be re-sent every year.…”