Mark Souder: “we have many, many difficult and complex issues that we each face every day. We just heard from the gentlewoman from…”

“we have many, many difficult and complex issues that we each face every day. We just heard from the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), my friend and colleague, about war. Most of us spend probably the majority of our time, or at least the largest percentage of our time, dealing with economic growth and recovery, jobs, and what we need to do to help attract or keep companies in our district, and the regulatory issues, and many other things. We also work regularly on other issues that come up. For example, I am chairing a hearing Thursday on the West Nile virus which has particularly hit my hometown hard. We just had an hour debate on moral issues. But in addition to these kinds of issues, we deal inside the Federal budget with an incredible array of issues. I would like to address one tonight that is in danger of being overlooked as we address the big issues that are in front of Congress. Former President Theodore Roosevelt once said: "Nothing short of defending this country during wartime," which is now, "compares in importance with the great task of leaving this land a better land for our descendants than it is for us." His legacy was the National Park system. I want to talk a little bit about the financial pressures on our National Park system. This legacy is important.…”