John Sarbanes: “this amendment raises the function 300 back to baseline. I have a letter here. I ask unanimous consent to have it…”

“this amendment raises the function 300 back to baseline. I have a letter here. I ask unanimous consent to have it printed in the Record. It is from a number of the leading environmental organizations. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: March 16, 2006. Dear Senator: On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, we write to urge you to vote for the amendment to the budget resolution proposed by Senator Sarbanes. It will provide $31.1 billion for environmental protection and restoration in function 300 of the Fiscal Year 2007 budget. This amendment will restore funding in function 300 to the baseline level taken from Fiscal Year 2006 and stop the proposed back slide in environmental protection. The environment is not only important for public health, but it is also a critical asset to the nation providing recreational, cultural, economic, and ecological capital to our society. The cuts proposed in the Senate budget resolution would undermine the progress that has been made on protecting our natural resources.…”