Jon Tester: “It is hard to say what the agenda is. I do know that earlier this year there was a proposal put out to use the Land and…”

“It is hard to say what the agenda is. I do know that earlier this year there was a proposal put out to use the Land and Water Conservation Fund for fighting forest fires. Now there is a proposal put out to use the Land and Water Conservation Fund to manage forests. The fact is, the Land and Water Conservation Fund works. It works to create habitat, and it works to access that habitat. It also works for playgrounds and parks and ball fields all across this country. If we take a look at our overall budget and what we spend on a lot of stuff around here, $900 million for a nationwide program that impacts so many people, that impacts our economy in such a very positive way-- there must be some agenda out there that I cannot see to do away with this fund. It makes no sense to me. And it is particularly frustrating to see folks on the other side of the aisle come down here to the floor and bring their friends in and say: I am going to make this glorious speech about this Land and Water Conservation Fund, and then I want you to stop the unanimous consent. The bottom line is that things get done in here when we work in the middle. As I told some folks the other day in Montana, we need to bring these folks around who think this is just excess government spending because, quite frankly, there are a lot of places where there is excess government spending in our budget. This is not one of them.…”