Steve Daines: “I wish to thank Senator Ayotte for her great comments and for speaking as well about her heritage that has been passed…”

“I wish to thank Senator Ayotte for her great comments and for speaking as well about her heritage that has been passed down in New Hampshire. In this picture, this is not a selfie that was taken with a selfie stick. The reason we happened to have this picture is that we had our son along. Our son took that picture of my wife Cindy, our dog Ruby, and me. These are lands that I hiked in when I was a little boy, when my parents introduced me to the public lands of Montana wilderness areas. Outdoor heritage is an important part of who we are as Americans, as is the importance of preserving and protecting our clean water and our clean air. I know our States' Governors don't want this program to lapse either. In fact, in a letter sent yesterday from the National Governors Association, they stated that a lapse in authorization would create uncertainties for our States. We can still do the right thing. We can still reauthorize this important program. There was an appropriations bill that was passed which gave us funding at the same level we had from last year, at $306 million. It is short of where I would like to have it, and I know it is short of where Senator Ayotte would like to see it funded, but at least we held our funding consistent with where we were at last year. The energy committee, through the Energy Modernization Act, had the reauthorization provisions in it. That would permanently reauthorize the program.…”