Norman D. Dicks: “I rise to discuss H.R. 1977, the fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior and Related…”

“I rise to discuss H.R. 1977, the fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies. I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Regula, who has done a fine job under very difficult circumstances in developing this bill in his first year of chairing the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. I would also like to express my appreciation to the subcommittee's ranking member, Mr. Yates, who has long been a champion of many of the critical needs for the Nation that are funded through this bill. The Interior appropriations bill had to absorb a reduction of $1.5 billion in budget authority, $750 million in outlays, and an overall cut of 10 percent to base funding. So even though I am not happy with this level of reduced funding for the Interior bill, I believe that our chairman and our subcommittee did its best under difficult circumstances to hold together support for the bill's core priorities. This bill is important because it funds our national parks.”