Charles Taylor: “As the gentleman knows, this committee has been extremely generous to the national parks. Over the last 10 years, we…”

“As the gentleman knows, this committee has been extremely generous to the national parks. Over the last 10 years, we have provided an additional $515 million specifically for park-based increases. This bill includes another $55 million. That amounts to a total of $1 billion for 388 park units in fiscal year 2005. The committee has been concerned over the last several years that OMB has required the parks to absorb pay costs, antiterrorism requirements and costs associated with catastrophic storm damage. These absorbed costs total $171 million. However, there is another side to the story. As the gentleman may be aware, the Park Service is not managing the funds we have provided. The gentleman from Washington and I have raised issues with the Service related to excessive travel, too many large conferences and meetings, and the Park Service's inability to control major new initiatives, including the 100 partnership construction projects with a price tag of $300 million. These are projects that the Park Service has committed to without this committee or the United States Congress' knowledge or approval. Even if only a fraction of these projects went forward, they would have a devastating impact on both the backlog maintenance projects and park operations.”