Byron Dorgan: “the conference report on the Defense appropriations bill contains $29 billion in disaster relief funding related to…”

“the conference report on the Defense appropriations bill contains $29 billion in disaster relief funding related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. As part of that emergency package, $49 million is being made available to the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reimburse cleanup costs and facility repair and restoration costs arising from the hurricanes. As the ranking member of the Interior and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over these agencies, I fully support this appropriation. There are, however, two aspects of the funding provision which concern me. First, the $49 million being provided is less than a quarter of the $220 million in damages suffered by our gulf coast parks and refuges. But not funding these expenses does not make them go away. What I fear will end up happening is that every other park and every other refuge in the Nation is going to have its 2006 budget reduced as a way of making up the $170 million Congress is not providing. Every park superintendent and every refuge manager in this Nation is struggling to keep up with fixed costs and working to address the maintenance backlog. Taking more money away from them is simply not helpful. Secondly, I strongly disagree with the instructions that are being given to the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service with respect to how these funds are to be spent.…”