Chris Pappas: “this amendment will reorder priorities in this Congress and this Interior appropriations bill. I know time is short and…”

“this amendment will reorder priorities in this Congress and this Interior appropriations bill. I know time is short and the chairman and ranking member have been here for quite some time, so I will be brief to explain what I am trying to do here. This amendment would move $50 million into the Land and Water Conservation Fund Stateside Grant Program and reduce funding for the National Endowment for the Arts by $50 million. The Stateside Grant Program, which is a matching grant program, helps States in recreational and open space efforts. This is a very good bill and it is a lean year. I congratulate the chairman and ranking member for their efforts. Finding offsets is hard to do in this tightly constructed bill. For example, yesterday the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) and I offered an amendment to move $30 million into the Stateside Grant Program under the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Yesterday, 203 Members of this House supported this effort. However, many were troubled at the offset chosen. This amendment is another attempt to find more acceptable offsets to fund an important function in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. To me, funding open space and recreational efforts is a more important priority to central New Jersey and the people of this country. I am a great supporter of the arts.…”