Maurice Hinchey: “first of all let me express my profound respect and appreciation for the work of the chairman of the subcommittee. He…”

“first of all let me express my profound respect and appreciation for the work of the chairman of the subcommittee. He and I share many of the same values and interests with regard to the Nation's natural and historical resources. But unfortunately, this bill does not reflect those values in the way that I think both the gentleman and I would like it to. The gentleman has been given a very ugly package to carry here. What does this bill do? First of all, it cuts the Department of the Interior to $500 million below this current year's level, making it more difficult for the Department to protect the Nation's natural and historical resources. It eliminates the National Biological Service as a separate agency and slashes funding for that purpose by about 30 percent. It pretends that we ought not to know more about the Nation's biological resources, pretends that ignorance about these resources is a virtue. The bill prohibits the research activities of the Department, the former National Biological Service, from using even volunteers to go out and accumulate information. It revels in this kind of ignorance and prevents people from exercising their civic duty in a voluntary sense. It cuts the National Park Service by $230 million below the administration's request, including $70 million from park operations, making it more difficult for the people of this country to enjoy these natural resources, particularly our national parks. But it expends money in other areas.…”