Political Quotes

“I am dismayed that the final conference report on the surface transportation reauthorization bill did not include funding and continued authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, LWCF, program, despite the fact that this provision was included in the Senate-passed bill. This short-sighted decision is counterproductive and ultimately, harmful to America. The LWCF program represents a promise that was made to the American people almost 50 years ago to invest in conservation and outdoor recreation. The LWCF Program has long been a successful bipartisan program that has touched all 50 States and nearly every county in America. I strongly believe that the LWCF provision, that was included in the Senate bill and which was passed in the Senate by a vote of 76 to 22, should have been included in the final conference report. Over the course of half a century, the LWCF program has protected natural resource lands, outdoor recreation opportunities, and working forests across America. The program is so successful, in fact, that every part of the LWCF Program is oversubscribed, with the demand for State and local recreational needs, access for sportsmen, and working lands opportunities far exceeding the funds that have been available. The LWCF Program has been extremely important to Vermont. Two successful Vermont examples are the Green Mountain National Forest and the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.…”