Maria Cantwell

We appreciate Senator Cantwell's work on behalf of Indian Country and, specifically, on the opioid issue.

In our State, we have had over 10,000 fatal overdoses in basically a 17-year period of time.

Our Tribe supports S. 2440.

We support Senator Cantwell's bill, the CARES Act. This is a good bill that would increase opioid prevention and treatment funding.

I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that agriculture is not one of those losers.

Rather than having the Federal Government step up as a reliable partner, President Trump's plan continues the problem by once again passing the buck.

The crisis turned into a $200 million Federal problem and became a prime example of the need to invest upfront in the ability of cities and states to provide essential services to their residents.

I'm very concerned that this will result in more local tolls, fare increases, rate hikes, and taxes, and it's not clear what local communities will get in return.

We are going to be continuing to ask about the Administration's Arctic priorities to ensure that this does continue to be viewed as an area of focus, not only from the budget perspective, but in terms of national priorities.

I do believe that when you removed part of Utah's monument that is now going to be open to ideas of mining claims and uranium development and off-road ATV, you did take an inch of public land out of that use.

Will that include doing no analysis of those opportunities for the future?

I think the thing that I would say deserves a major infrastructure investment is anything that can take the existing sources of water and use them more resiliently.

Why cut at a time when water is becoming such a major focus for us on the kinds of resiliency programs that are helping our Western states deal with the impact?

The staffing and budget cuts at our national parks also, combined with similar budget cuts at virtually all non-energy programs within the Interior, show the Administration's failure to recognize the importance of the outdoor recreation…

These increases imposed on American's public lands are also in sharp contrast to the millions of dollars of royalty reductions that the Secretary is proposing for oil and gas and coal companies.

Your proposal would increase the park entrance fee and cost visitors to these parks an additional $215 million a year.

The President's budget proposal for 2019, again, abdicates responsibility for stewardship of our natural resources and public good.

I believe these actions will ultimately be overturned as unlawful exercises of Presidential or Secretarial power.

I have given you ample time and I simply asked you a question about the private jet trip to Vegas.

We definitely think we should be increasing access, not disincentivizing it.

I am, Madam Chair, disappointed at this budget proposal and the actions of this Administration as it relates to these important issues.

President Trump and Secretary Zinke have abandoned the responsibility of stewardship of our public lands and undermined the public trust.

Secretary Zinke assured us during his confirmation hearing that he would manage the Interior Department like a Teddy Roosevelt conservationist.

This budget and Secretary Zinke's actions, I think, represent an abandonment of the Secretary's stewardship responsibility of our public resource.

The Trump Administration has overseen an attack on our public lands and on our nation's strong conservation ethic that, I believe, is unprecedented.