T. Gorton: “first, there is another far more important program and far more expensive program that goes to these very issues. The…”

“first, there is another far more important program and far more expensive program that goes to these very issues. The appropriations bill for military construction included many other matters. There was $600 million more for the direct assistance to people with their heating oil bills. In some respects, this is every bit as important a program because it tries to lower the bills in the first place. The Senator from Rhode Island is correct; this is a small percentage of the budgets for the national parks. It is also the subject of match for several other amendments here because it is so easy. We don't say this program is much more important than another program, so let's cut the other program; we just say, in effect, cut them all across the board. But it is $8 million more in deferred maintenance for our national parks, or for our other national lands. And since this is a program that, over the course of the last 5 years, has increased more rapidly, bluntly, than the amount of money we have for these primary responsibilities, that is the reason we came up with the amount that we did. Would I have liked to come up with more? Yes. If I have a larger allocation later, I will. Will there be more? There will be. I don't think at this point, for a State program, that many States aren't matching--and the requirement for match is only 25 percent--that this is as important as the national priorities that are the subject of the rest of this bill.”