Ron Kind: “this legislation offered today is meant to better preserve and protect one of the great national treasures that exist in…”

“this legislation offered today is meant to better preserve and protect one of the great national treasures that exist in this country, the Mississippi River Basin. This is simple legislation, Mr. Speaker. The intent of it is to authorize the U.S. Geological Survey to be able to put together the science and implement the science so we can better track and monitor the nutrients and sediments that flow into the Upper Mississippi River Basin. It would develop for the first time a public-private approach and coordination in order to develop a comprehensive monitoring and a state-of-the-art computer modeling program in order to track the sediment and nutrient flows into the river basin. This legislation has been near and dear to my heart, Mr. Speaker. As a young boy growing up in western Wisconsin, I spent an inordinate amount of my time growing up on the Mississippi River. I guess you could refer to me as the ``Tom Sawyer'' of the United States Congress, but since we already have a Tom Sawyer from Ohio I guess I will just accept the label of Huck Finn.”