Ron Kind: “Mr. Chairman, I also want to thank, who wrote a letter in support of this amendment, the American Wildlife Conservation…”

“Mr. Chairman, I also want to thank, who wrote a letter in support of this amendment, the American Wildlife Conservation Partners. It's a group of 45 outdoor recreational organizations from hunting to fishing to shooting sports to conservation groups throughout the country. They see the value of increased access to our public lands. But, Mr. Chairman, this is also an amendment about jobs because outdoor recreation, hunting, fishing, shooting sports, they contribute over $730 billion to the national economy every year. They support 6.5 million jobs. Almost one of every 20 jobs is associated with some outdoor recreational activity. And they stimulate close to 8 to 9 percent of all consumer spending in this country. So increasing access so more people have the opportunity to get to the public lands to do this is going to create jobs and strengthen our economy. I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment.”