Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon for yielding.

I rise in strong support of this en bloc, which includes an important bipartisan natural infrastructure amendment that adds H.R. 3742, the Recovering America's Wildlife Act to H.R. 2.

When we talk about infrastructure, natural infrastructure, habitat restoration and resilience projects must be part of the conversation.

Such investments not only create jobs, up to 33 created per $1 million of investment, but they make communities safer. They grow our outdoor recreation economy. And they help recover at-risk wildlife populations.

This amendment will enable States, territories, and Tribes to complete proactive collaborative on-the-ground habitat restoration and the natural infrastructure projects that will recover more than 12,000 wildlife, fish, and plant species of the greatest conservation need.

This amendment is modeled after legislation that has more than 180 bipartisan cosponsors, and it passed out of the Natural Resources Committee with a majority of both Republicans and Democrats.

I thank my colleagues, Representatives Fortenberry and Raskin for coleading this amendment, as well as everybody who helped get us here today, including Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Whip Clyburn, my dear friend, the chairman leading all of this, Chairman McGovern, Chairman Grijalva, the Natural Resources Committee staff, and the entire RAWA coalition.

I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc and to support this bill. The country needs it.

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