OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Support Funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 24, 2016
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Environment Federal, State and Local Relations

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Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of Great Lakes Day, hundreds of advocates are in Washington to support funding for the restoration of the Great Lakes.

Fortunately, after years of neglect, Congress is starting to meet its responsibilities to protect and to restore this irreplaceable resource.

In 1968, the Buffalo River, which drains into Lake Erie, was so contaminated that it was declared biologically dead.

Today, funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Federal Government, local businesses, and the Buffalo Niagara RIVERKEEPER are working on a massive undertaking to clean up and restore the river. Now we expect it will be fishable and swimmable within the next decade.

In the coming weeks, Congress will begin to devise its spending plan for the year. I urge my colleagues to support programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which support local economies, natural habitats, and public health throughout the region.

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