II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 886 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 21, 2005 Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Salazar, and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To eliminate the annual operating deficit and maintenance backlog in the national parks, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the National Park Centennial Act.

2.

Findings and purpose

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The National Park Service was established to conserve the national parks, their scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife for public enjoyment, in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. (2)The central purpose of the establishment of our national parks is being challenged by chronic funding shortfalls, which have created annual shortfalls in operational funding that exceed $600,000,000, and have amassed a maintenance backlog estimated by the General Accounting Office at between $4,080,000,000 and $6,800,000,000. (3)Without providing the Park Service the resources necessary to operate and maintain our national parks, future generations will— (A)receive diminished visitor services; (B)experience a continually weakening system that is less and less able to fulfill its mission; and (C)inherit a National Park System that has been left to them in worse condition than it was left to their ancestors. (4)The annual Congressional appropriations process has proved insufficient to fully address the debilitating funding shortfalls of the national parks, making it necessary to supplement what the appropriations process is able to accomplish. (5)It is necessary to ensure that fiscal resources devoted to the national parks are spent wisely and effectively, making strong congressional oversight over annual appropriations extremely important. (6)Congress can enhance the resources available for national park operations and ensure adequate oversight over Park Service spending by removing from the appropriations process a series of funding responsibilities that are outside the core operating budgets for the national parks. (b)

Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to eliminate the annual operating deficit and the maintenance backlog in the national parks by the centennial anniversary of the National Park System by enabling Congress to focus on overseeing and fully funding the core operations of the national parks in the annual appropriations process.