[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S10906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page S10906]]



      HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR YOU: AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to speak about an issue that 
has been bothering me for some time. As this Congress begins to wind 
down, I have reflected on the achievements and the failures during the 
past 2 years of this Congress. As I look back on the 104th Congress, I 
am struck by the public's negative perception, not only of this 
Congress, but our Government, our Federal Government. In my 10 years 
here in the Senate, I cannot recall a time when the American public had 
such a low regard for our Federal Government. It seems like our 
perception of Government in this country has gone from a view where all 
things are possible to a view by many where all things are suspect.
  There has always been in this country a healthy tradition of 
political dissent, but what I am hearing today is something deeper and 
more negative than that. This troubles me because I hear it being 
echoed in the State of Nevada even by young people, the very generation 
who will lead us into the next century. I am not willing to stand by 
and watch an entire generation of Nevadans grow up distrusting our 
Government. The future, I believe, of Nevada, and our Nation, depends 
on this next generation's youthful energy and natural optimism to carry 
us forward.
  So I would like to spend a little time today--and I will in the 
future--talking about how Government works for each of us. I think it 
is important to take a few minutes to remember how Government has 
changed our lives for the better. There are many areas about which we 
could speak, but today I am going to talk about our National Park 
System, which I personally am very proud of. I think all of us in 
America should be rightfully proud.
  In the late 1700's and the early part of the 1800's, hunters and 
trappers would come back from passing through Yellowstone with 
incredible tales of soaring mountains, steaming lakes, of spouts of 
water going into the air hundreds of feet, stories that many people 
believed were untrue. But, of course, they were true.
  In PBS's recent production on the West, ``The Making of the West,'' 
there is a great story in the first couple of series about a mountain 
man by the name of Joe Mink, who came through Yellowstone, and some of 
the stories that he told.
  Many stories were told about this great area in our country. These 
stories were passed on, some not believing them, as I mentioned, some 
thinking that they were nothing more than tall tales started by native 
Americans and then passed on by hunters and trappers.
  But the stories persisted. Finally, expedition parties were sent out 
to check the stories about Yellowstone. One such expedition journeyed 
there to report back what they felt should be done with Yellowstone. 
What these men found there awed and really humbled them. At their 
campsite near the Madison River, members of the expedition party talked 
about what they had seen. Maybe the land, they said, could be mined, 
and surely a few fortunes could be made harvesting timber. The 
possibilities of development really seemed endless.
  But a member of that expedition by the name of Cornelius Hedges, who 
was a Montana judge, had a different idea. There are a lot of fathers 
of our National Park System. Cornelius Hedges is one of those fathers. 
He thought that the land should be preserved as a national park, a word 
that was unheard of at the time.
  The expedition returned and began to promote the idea that Hedges 
had. In 1872 this dream came to fruition when Congress established 
Yellowstone National Park. In 1916 the National Park Service was 
established by Congress. Today, 80 years after the birth of the 
National Park Service, there are more than 270 million visitors to our 
national parks. Of course, some people visit parks more than once.
  Madam President, I read in this morning's paper about President 
Clinton yesterday being at the Grand Canyon. During his presentation 
yesterday at the Grand Canyon, he talked about an event that really 
changed his life. That was a time when as a young man he went to the 
Grand Canyon and spent 2 hours sitting in solitude, looking at this 
piece of nature. He said even today in his hustle and bustle world he 
is able to reflect back on the solitude that he experienced at Grand 
Canyon National Park.

  I, too, a little over a year ago had the good fortune of traveling 
down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It was a life-
changing experience for me, also, as it has been for thousands and 
thousands and thousands of people over the years who have gone through 
this, one of our national parks, the Grand Canyon.
  This year Nevada is celebrating the 10th anniversary of our only 
national park, the Great Basin National Park. This incredible wonder in 
Nevada is home to the southernmost glacier in all of America. Yes, a 
glacier in Nevada--incredible, but true. The oldest living thing in the 
world is in this national park, the bristlecone pine, a tree that is 
gnarled, and some say not statuesque like a lot of big green trees that 
we see. It is over 5,000 years old. Madam President, 2,500 years before 
the birth of Christ these trees were growing in the Great Basin 
National Park.
  We have many other things that will cause one to wonder other than 
these twisted limbs of the bristlecone pine in Great Basin National 
Park, but it is something that we in Nevada are proud of and the entire 
Nation is proud of. This 77,000-acre park was visited last year by 
about 100,000 people. You do not have to be rich to take in the wonders 
of the Grand Canyon. You do not have to be rich to take in the wonders 
of Yellowstone or Great Basin.
  Our National Park System is designed for everyone. It is something 
that we as a country should be very proud of and we are. You can travel 
the depths of the Earth to see the incredible wonders of Lehman Cave, 
also part of our great national park. This jewel, the Great Basin 
National Park, will be there for centuries to come, as will Grand 
Canyon, as will Yellowstone.
  I have talked today, Madam President, about one example of about 
where I think Government has worked well for the people of this country 
in establishing our National Park System. Now, this is something, our 
National Park System, that we should all speak proudly of, positively 
of, and it is a function where Government has worked well. Instead of 
denigrating Government, we should work to improve our system of 
Government that is the envy of the world. Our National Park System is 
the envy of the world.
  Unquestionably, the Federal Government needs to streamline, reform, 
and change. Burdens of regulations of unfunded mandates must be 
eliminated, and ridiculous paperwork requirements must be eliminated, 
also. However, Government oversight is not innately evil and can be 
designed not as an intrusive control mechanism over the States but as 
an insurance policy to guard against Americans falling through the 
cracks. Our goal should be for a more effective Federal Government, not 
one that is useless or so reduced that our citizens are the ones to 
suffer. As a nation, we cannot afford to have a Federal Government that 
is unable to provide for Americans to defend our interests in the 
world.
  Madam President, I ask that we all reflect on a success that we have 
had as a Federal Government. That is, in establishing and maintaining 
our National Park System. Of course, we need to do more. We have a 
tremendous backlog of renovations and repairs that need to be made in 
our National Park System, but visiting a national park is an experience 
of a lifetime. It was for me as it has been for millions of other 
Americans.
  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Madam President, I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. FAIRCLOTH pertaining to the introduction of S. 
2093 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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