[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  INTRODUCING CROWN JEWEL LEGISLATION

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                           HON. JENNIFER DUNN

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to introduce 
the Crown Jewel National Parks Act. This legislation will require the 
President to submit a specific budget request for our 54 national parks 
so that for the first time, our national parks would have their own 
specific and separate line-item to ensure that their funding is a top 
priority.
  We are truly blessed in this Nation with a national park system that 
is second to none and serves this Nation as one of the top vacation 
choice of families, individuals and visitors world-wide.
  In my State of Washington, we have the good fortune of having three 
national parks. Mount Rainier National Park, the North Cascades 
National Park, and the Olympic National Park. Like many of our older 
national parks, they are suffering from lack of funding creating 
maintenance and construction backlogs that continue to build up year 
after year. Also, the popularity of our parks has increased 
dramatically over the last decade and funding for roads and trails has 
not kept pace.
  While we significantly increased funding for the National Park 
Service in the 104th Congress, we must not allow money from one park 
account to be haphazardly moved to another without any constraints. Our 
national parks are too important to be left to the discretion of 
bureaucrats.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the 
105th Congress to enact this legislation.

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