[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 108 (Monday, July 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               LAKE TAHOE

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, Mark Twain once described Lake Tahoe as the 
fairest picture the whole Earth affords. But with an estimated 30 
percent of Lake Tahoe surrounding forests that are dead and dying and 
the lake losing a foot of clarity each year, many vital environmental 
changes must be made to ensure that we pass on to our children the same 
wonderful gift of nature in the same pristine fashion as which we once 
found it.
  A very important first step in this battle was taken when the 
President hosted the Lake Tahoe environmental summit this weekend. As a 
result of these meetings, $48 million in Federal funds were committed 
to the Lake Tahoe Basin for cleanup and conservation efforts. But most 
important, the majority of these dollars will be made available to the 
people of Lake Tahoe and not to a Federal bureaucratic agency.
  Mr. Speaker, the agreement reached at Lake Tahoe is a shining example 
that the concerns of environmentalists and private property owners are 
not mutually exclusive. I applaud all those involved in this weekend's 
activities.

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