[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 112 (Tuesday, August 3, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H6851-H6852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE LAKE TAHOE ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMIT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Lake 
Tahoe. Mark Twain once said, as he described Lake Tahoe, it was ``the 
fairest picture the whole Earth afforded.''
  With an estimated 30 percent of the trees and forests surrounding 
Lake Tahoe dead or dying, and the lake losing almost a foot of clarity 
a year, many environmental changes must be made to ensure that we pass 
on to our children the same wonderful gift of nature in the same 
pristine condition in which we found it.
  A very important first step in this battle was taken when we hosted 
the Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit in July of 1997. As a result of 
these meetings $48 million in Federal funds were

[[Page H6852]]

committed to the Lake Tahoe Basin for clean-up and conservation 
efforts. But most importantly, the majority of these dollars were 
available to State and local agencies of Lake Tahoe, and not a Federal 
bureaucracy.
  The agreement reached at Lake Tahoe is a shining example of concerns 
of environmentalists, conservationists, and even private property 
owners are not mutually exclusive. I commend all those involved, and 
look forward to the second annual Tahoe Summit to report on the 
positive and cooperative efforts that would truly benefit this gem in 
the sky.

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