[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE:
  S. 1742. A bill to temporarily suspend the collection of entrance 
fees at units of the National Park System and the National Wildlife 
Refuge System; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, Ken Burns, paraphrasing Wallace Stegner, 
called the national parks ``America's best idea.'' This is true not 
just for the intrinsic value of these lands, but also for the economic 
impact on rural communities across the country. Countless small 
business owners rely on outdoor recreational visitors for their 
livelihood.
  Unfortunately, last month's government shutdown caused the visitors 
to stop. For 16 days this year, at the peak of the fall color season 
restaurants and hotels were empty. Roadside stands had no passers-by. 
Canoes and kayaks, hiking maps, and bait-and-tackle sat unsold on store 
shelves. One of my favorite places in Virginia, Chincoteague National 
Wildlife Refuge, saw not one but two major events cancelled: the 
reopening ceremony of the historic Assateague Lighthouse and the 
Chincoteague wild pony roundup. These events usually draw thousands of 
visitors. The pony roundup, in particular, also serves as a fundraiser 
for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Unlike park rangers, the 
local businesses that rely on visitors got no backpay.
  That is why I am introducing this legislation to suspend entrance 
fees at national parks and wildlife refuges for a period of 16 days, 
equal to the duration of the shutdown. The fee suspension leads up to 
National Park Week in April 2014. This will encourage more visitors to 
turn out to the parks and give area establishments time to publicize 
the free days and to drum up more business. The bill is deficit-
neutral, and considering the breadth of the national park presence 
across the nation, I hope it will garner bipartisan support.
  We must negotiate a workable path forward on the federal budget so 
that the American people are never again caught up in the middle of 
battles in Washington. No act of Congress can reimburse the hard-
working business men and women around the nation who got hit by the 
shutdown, but I believe this bill will nudge a few more vacationers out 
of town to take in the natural beauty of our country and support the 
local economies while they're at it. Given the attention that national 
parks got during the shutdown, I also believe the American people 
deserve a larger conversation about the importance of maintaining our 
natural resources for future generations. I hope this bill will spur 
that discussion.
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