[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 65 (Monday, April 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2334-S2335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           National Park Week

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today marks the start of National Park 
Week.
  As a fifth-generation Montanan and as someone who grew up in 
Bozeman--in fact, Mom and Dad moved there in 1964, just a short drive 
from America's first national park, Yellowstone--I am very excited to 
take this opportunity to celebrate the parks that are so very special 
to so many because, in Montana, hiking, backpacking, fishing, and white 
water rafting are a way of life.
  I grew up spending as much time outdoors as possible, and I continue 
that tradition with my children today. In fact, my idea of a great time 
in August is to take our dogs, as many of our kids as we can get 
together--according to their schedules anymore--and take our backpacks 
and spend several days together in enjoying Montana's outdoors. As a 
father, I am grateful to share these experiences with our four children 
and instill in them a love for the outdoors. Frankly, what better place 
to do that and enjoy the outdoors than in our national parks.

  While Montana is privileged to have two world-famous national parks 
in Glacier and Yellowstone, national parks are the pride of so many 
States from Florida to Colorado, to Maine.
  Speaking of Maine, I am very glad to have partnered with my colleague 
from Maine in leading this week, as well as with an additional 26 of 
our colleagues around the country, supporting this resolution. I am 
pleased we will have the opportunity to recognize the tremendous value 
our national parks bring to so many.
  As this week begins, I have one challenge for everyone. I challenge 
you to find time in your schedules and visit a national park. Our 
national parks are what make us distinctly American. In fact, you can 
go to findyourpark.com and find the closest park to you. I hope to see 
all of you out there sometime this year.
  With that, I would like to turn it over to my colleague and my 
friend, the former Governor of Maine and now the Senator of Maine, 
Angus King, who joins me in leading National Park Week.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Mr. KING. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague. I want 
to join with the chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks of the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senator Daines, to support 
this resolution which was adopted unanimously last week recognizing 
this week as National Park Week in this country.
  When I left office as Governor of Maine in January of 2003, my family 
and I the next day took off in a 40-foot RV to see the country. My 
children were 12 and 9 at the time, and we basically circumnavigated 
America over the next 5\1/2\ months.
  Just before coming to the floor, I went down the list of the parks we 
went to. The point I want to make is--and I get a bit emotional about 
this. This was the greatest experience of my life, to have taken my 
children to these parks with my wife, Mary; and to have seen and 
experienced them and experienced the people at the parks was just an 
unbelievable life-changing experience.
  We went to Arches--I am doing them in alphabetical order, not 
geographically--Bad Lands; Big Bend in Texas, which, by the way, is one 
of the most beautiful places in the country and one of the least 
visited national parks; Bryce Canyon; Canyonlands; Capitol Reef; 
Carlsbad; the Grand Canyon--of course, every American should see the 
Grand Canyon. No picture, no movie, no helicopter movie, nothing can 
prepare you for the Grand Canyon; Mesa Verde; Olympic National Park in 
the State of Washington; the redwoods and sequoias in California; 
Shenandoah, just a few hours from here; St. John in the Virgin Islands; 
Yellowstone; Yosemite; and Zion. These are gems.
  It has become commonplace to reference Ken Burns' statement that the 
national parks are ``America's best idea,'' starting with Yellowstone 
but spreading across the country. They mark our history, they mark our 
tremendous natural resources, and they are just pure inspiration.
  I hope our colleagues can go, if only for 1 day. If you have 1 day, 
you can leave Washington and be in Front Royal, VA, in about an hour 
and a half and go down the Skyline Drive of Shenandoah National Park, 
one of the most beautiful places in the country and within a couple of 
hours of Washington. These parks are near every place. There are so 
many gorgeous and extraordinary places among this system.
  In Maine, we have two--one is a national park and one is a national 
monument. We have Acadia National Park, which is the fifth most visited 
national park in the country, and it is enormously important. These 
parks are not only important to our spiritual well-being and the 
ability of our people

[[Page S2335]]

to enjoy the wonders of this country, but they are also economically 
important. Acadia, for example, has about 3.5 million visitors a year. 
To put that in perspective, Maine has a population of 1.3 million. So 
almost three times the population of Maine visits Acadia every year. 
The estimate is $386 million of direct economic benefit to our State, 
with 4,200 jobs. It is a magnet. It is a national park that draws 
people into our State, and it is, indeed, one of the most spectacular 
places in America. I have been there many times. From the top of 
Cadillac Mountain to the place they call Thunder Hole, it is a gem of a 
place that is on the ocean. Acadia is on an island just off the coast 
of Maine. We just had a monument established about 3 years ago called 
Katahdin Woods and Waters, which is the other side of the coin in terms 
of attractive places that are important for visitors and are symbolic 
of the places all over the country. Katahdin Woods and Waters is 
inland. It is on a river. It has mountain views and forests, it is 
inland Maine, which represents so much of what our country looked like 
many years ago.
  These places are deeply important to our country. I want to join my 
colleague in challenging all of our colleagues to visit the national 
parks. It is not only the physical nature, the physical attraction of a 
place like the Grand Canyon, but it is also about the people.
  I will never forget taking our children to Kitty Hawk on that RV 
trip. We had a guide who knew everything there was to know about the 
Wright brothers, and he engaged our kids in a way I hadn't seen. This 
was education of the highest sort. The people in these parks are 
dedicated, they know their stuff, and they make the experience so 
dramatic and real for all the members of the family.
  We have work to do in this body. We have a backlog of maintenance on 
our parks that the Senator from Montana and I are working on, along 
with Senators Alexander, Heinrich, and others, to try to find a 
solution to this maintenance backlog. We do have work to do. We are 
working with the parks to bring their admissions system into the 21st 
century in terms of online access for park passes. There is plenty of 
work to be done.
  The underlying assets are so magnificent and are so important to our 
country economically, culturally, socially, and spiritually. I am proud 
to have joined my colleagues in sponsoring this resolution which was 
adopted unanimously. I join my colleague and invite all of my 
colleagues and all Americans to make it a point this year, as the 
weather gets warmer, to visit one of these magnificent places. You will 
be rewarded richly and the rewards will stay with you every day of your 
life.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.