[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 19182-19183]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 19183]]

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 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.

                          ____________________