[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17686]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               SUPPORT INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL TODAY

  (Mr. ISRAEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ISRAEL. Madam Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support 
the Interior appropriations bill today.
  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I was able to add $10 
million for the Long Island Sound. That's $8.6 million more than last 
year's budget. It's more than $9.5 million of the administration's 
request of $500,000.
  This is not a local issue, this is a national imperative. Twenty 
million Americans live within 50 miles of the shores of the Long Island 
Sound. The Sound contributes $5 billion to our regional economy. The 
Sound is an essential part of our history.
  The chairman of the Armed Services Committee is with us this morning. 
He knows that Nathan Hale crossed the Long Island Sound to infiltrate 
the British. Generations of commercial fishing families have plied its 
waters.
  Sadly, the Long Island Sound has fallen on hard times as a result of 
development pressures, nitrogen loading and run-off. This $10 million 
literally helps turn the tides of the Long Island Sound.
  I urge my colleagues to support it, and I urge the other body to 
match that $10 million figure.

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