[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     H.R. 6460, THE GREAT LAKES LEGACY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, September 27, 2008

  Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6460, the 
Great Lakes Legacy Reauthorization Act. Today, we will vote to 
reauthorize the Great Lakes Legacy Act program for the next 2 years at 
its current level of $50 million per year rather than the $150 million 
per year for the next 5 years the House approved last week. I am 
supporting this Senate-amended version not because I believe the Great 
Lakes deserve substantially less money than we afforded them in the 
House, but because this very important clean-up program must be 
reauthorized before it expires next week.
  The Great Lakes Legacy Act has been an incredibly successful program. 
In fact, the first success story from the Legacy Act is in Trenton, 
Michigan. Black Lagoon, as it had been named in the 1980s because of 
the oil and grease that had accumulated between the 1940s and the 
1970s, was renamed Ellias Cove just 1 year ago after the area was 
remediated. Without the Great Lakes Legacy Act, the $9.3 million 
cleanup would not have been possible.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on 
H.R. 6460 to reauthorize this program that will continue to clean up 
our national treasure. However, I look forward to a time, hopefully 
after the next election, when a single senator, who is not even from 
the Great Lakes region, cannot stand in the way of greater progress for 
our Great Lakes.

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