[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10855]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AMERICAN CITY QUALITY MONTH

  Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, I rise today to recognize that the month 
of April is designated as American City Quality Month. Through the 
continued efforts of the American City Planning Directors' Council and 
the American City Quality Foundation, ACQF, the April 2009 theme is 
appropriately labeled, ``Support Planning and Action for Better Quality 
Communities.'' For many years the emphasis promoted by the ACQF and its 
numerous professional organizations and supporters has been to call 
attention to the vital need for improving American cities through 
quality planning--via coordinated efforts to produce effective 
decisions, design, development, management, and action.
  As our country's population growth projections appear to reach an 
additional 34 million people by the year 2020, the importance of proper 
urban planning as it relates to area surroundings, land conservation, 
and quality of life becomes a crucial component of the United States' 
strategy to halt urban sprawl and the waste of both human and fiscal 
resources. Subsequently, through the devoted work, development, and 
planning of the ACQF and interested parties, the recognition has 
surfaced--that coordinated efforts on the part of city, State, and 
Federal governments, and the private sector need to be exacted more 
than ever. Such a critical mission must continue until there is 
mainstream coordination throughout the nation to improve our country's 
urban settings in terms of cultural, practical, and land conservation 
amenities.
  Therefore, through the efforts of the American City Planning 
Directors' Council, the American City Quality Foundation, and other 
interested parties, I thank all who have joined together to address the 
challenges posed by our burgeoning cities, as the integration of 
efforts has and will continue to provide us with a plan and hope for 
the future that assures quality growth for our Nation's urban settings. 
The ACQF's mission toward reaching that goal has secured both the 
attention and admiration of the American public.

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