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It includes the program we know as UPARR. It includes a very popular and effective program called Historic Preservation. It includes Urban and Community Forestry and the Youth Conservation Corps.
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They are good programs. The problem is, they have to compete for the same pot of money, fighting among themselves. We had hoped, and we thought, it was time--and we still believe it is time, the CARA Coalition--to get the environmental community and the business community and the recreational activists and enthusiasts in this Nation working together. That is what the CARA Coalition represents. Instead of fighting over crumbs, instead of fighting over very limited amounts of money, we were hoping to build, first, on a relatively small amount of money but build together. And as the budget provided, as political opportunities provided, we were willing to come back and wait and be patient and get additional moneys for these programs.
But to force these groups, which have had to live on so little for so long, to have to compete amongst each other every year, year in and year out, I think is far less than what we could have done and what we should have done.
We do not probably have the support to defeat this Interior appropriations bill. I would have to say, there are some very good things in this bill. The appropriators worked very hard. I know it is very tough to try to put together a bill that can meet the approval of over 500 Members--both in the House and in the Senate--representing different parties and different interests.
(Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire assumed the chair.)
Ms. LANDRIEU. I want to just say how much I respect our leader, Senator BYRD, and the work that he and his staff have put in. But I believe it is important--and I feel compelled as the leader of the CARA Coalition in the Senate--to point out that there are real differences. And those differences really matter to environmental groups, to wildlife groups, to coastal impact assistance organizations that are fighting for coastal impact assistance and more acknowledgment of the needs of our coasts. And it matters to parents, to volunteers, and to community organizations.
So I think that we should be truthful and honest--and I am not saying that people have not been truthful and honest, but I do think we have to be very clear that while this trust fund could potentially be a beginning, it is not nearly where we need to be in terms of delivering a real legacy for this Nation, a legacy of which Republicans can be proud, a legacy of which Democrats can be proud, a legacy of which this President can be proud.
So I want to take a few minutes, if I could--and I know we have quite a bit of time and no time limit--so I would like to take a moment to go through this large binder here to talk about our coalition because there is still time remaining in this session. We do not know whether we are going to be in for this week, whether we may be here for another 2 weeks, or another 3 weeks. There are still many serious negotiations going on between the House and the Senate, between congressional appropriators and the White House, on a variety of issues that are important to our Nation.
Some of those issues have to do with health care; some of them have to do with education; some of them have to do with transportation. So we have time.
I have come to the floor to try to explain, in my remarks, the differences between what the Interior bill has laid down and for what the CARA Coalition was hopeful.
I also want to point out and add to the RECORD this extraordinary coalition that has been supporting this legislation, and to ask them to use the time remaining to call the leadership, Senator LOTT, Senator DASCHLE, and the President himself, and say thank you for the work that we have done. But let's not miss this opportunity to do better. Let's not miss this opportunity to do better this year, and to hopefully build in the years to come on what the Conservation and Reinvestment Act really envisions for our Nation.
Since I am a Senator from Louisiana, I want to thank this extraordinary list of supporters from Louisiana who are registered here in this book. This book is actually a book of all the States. There are 5,000 organizations--an unprecedented coalition, of, as I said, Governors, mayors, county officials, conservation and wildlife organizations, sportsmen's groups, parks and recreation advocates, business and industry groups, historic preservationists, and soccer and youth sports organizations that have called on us to act.
I want them to know that I have heard their message. I want them to know that 63 Senators have heard their message. I want them to know that Chairman MURKOWSKI and the ranking member, Senator BINGAMAN, have heard their message. We want to work with them in the remaining weeks of this session, and for as long into the future as it takes to actually get an environmental legacy for this country of which we can all be proud.
Let me just say, in this book is a letter to each of the Senators, signed by anywhere from 50 to literally hundreds of organizations in their States, urging them to adopt CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, the principles outlined in CARA.
I thank, particularly, from my State of Louisiana, for his extraordinary leadership, our Secretary of Natural Resources, Jack Caldwell, who works for a Republican Governor, Gov. Mike Foster. In our State this has truly been a bipartisan effort.
I thank our Louisiana Wildlife Federation; the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which produced this extraordinary document, for their work and help and advice through this process.
I thank our Lieutenant Governor, who is a colleague of mine, and a good friend, Kathleen Blanco, and her Office of State Parks.
I particularly thank the Louisiana Chapter of the Sierra Club that spoke out early in support of this effort.
I thank the Louisiana Legislature that was the first legislative body in the Nation to adopt a resolution in favor of the Conservation Reinvestment Act. And many State legislatures around our Nation have followed that show of support.
Almost every elected official in our State--particularly, I want to single out Mayor Marc Morial, the mayor of New Orleans, who will be leading the U.S. Conference of Mayors next year as chairman and a leading member of that organization, for his outstanding advocacy for UPARR and for other portions of the CARA legislation.
I thank Jefferson Parish President Tim Coulon, who is a Republican. Again, our partnership has been quite bipartisan in Louisiana. I thank him.
We have led this effort, but we have been joined by many States in the Union, by many officials from all parts of this Nation.
Just for the record, I want to read a few of the groups from the State of Mississippi that have been extraordinary and helpful in this--and to thank Senator TRENT LOTT for his support--and to continue to encourage him and our leader, Senator DASCHLE, to find whatever avenues are necessary to build on the good work that has been done this year in this regard. There are actually pages and pages of supporters from Mississippi.
I will only read out the very top few, but there are literally--it looks to be over 200 supporters from Mississippi, the first being Mississippi Heritage Trust, Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, Mississippi Wildlife Federation, the Chapter of Wildlife Society, the Chapter of American Planning Association, the School of Architecture for Mississippi State--and I could go on through this--the city of Hattiesburg, the city of Laurel, the Keep Jackson Beautiful Coalition,
literally hundreds of organizations in Mississippi.
For the RECORD, I will recite some of the organizations from South Dakota because the leader has been on our side. Both Senator DASCHLE and Senator TIM JOHNSON were so helpful in this effort. We also have pages and pages of organizations: Governor Bill Janklow, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, the South Dakota Parks and Recreation Association, the South Dakota Conservation Officers Association, Beadle County Master Gardeners, the Beadle County Sportsmen's Club, the Optimist Club of Huron. Throughout their entire State, from mayors to elected officials to conservation organizations, they have let their voice be heard. I want the South Dakota supporters to know that their leader has heard them, has
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I also thank our House colleagues: Chairman YOUNG from Alaska; the ranking member, GEORGE MILLER of California; JOHN DINGELL of Michigan, who has been an outstanding advocate for CARA; from my State particularly, BILLY TAUZIN, who represents south Louisiana and is an excellent supporter of CARA; and CHRIS JOHN, who has been very helpful, a member of the committee in the House. We have had a coalition of Senators and House Members, of elected officials around the Nation.
Since the session is not over yet, our fight is not over. We recognize that we can't have everything we have asked for, but we recognize that we would never get anywhere if we didn't ask. If we had not put this effort forward, we might never get to a real trust fund for the environment for our Nation. I think the effort has been worth pursuing and the effort is still worth pursuing.
I am not going to ask my colleagues to vote against this bill. Some of them may do that for their own reasons. Senator FITZGERALD and others who don't think there are enough property rights protections may, for their own purposes, want to do that. I probably will cast a vote against the Interior bill because it falls short of what we want.
But this is a democratic process. We believe what we are fighting for is in the right direction. We believe the CARA Coalition represents truly a bipartisan effort that can gather the support of not only Federal officials but State officials. And we believe that this is, in fact, a beginning. There is still time left to build on it. I am hoping leaders from other committees of the Senate can potentially give some support, as they have been from the beginning, and help as we try to put our best foot forward and move ahead on this legislation.
I will go over some of the other numbers in which some of my colleagues may be interested on this particular bill. As I said earlier, the basis of CARA was to give guaranteed funding in certain categories for environmental programs. Although this trust fund lays down broad categories, they are not specific enough so that people can actually depend on them and States can depend on them.
For instance, under the land acquisition part of this bill, let's say for Arizona, in this conference committee report there are about $15 million for land acquisition. Under the CARA proposal, as compromised between the House and Senate, Arizona would have received and could have counted on approximately $47 million each year.
Arkansas--and Senator LINCOLN has been an outstanding supporter of CARA--under the land portion of this bill actually gets zero money. This is legislation for billions of
dollars that are earmarked for other places, but under this trust fund concept, Arkansas gets actually zero. Under CARA, they would have a guarantee of $14.9 million.
Colorado in this bill has $5.3 million. Under CARA, they would have $46 million each year for the State PILT, for payment in lieu of taxes, for land acquisition at the State level, not directed by Federal agencies but at the State level. They would have had money for historic preservation and for urban parks for cities such as Denver and others in Colorado.
Connecticut has $1.6 million approximately. They would have had $17 million of guaranteed funding.
Delaware has $1.3 million; under CARA, $14 million.
Georgia, which, according to our records, has about $650,000 for land acquisition projects, would have had $32 million under the Conservation and Reinvestment Act.
Hawaii, which has $2 million in this bill, would have counted on about $29 million a year.
Idaho, which has about $7.5 million, would have gotten $39 million a year, primarily in PILT payments, some on the State side of land and water, and some in other areas.
Illinois, which is a large State, a very important State in our Nation, and one of the most populated States, under this trust fund has zero money allocated for this year but would have had $38 million every year under CARA.
Indiana has $3.8 million, as opposed to our proposal for $25 million.
As I read through some of these numbers--I would like to read through them all for all the States--let me say that the underlying bill on the trust fund has approximately the same amount of money the CARA Coalition desired.
Our coalition wants to be respectful and appreciative of budget constraints. We recognize there are a great many needs in this Nation, from support for teachers and schools to support for health care, to the lockbox for Social Security and Medicare. We have examined the state of the budget. But we believe we could have spent and still believe that half of 1 percent of the surplus for an environmental trust fund that we could count on year in and year out was not too much to ask for. In fact, the appropriators have basically agreed with that concept because that is the amount of money they have actually put in this bill.
The problem is, the framework they put in forces organizations to compete year in and year out, not being able to depend on money. It well underfunds PILT, payment in lieu of taxes, which is so important to our Western States. The underlying bill gives all of the money, or 85 percent of it or more, to Federal agencies and shortchanges our Governors and our mayors and our local elected officials. And it does not fund, as clearly as it should, some of the other important programs we have outlined as authorizers in our compromise between the House and the Senate.
(Mr. GREGG assumed the chair.)
Mr. REID. Would the Senator yield for a question?
Ms. LANDRIEU. Yes, if I may retain the floor.
Mr. REID. I ask my friend, we have Senator DORGAN, Senator CRAIG, and others wishing to speak. No one wants to take away the time the Senator deserves on this issue. Can she give us an idea of how much time she is going to take?
Ms. LANDRIEU. I will take probably another 10 minutes, and then I will yield back my time, if I am able to, to Senator FITZGERALD, who continues to want time on the floor. We can check with Senator FITZGERALD.
Mr. President, I will continue to read some of this into the RECORD.
Iowa, for instance, is the only State of the Union to date that has not received any money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund in 30 years, as the records will reflect. This year, Iowa has $600,000. Under CARA, we could have made a commitment of approximately $11 million per year.
Kansas--and Senator ROBERTS has been a terrific supporter of CARA, and I am appreciative of his support, particularly for the wildlife portion of our bill--gets zero in the trust fund for this year. Kansas would have gotten about $11.9 million under CARA.
Kentucky, $2.5 million; $15 million under CARA.
Maine, $1 million under this bill for this year; $31.9 million would have been directed to Maine under the CARA proposal.
Maryland, which sits on the shores of the great Chesapeake Bay--an area that deserves, in my opinion, a great deal more attention, and the local officials in the various States around the Chesapeake have done a wonderful job, and there has been much help from the Federal level, but we can still do more to protect that important ecosystem in our Nation--Maryland gets $1.2 million. Under CARA, they would have gotten $28 million a year.
Massachusetts, about $1.5 million; under CARA, $35 million.
Michigan, $1.1 million; under CARA, $42 million.
Minnesota, $2.8 million; under CARA, $29 million.
Missouri, $3.5 million; under CARA, $26.2 million.
Montana, $6.5 million; under CARA, $47.8 million.
Nebraska--and Senator KERREY has been a wonderful supporter and very helpful in terms of arguing that States and local governments should have a say as we divide this money annually and should be able to count on something and not have to wait until October, which costs the taxpayers more and which is difficult at the State level. Nebraska has a grand total of $400,000 for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Under CARA, they would have gotten about $14.5 million.
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Nevada, which is the State of my good colleague, Senator REID, got $2 million. CARA would have brought them $37 million. A lot of that money would have been for PILT payments because the Senator represents a State where the Federal Government owns 92 percent of the land.
So it is our obligation to provide money for those local units in Nevada which lose revenues when the Federal Government takes over land from the private sector. They would have benefited from the formula that would have acknowledged that and tried to, in some ways, make them whole by improving their PILT payments. They would get $38 million under CARA; instead, they get $2 million.
New Hampshire, a small State but a very important State, under this bill gets $3.6 million; under CARA, the total it would have received is $17 million.
New Jersey, the Garden State, with a Republican Governor whom I admire a good deal, Governor Whitman, just passed--and I am sure with Democratic help--a bond issue to provide over a billion dollars for Saving Open Spaces in New Jersey. They are one of the most populated States and are trying to preserve the farmland they have left and the green spaces. That is very important to many people along the east coast, the west coast, the interior, and the coastal communities. They passed a
billion dollar, multiyear effort. I believe, and the CARA coalition believes, we should try to match that effort. Instead, under this bill, we have given New Jersey $2 million. CARA would have provided them a $40 million partnership every year.
New Mexico--and Senator BINGAMAN has been an outspoken advocate and a ranking member on our side--gets $4.7 million. It would be $44.9 million under CARA.
I know my time is going to be running short. In a moment, I will be prepared to yield my time back to Senator FITZGERALD, who had the floor. I was taking some time from him. I say to our floor leader, I will yield back some time to Senator FITZGERALD.
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