The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“LEGISLATIVE SESSION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3027-S3038 on June 17, 2020.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Resumed
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 1957, which the clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1957) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modernize and improve the Internal Revenue Service, and for other purposes.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Justice Act
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, in the wake of recent tragic deaths of several African Americans at the hands of the police, our country has reached a turning point.
Americans of every race, background, and political persuasion are calling for change. Too many Americans feel unsafe right now. Too many Americans live in fear that what happened to George Floyd could happen to their own fathers, sons, and brothers. Too many Americans see in law enforcement officers individuals to be feared rather than trusted.
Americans are ready for all of that to end. They want reform and increased accountability. They want to make sure that we are holding our law enforcement officers to the highest standards. And they want their fellow Americans to feel confident that what happened to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others will not happen to their loved ones.
Members of Congress have been listening. I have been listening. Today, I am proud to rise in support of Senator Scott's policing reform bill, which I am cosponsoring.
Senator Scott's Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere Act, or the JUSTICE Act, is the product of a lot of serious work--years of it, in fact. The JUSTICE Act is an extensive bill that addresses various aspects of policing reform. One important section of the bill is the George Floyd and Walter Scott Notification Act, which would correct deficiencies in law enforcement reporting of use-of-force incidents.
Right now, the FBI National Use-of-Force Data Collection receives data on only about 40 percent of law enforcement officers. That needs to change. The only way we can understand the scope of the problems we are facing is to have full and accurate data. A complete data picture will allow us to pinpoint problems, identify troubled police departments, and develop best practices for use of force and deescalation training.
There are many, many police departments across our Nation that are doing an exemplary job of policing, that have excellent relationships with the community, and that are already implementing a lot of best practices. But there are also more troubled police departments.
Police departments that fail to train their officers properly overlook officer misbehavior. We need to identify those police departments and demand their reform. Collecting full and accurate data on use-of-force incidents will help us do that.
One policing measure that has been found to reduce both officers' use of force and complaints against police officers is body cameras. Body-
worn cameras record every officer interaction with the community, which encourages appropriate behavior and helps to create an accurate record of events. These cameras keep both citizens and police officers safer. But implementing the use of these cameras can be costly, as can storing the copious data that accumulates. So the JUSTICE Act will create a new grant program to help local police departments purchase body-worn cameras and associated data storage. Funding eligibility will be conditional on the department's implementation of best practices for these cameras, and any department that fails to properly use the cameras that it has purchased using the grant program will face a reduction in Federal funding.
Another important section of the JUSTICE Act focuses on police deescalation and duty-to-intervene training. Sometimes police end up using force in situations where it could have been avoided simply because they lack the necessary training to deescalate a situation without the use of force. It may be understandable that well-meaning but overwhelmed police officers in dangerous circumstances have sometimes resorted to the use of force too quickly, but that is not a situation we can accept.
Every police officer in this country should be given the kind of training that will ensure that use of force is restricted only to those situations where it is absolutely needed.
I expect to see a lot of support for this bill from my Republican colleagues here in the Senate. I wouldn't be surprised if this bill receives a lot of support from law enforcement, as well, because most of our Nation's law enforcement officers want to implement policing best practices. They want to develop strong relationships with the communities they protect, and they want to avoid use-of-force incidents that place both officers and suspects in jeopardy.
I met with local law enforcement leaders in my home State of South Dakota last Friday. What I heard from them was a real desire to do everything they can to serve every member of their communities. They have already been participating in forums to listen to community concerns in the wake of George Floyd's death, and they are supportive of JUSTICE Act measures to help departments expand their minority hiring, to improve deescalation training, and to develop and promulgate best practices. I wouldn't be surprised if they and a lot of other law enforcement agencies end up backing this bill.
I really hope Democrats will come to the table as well. Senator Scott has produced a bill that should have the support of every Member of the Senate, and I hope that it will.
We have made a lot of progress as a nation when it comes to overcoming the sins of our past, but it would be a mistake to think that because we have made progress, our work is over. There is still much to be done and many wounds to heal.
We must make those tasks a priority. We must continue to work toward a more perfect Union, toward the full realization of our founding promise that all men are created equal, and toward an America where there is truly liberty and justice for all.
I yield the floor
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
Police Reform
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, this morning we have a tale of two Chambers. The House of Representatives is starting the consideration of the Justice in Policing Act, led by Senators Booker and Harris in the Senate and developed in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus and House Democrats. The bill represents comprehensive, strong, and enduring reform to police departments--the most forceful set of changes in decades.
This morning in the Senate, Republicans have put forward a separate proposal, led by the Senator from South Carolina. We have had the bill for only a few hours and are reviewing it. But what is clear is that the Senate Republican proposal on policing does not rise to the moment.
The Democratic bill has a ban on no-knock warrants in Federal drug cases, while the Republican bill only requires data on no-knock warrants. The Democratic bill has a publicly available nationwide database on misconduct so that abusive police officers who are fired can't simply go to another department somewhere else in the country and get hired. The Republican bill would keep such information almost entirely shielded from public view.
The Democratic bill bans choke holds and other tactics that have killed Black Americans. The Republican bill purports to ban choke holds but only those that restrict air flow and not blood flow and provides exceptions when deadly force is needed. Who determines when deadly force is needed? Usually the police themselves, and the courts defer to their judgment.
The Republican bill is silent on racial profiling and militarization of local police departments. Perhaps the greatest flaw in the Republican proposal is that it is missing real, meaningful accountability for individual officers' misconduct.
There are no reforms to qualified immunity or pattern-and-practice investigations. This is critically important. Without accountability measures, we are merely exhorting police departments to do better, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Real change comes with accountability. As drafted, the Republican bill doesn't provide it.
So we have a tale of two Chambers, a glaring contrast between a strong, comprehensive Democratic bill in the House and a much narrower and much less effective Republican bill in the Senate.
I am glad that Leader McConnell has listened to our demands to bring a police reform bill to the floor before July 4. I have been asking him to do this for 3 weeks, and he has finally acceded. I am glad Republicans have finally joined the debate and put a proposal forward after much pressure from the public, but any final product must be strong and must make real and lasting changes.
I would note that before we even get to a police reform proposal, the Republican leader wants to approve a circuit court judge next week--the same week we are doing police reform--Cory Wilson, who has a record of hostility toward voting rights, a nominee who advocated baseless claims of voter fraud and called the concern over voter suppression and discrimination ``poppycock.''
This is sort of the two-faced approach that we are seeing. On the one hand, they say ``Let's do something on police reform''; on the other hand, they put judges who come in exactly the opposite place and take away voting rights and healthcare rights and other things that affect African Americans, particularly poor African Americans.
The Senate is a place where you can succeed only if you convince a substantial majority of the Chamber that you have good legislation. We expect our Republican colleagues to work with us to make significant improvement to any legislation in order for it to pass. We take this very seriously. As we continue to review the Republican legislation, I will be talking to my caucus about the best way to strengthen it. This bill will need dramatic improvement.
Let me be clear. This is not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is about making the ineffective the enemy of the effective.
Let me repeat that. This is not about letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is about replacing what is ineffective with what is effective, and we must have effective change.
The question is whether legislation will bring the change we so desperately need or fail to make those necessary changes, fail to stop more Black Americans from dying at the hands of police. The question is, Will it work? The Republican bill has a long way to go to meet this moment.
There has been a lot of talk from the Republican leader about the
``real challenge'' of getting onto a bill. Frankly, the ``real challenge'' is whether Senate Republicans will be able to step up to the plate and rise to the moment and vote for a bill that actually solves the problem. We Democrats are going to try to get them there
It is important that we get this right. The vast majority of Americans from both political parties support far-reaching reforms. More than 75 percent want to allow victims of police misconduct to more easily sue police departments for damages. More than 80 percent want to ban choke holds and racial profiling. More than 90 percent support independent investigations of police departments that show patterns of misconduct. And more than 90 percent want a Federal requirement that police wear body cameras. There is no reason to scribble our changes in the margins or nibble around the edges of this large, difficult, and persistent problem. The moment calls for bold action, and the American people are behind it.
Yesterday, we all got a good look at what window dressing looks like and what we must all strive to avoid. The President celebrated an Executive order that supposedly was about police reform, but, in reality, it was a bunch of vague incentives to suggest that police departments change on their own. The ``ban on choke holds'' wasn't a ban at all. Even the databases proposed by the Executive order are voluntary, not mandatory.
Befitting the seriousness of the topic, the President spent the majority of his press conference demonizing peaceful protesters, airing unjustified grievances against past administrations, and suggesting that the same scientific expertise that led to the AIDS vaccine will lead to a COVID vaccine. Of course, there is no AIDS vaccine.
This was the President's conference on police reform--unbelievable what he said at this serious moment.
We have to do a much better job here in Congress. The President isn't going to lead on these issues. He is not going to engage with the legislation or propose effective reforms. He is too busy threatening to sue news organizations over unflattering polls.
We, in the Congress, have to take up the mantle, and I am glad we will be turning to this subject next week. We must all set our sights on achieving real, strong, effective reforms to police departments in America.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip is recognized.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, there are moments in history when you think: This is going to make a difference. One of them was in a first-
grade classroom in Connecticut. A person walked into that classroom several years ago and opened fire on first grade students--6 years of age, 7 years of age--their teachers, and assistants. They were killed at their desks at Sandy Hook.
I thought that would make a difference. I thought there would be a national conversation about gun safety and the memory of those beautiful little children who died so senselessly because the person had a gun that gave them the power to kill them en masse. It didn't happen.
Then, when that gunman in the hotel in Las Vegas opened fire with a gun that he had converted into an automatic weapon and killed those concertgoers at that country western concert, just shot at them at random, I thought: Now, that will make a difference. That is the moment when we can sit down and honestly talk about gun safety in America. It was so graphic, and it was so horrible that at least we can come together for a bipartisan conversation about making America a safer place for first graders in Connecticut, for concertgoers in Nevada, and for all of the many other gun tragedies we have had in America. It didn't happen. The President promised to do something. He didn't. What happened in the U.S. Senate in terms of addressing this issue? Nothing--nothing, not even an effort to keep guns out of the hands of people who have no business owning them: convicted felons, people who are mentally unstable. The types of guns that are for sale in the United States go far beyond any need for sport, hunting, and, in many cases, even self-defense. Yet we couldn't even open the conversation on gun safety in light of those horrible tragedies.
Then several weeks ago, a patrolman in Minneapolis put his knee on the neck of George Floyd, and America changed. You see that video, which we have all seen over and over again. It was so graphic, so real, so personal, you just cannot escape it. Here was a policeman, in 8 minutes and 46 seconds, killing George Floyd. What was the charge that he was being accused of? Perhaps passing a phony $20 bill--a $20 bill.
I think the image that still sticks with most of us, in the 8 minutes and 46 seconds as George Floyd died, were all the people begging the policeman to stop, imploring him: Please.
Floyd was crying out ``I can't breathe! I can't breathe!'' mentioning his mother's name in those desperate, final moments of his life as that patrolman stared into that video camera with those cold, hard eyes. You cannot escape the reality of that video moment and the impact it has had on America and beyond.
George Floyd's image and name are now the subject of rallies not just across America but around the world. In my own home State of Illinois, it is understandable that in cities like Chicago, which have a diverse population, that African Americans know what it is like to be the object of racial discrimination when it comes to law enforcement. What has amazed me in my home State and in many other places, with my colleagues, is that this is not just a conversation in the big cities of America.
This last Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock I went to Jerseyville, IL, for a Black Lives Matter rally. What an unlikely location. I don't how many African-American families live in Jersey County or Jerseyville, but there aren't many. It didn't stop 300 to 400 people from gathering on the courthouse lawn to make clear that they want things to change when it comes to policing in America--and change, it must.
I want to salute my colleagues, particularly Senators Booker and Harris. They came together and put a bill in place with the Congressional Black Caucus, with Karen Bass, a Congresswoman from California. It is a bicameral proposal that has been introduced now in the House and Senate. I am proud to be a cosponsor. It is comprehensive, and it takes into consideration the reality that these moments of historic opportunity come along very seldom, and when they come, we need to seize them to make a difference in this great Nation.
Let's not be halfhearted. Let's be committed to doing something that makes a difference, and that means a bipartisan effort.
Tim Scott is my friend, a Republican Senator from the State of South Carolina. I like him, and I respect him. He has done and said things that I think have made a real impact on this Nation. His observations as an African-American Senator from South Carolina and what he has gone through--not just in his State but in his life and even in Washington, DC--touch my heart. I know that they are genuine, and so is he. When he was chosen on the Republican side to lead the effort to come up with some way to bring justice to policing, I thought that was a good choice, and I still do.
Now we are off to a start in this conversation, but it is an unusual and awkward start. My colleagues, Senators Booker and Harris, put the legislative proposal, the Justice in Policing Act, on the floor and have described it in detail over the last several days. It has been there for those who support it, as I do, and for those who are critical. We are obviously looking at this from a lot of perspectives.
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a lengthy hearing on police misconduct, and there were references throughout to the Booker and Harris bill, as both of them serve on the Judiciary Committee. Senator Scott's bill we saw just a few hours ago, and Senator McConnell came to the floor earlier to the Senate and said that we are moving to this bill. It will be the next item of business.
I am glad that Senator McConnell now feels a sense of urgency when it comes to reforming policing. Now is the moment for us to work together to come up with a bipartisan bill that can pass the U.S. Senate. Let us not miss this opportunity, this historic moment, to do something that will make a difference.
How many times, how many commissions, how many agencies, how many experts have issued reports on dealing with racism in law enforcement in America? Scores of them.
Going back to the 1960s, the former Governor of Illinois, Otto Kerner's commission, that long ago--60 years ago--was considering the same issues, many of the same issues we are considering today.
The hearings yesterday brought in some talented people--experts--to talk to us in the Senate Judiciary Committee about this measure and this challenge that we face--community leaders, civil rights activists, and experts on the subject. I think Senator Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Republican side, would agree that hearings are important and we should continue them, but they are never enough.
We need to do something that the Senate rarely, if ever, does. We need to legislate. We ought to do it in a process that was established in this Senate generations ago, bringing this matter to the floor for amendment and debate.
I understand the numbers in the Senate. As the whip on the Democratic side, I think the skill that is necessary to succeed is to be able to count to 60. I learned that very early in my Senate career. We know what the numbers really are. There are 47 Democrats and 53 Republicans. If you need 60 votes in most procedural questions in any debate, it must be bipartisan. If it is going to be bipartisan, it means that people have to sit down and be willing to listen to one another and be willing to compromise. I think we can do that. I have seen it done.
I can remember 2 years ago when the Senate passed the FIRST STEP Act. I started on this mission 10 years ago, after the passage of the effort on the drug crimes bill in the House of Representatives over 20 years ago, it was clear that bill was fatally flawed. That law resulted in unjust outcomes, as well as ineffectiveness when it came to fighting drugs. I started 10 years ago to try to change it, to change the disparity between crack and cocaine sentencing guidelines. I managed to get some part of it done, but when I took on the bigger issue of mandatory minimum sentencing, which was involved in this, as well, I ran into a blockade by the name of Chuck Grassley
Chuck, the senior Senator from Iowa, didn't see eye to eye with my approach at all, and I realized my bill was going nowhere with him. He was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. We sat down for a year--for a year--and we came up with a bill we both agreed on. It wasn't what I wanted--it wasn't the original bill, by any means--and it wasn't what Chuck Grassley wanted. But we filed a good bill called the FIRST STEP Act, and he became the lead sponsor on the Grassley-Durbin bipartisan bill. That bill passed the House, passed the Senate, and was signed into law by President Donald Trump. Who would have guessed that Donald Trump would have signed a bill on criminal justice reform? But he did, and he bragged about it afterward and continues to this day. I guess the lesson learned here is if the right people sit down with the right goal, we can achieve an important victory for the American people.
I understand now, having been to these rallies of Black Lives Matter, how determined and desperate people are across the United States to see us change when it comes to racism and law enforcement. They are desperate, primarily in our younger populations. It is interesting. Even the largest rallies are being led by high school students who are bringing together hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of people to peacefully demonstrate on behalf of justice in law enforcement. The message is pretty clear. They do not want to grow up and they don't want to raise their families in the shadow of racism.
We have fought this issue in America for over 400 years. That is how long it has been since slavery came to our shores. The racism that followed from it and was part of it is still very much alive in America and is seen in video after video. These young people are telling us once and for all: Change it, grownups. You are supposed to be in charge. You are supposed to have the authority.
So what we say on the Democratic side is that we cannot waste this historic moment, this singular opportunity. Let us not do something that is a token, halfhearted approach. Let us focus on making a change that will make a difference in the future of America.
When I take a look at the bill we put together, the Justice in Policing Act--again, I want to salute Senators Booker and Harris--we establish standards for criminal police misconduct under the law. We talk about qualified immunity reform. Allow me to say a word about this.
That was the one thing that Senator Tim Scott said on Sunday was a major sticking point on the Republican side. We discussed it yesterday in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. What does it mean? It means that if a policeman is guilty of discriminatory misconduct against a person, they can be liable for civil damages. An obvious case--if somebody is shot and killed and there is a belief that the policeman was guilty of misconduct in the process, that policeman can be found guilty in court and liable for civil damages to the family, much the same as wrongful death or personal injury. But the problem is that the courts have taken this qualified immunity and basically said that if you cannot find an identical fact pattern for that policeman's misconduct, you can't pursue the civil recovery of damages for the family who lost the breadwinner, for example. The argument for that position has been made by some Republicans that even if a patrolman or policeman has done something that is terribly wrong, you shouldn't take their home away from them to compensate that victim's family. So the Republicans have said that they don't want to change the qualified immunity standard.
Now let's move from that debate to the real world, and I know just a little bit about it. There was a sheriff in a downstate county in Illinois who was sued many years ago and accused of misconduct for imprisoning and mistreating prisoners in his county jail. When he was sued in court, much the same as the qualified immunity situation I described earlier, he was defended in that court. Who defended that sheriff for his misconduct and potential damages that he owed to his victim? I did. I didn't do it as a U.S. attorney or State's attorney or in any official public capacity. I did it representing an insurance company. DeWitt County, the county that employed the sheriff, considered him a county employee for their purposes and had bought an insurance policy which said that if there is any wrongdoing by county employees, the insurance company will pay whatever is owed. I represented the insurance company. We went forward with the case. The point I am getting to is that sheriff was not going to lose his home or car or motorcycle. It was a lawsuit being brought in court for that sheriff's responsibility in creating a loss to the plaintiff that merited damages from the court and jury. So this argument that we cannot hold policemen responsible for their misconduct on a civil basis for damages overlooks the obvious--that 99 to 100 percent of damages paid out are paid out not by the individual law enforcement official but usually by the insurance company. The insurance company indemnifies the defendants; in other words, it takes on the responsibility of defending them and paying out any verdict that is filed or any settlement that is reached.
Why would we want to go ahead and allow this civil recovery? Because it is a lesson learned for that county when it comes to the conduct and training and hiring of individuals. If they know that certain things are going to result in a liability--even through their insurance company, with higher insurance premiums as a result--they will think twice, won't they? It is human nature.
The opposite result is true. If the Republicans have their way and don't touch qualified immunity, then, in fact, you have created a defense wall for any potential defendant who is in law enforcement from civil liability, and you have taken away the incentive of their employer or that department to improve the way they administer justice. I think it is pretty obvious that if we want the right outcome, there should be a price to be paid for wrongdoing, and there certainly should be compensation for a victim's family.
So I don't understand the resistance on the Republican side. We need to talk because we cannot move forward on this issue of police responsibility and say there is a whole area of immunity when it comes to the police being sued for civil damages in court.
We also need pattern and practice investigations. What that means is there comes a moment when the Department of Justice needs to take a look at local police departments. I know about that. The shooting of Laquan McDonald in the city of Chicago was an event that still has an impact on the people who live there. I joined with the attorney general, Lisa Madigan, in asking the Department of Justice to investigate the police department after the shooting of Laquan McDonald. It wasn't a popular decision with some people, but I thought it was the right thing to do. We will be better for it. The city of Chicago will make changes that need to be made, and I am sure there need to be more in the future, but extending and advancing pattern and practice investigations in the Department of Justice is long overdue. In the Obama administration over 20 of these investigations took place across America; under the Trump administration, one. It is time for the Department of Justice to do its job, and that is part of what we are setting out to do.
We also have the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act included in the Booker-Harris bill. Police departments lack uniform standards to ensure an adherence to best practices in communities of color with accountability. We call on the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to move them in the right direction of training and retraining when it comes to reducing the use of force and reducing the killings that are taking place that are unnecessary.
We need to establish a national police misconduct registry, which is part of the Booker-Harris bill, so no police officer who loses his or her job because of misconduct can go to a nearby jurisdiction or another State and escape the scrutiny of taking a review of the history they have as members of a police department.
We need to require States to report to the Justice Department incidents in which force is used against a civilian or against a law enforcement officer. I bet 99 percent of Americans believe there is automatic reporting, for example, of the shooting of unarmed people by police across the United States. There isn't. It turns out that the only source you can find is the Washington Post newspaper, which decided in 2015 to start collecting that information by reading news outlets and information and putting it all together. Let's get the data so we will understand if we are falling behind or making progress when it comes to the administration of justice.
We need to prohibit Federal, State, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling. This is an issue I have been working on for years. Others feel the same. Profiling needs to come to an end. We know it is a real problem. We need real training on racial bias and a duty to intervene. This gets to the heart of policing.
Policing runs parallel to our military in the standards and rules that they operate under. We talk about peer intervention. We ask ourselves, why didn't the other three policemen in Minneapolis say to that policeman with his knee on the neck of George Floyd, ``Stop. You are killing him''? They didn't because of the so-called chain of command. We need to have peer scrutiny and peer intervention, particularly in life-and-death situations.
We believe we should ban the no-knock warrants in drug cases. We know what happened in the city of Louisville. We want to make certain it doesn't happen again.
We want a clear ban on choke holds and carotid holds. We want the police to exercise absolute care with everyone with a standard of reasonableness to prevent death and serious bodily injury.
Consider what happened in that Wendy's parking lot in Atlanta. There are a number of factors involved here, but what was at the heart of the issue? At the heart of the issue was a man who drank too much and fell asleep in his car in the drive-in line at Wendy's. That is what started the police call and everything that followed. At the end of 40 minutes, the man who fell asleep in his car was shot dead in that parking lot. When you try to bring and measure the response and the result against the original charge, it is like the $20 counterfeit bill. You think to yourself: Did that merit pulling a gun and killing a man because he fell asleep in his car? He shouldn't have been driving while intoxicated, but there is no evidence he was involved in any accident. There was certainly a better way to bring that to a conclusion other than the confrontation that led to his death.
We also need the Camera Accountability Act, requiring Federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras and make sure they are operable. We also need to finally pass the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act. I spoke on that yesterday, and I will not dwell on it today, but this is long, long overdue.
One of the first Federal anti-lynching bills was introduced after World War I by a Republican Congressman in St. Louis named Leonidas Dyer, a World War I veteran who served as an officer in the Army. He was prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County. On July 1, 1917, there was a horrendous race riot in my hometown of East St. Louis, IL, where 7,000 African Americans were rousted out of their homes and forced to cross the bridges into the city of St. Louis to escape death. The estimates of how many were killed are just that, but they range in the hundreds of African Americans who were lynched and murdered.
As a result of that horrible experience in East St. Louis and the race riot, Congressman Dyer, Republican of St. Louis, introduced the Federal anti-lynching law. He passed it in the House of Representatives. There were 119 negative votes. Among the negative votes were four Members of the House who went on to become Speakers, but all four voted against the Dyer Federal anti-lynching bill. It was sent to the Senate where it died by design. A combination of those who opposed it, including southern Democrats, stopped the bill from being considered. It faced a filibuster--end of story but not the end of lynching, by any means.
Lynching is a blight on America's history. There is absolutely no reason why we should not include the Federal anti-lynching statute, which passed the House 410 to 4, in this package that is being considered. I believe it may be part of Senator Scott's bill as well. I hope it will pass. I hope the one Senator on the other side of the aisle who has held it up can be convinced otherwise. History demands that we bring an end to this miserable, bloody chapter in American history, which touches so many of our States.
We have a job to do. We now have two bills, and we are seeing the Republican bill for the first time this morning. Many of us believe it is at least an indication of the urgency of the issue but not as responsive as it should be. Let us not escape this moment in history. Let us not avoid it. Let's face it, and let's use it. We can make this a better Nation. We can say to those young people, Black, White, and Brown, those young women and men who are leading the marches in my State and across the Nation: We hear you. We understand you want to grow up in a different world, in a different Nation. We understand that you want to see discrimination and racial mistreatment come to an end in this country. This generation, the ones who are elected to do something about it, will do just that. We will respond.
I hope what Senator McConnell said this morning about opening this debate on the floor of the Senate is not just a one-and-done, take-it-
or-leave-it approach on the majority side of the aisle. Let's have a real debate. Let's have real effort to find common ground. I think it can work.
Senator Grassley and I proved that with the FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan bill signed by President Trump that made a difference. Literally, thousands of Federal inmates were released from prison who had been serving lengthy, impossible-to-explain sentences for nonviolent drug activity. They are home now. They are back out of prison now, as they should be. They did it on a bipartisan basis, and we compromised to reach it.
Let us make sure that at the end of the day, what we do pass makes a difference in the future of America, not just a quick press release but something we can live with and be proud of for years to come.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). The Senator from Montana
H.R. 1957
Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today, we will make history in the Senate. Today, we will vote on one of the most important conservation bills not just in years but in decades.
Today, we get one step closer to protecting our outdoor heritage for our children, our grandchildren, for future generations of Montanans, and for all Americans because today we will be casting the final vote on this historic bipartisan bill entitled the ``Great American Outdoors Act.''
Today, for the first time ever in the U.S. Senate, we will vote to make funding for a critical conservation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, full and mandatory. This funding will protect the program and provide certainty for our land managers, for conservationists, for sports men and women.
I spoke with Montanans across our State about the importance of this program. What is interesting is no matter what the ideologies are, these ideologies across the board, from left to right--they agree that this program will protect our outdoors for current and future generations.
As a Senator from Montana, Big Sky Country--in fact, we like to call Montana ``The Last Best Place''--I know just how important it is that we have access to our public lands and the opportunity to enjoy our outdoors. In fact, it is a major driver of our economy, the outdoor recreation economy.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund enables better public access to our public lands. It is going to help create jobs in a time when we need them the most. It will help protect wildlife habitat. It will help improve land management. It links conservation to a strong energy sector, and it costs the taxpayers nothing.
Today, by voting on the Great American Outdoors Act, we will also provide a significant downpayment to address the maintenance backlog that is facing our national parks and our public lands. I chair the National Parks Subcommittee here in the Senate. As a fifth-generation Montanan who grew up going to our national parks--I grew up in the shadows of Yellowstone National Park, just about 1\1/2\ hours from my home--because of enjoying the outdoors with my family, this has been one of my top priorities.
You see, our national parks and our public lands set us apart from the rest of the world, but our parks have seen an increase in visitation--in fact, record visitation for many of our parks. That is a really good thing.
Our park infrastructure is at risk of being loved to death, leading to dilapidated infrastructure that can compromise the visitor experience and safety. There is nearly $12 billion in maintenance backlog facing our national parks across the Nation, including over
$700 million in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, an additional
$34 million throughout other national parks in Montana. We have a great opportunity today to address this by getting this bipartisan bill, the Great American Outdoors Act, done and passed out of the Senate and send it over to the House.
As a kid who grew up in Bozeman, I went to kindergarten through college in Bozeman. I was a Bozeman Hawk in high school and proud Montana State University Bobcat. I know just how important it is to get this done for Montana.
I am also fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy Montana outdoors with my sweet wife, Cindy, and our four children and our granddaughter, Emma, and soon-to-be new grandson in just a few months. You see, Montana's public lands are part of our Montana way of life. They are part of our heritage, who we are as Montanans.
I have been very fortunate to be able to fly fish many of Montana's rivers and their streams. In fact, my son took that picture of me up in the Beartooth a few years ago. I remember that distinctly. Just around the corner of where that picture was taken, I was working my way up that stream and got a real nice cutthroat and ripple. In fact, Cindy and I backpack in the Beartooth, in the wilderness area, every August. We take along two of our dogs, Ruby and Reagan. In fact, I took that picture of our son, Michael, up in the High Country of Montana. We get places like this where there are virtually no trails. This is wild country.
It is unique to the world that we have places that are so pristine and still remain so relatively untouched. My wife and I have instilled in our family the same passion and love for outdoors that we have shared for so long.
Here we are at a backpack, again, up in the Beartooth. This is not too far from Granite Peak, Montana's highest point. Some of our best memories are spending time with our son, Michael, there, the dog, Cindy, and me there.
I want to show you this next picture because that sums up probably who we are as a couple. We went back up to the Hyalite area south of Bozeman a few years ago. That peak is Hyalite Peak. Back in 1986, that is where I asked Cindy to marry me. We got engaged on top of that mountain, a peak over 10,000 feet high.
This is more than just some theoretical discussion that we are having today on the floor of the Senate. This is about protecting our Montana outdoor way of life. It is the very heart and soul of who we are as Montanans. In fact, since I came to Congress, I made it one of my highest priorities to protect and expand access to our public lands.
I am proud to be standing here today, ready to vote on this historic conservation bill. Today, I urge my colleagues--it doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican--to come together and pass this bipartisan bill that will benefit generations. I think we are going to have a really strong vote today. My sense is it will be an overwhelming affirmation of this important legislation. I look forward to seeing that. I look forward to passing the Great American Outdoors Act today, working to get it out of the House, which is our next step, and getting it onto President Trump's desk. I spoke with him today, and he is excited to sign this historic piece of legislation into law. Montana is ready. I am ready. Let's get her done
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to join my colleagues to talk about the final passage of the Great American Outdoors Act and to discuss what it really means to all of us.
Obviously, the great outdoors means a lot to the State of Washington. Nobody probably needs that explained to them. I recently read a quote from George Vancouver when he was discovering the Pacific Northwest. Even in his remarks, he was so astounded that this was such a beautiful place. It tells you it lasts for generations, and that is what this bill is about. This bill is making it last for generations beyond us.
I want to thank the bipartisan effort of five Democrats and five Republicans who joined together to originally put the parks' backlog and maintenance together by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
People should realize that the Land and Water Conservation Fund, over its history--and I followed it closely because Scoop Jackson, a long-
time Senator from the State of Washington and the original sponsor of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, understood that America was urbanizing, and we needed to make an investment in open space. That open space gives us park and recreational area.
It has literally provided 5 million acres of protected land since its inception. There are 5 million acres of land throughout the United States of America that we can identify in every State of the United States to give Americans access to open space.
I mentioned Gas Works Park in the State of Washington and Seattle because it is so iconic. I don't think people would think that Lake Union would be the same without Gas Works Park.
It was a great idea by the leaders of our Congress at the time to pass the Land and Water Conservation Act. We had a fight, literally, in the last 10 or 15 years between people who didn't want to fully fund or even support the Land and Water Conservation Act. We let it expire 2 years ago, and people were in an argument about how to reauthorize it. People then wanted to say that we don't really want to do new land; we want to take care of the backlog. That debate went on for a time.
I think we really tried to emphasize the great economy related to the outdoors because taking this revenue from oil and gas offshoring and putting it into land conservation has been a big win for the American people. Not only do they get open space and be able to recreate, but it puts money back into our economy as well because the outdoor economy is a big juggernaut at $877 billion.
We are ending this debate today. We are ending this paradigm that has existed between some Members who have said: Yes, I care about the parks that are already there, and maybe we should take care of the backlog, but I don't want any new money going to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund has dedicated across the United States 5 million acres as open space for all Americans to enjoy. That is a big win--ending this debate and ending this, I would say, misdirected discussion that tried to pit land against one another and, basically, people who didn't want more open space and public land.
I think we are ending that debate on a very firm note today that says the Senate really believes that open space is a great driver of our economy, but more importantly, it is an essential aspect of American life, and we are going to continue to invest in it.
For us in the State of Washington, we have received something like
$700 million over the life of this project since the 1960s. With this legislation today, we are basically making sure the Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars connected from offshore oil revenue is spent in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. We will receive hundreds of millions more--between $200 million and $300 million more in Land and Water Conservation Fund investment.
I can't wait to see what that does for us in the Northwest. As I said, starting with George Vancouver and on down to today, everybody in the Northwest knows that the environment is so precious to us. It is great for its restorative value but also great for our economy so we want to keep it, and we want to keep investing in it.
The backlog and maintenance we are talking about is a phenomenal investment. I encourage all of my colleagues to visit Mount Rainier sometime if you are in the Pacific Northwest. You can drive up to Paradise and visit. Those roads and the facilities there need maintenance. Even several years ago we used the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the Carbon River improvement on a road that kept washing out every year, and now we moved it to higher ground, expanding the park. That makes it more beneficial for people to go to that side of the mountain as well.
I am reminded what Teddy Roosevelt said: ``The nation behaves well if it treats the national resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.''
That is what we are doing today. We are returning that value to the next generation.
I want to specifically thank Senator Manchin for his leadership on our side of the aisle on this. Having sponsored this legislation myself 2 years ago with Senator Burr and getting it out of the committee, we were sad to see that it got stuck on the Senate floor. We are glad this coalition of five Democrats and five Republicans led by Senator Gardner has managed to get it to this point.
I also want to mention that Senator Burr's leadership over the last two Congresses--actually, all the way back to 2010, where he fought to make sure that this Land and Water Conservation legislation was reauthorized and that we make this investment--has played a pivotal role in making sure that people understand what that investment means to the United States.
So a huge day for public lands in the U.S. Senate and a huge day to say that Americans will be getting more open space and that our parks will be getting a little bit of a facelift, if you will, around their roads and bridges and facilities, their trails, the management of our forests, the infrastructure that is entailed in giving public access to these public spaces.
It couldn't be a more important investment, and it couldn't give America a bigger return.
So I thank my colleagues. I look forward to getting this rapidly through the House of Representatives.
I yield the floor
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this Nation faces an uncertain future. Gripped by a pandemic, economic disruption, and racial injustice, the American people are yearning for bold, forward-thinking leadership. Now is the time for elected leaders to stand up and make the investments necessary to secure a better world for our children and grandchildren. The Great American Outdoors Act, which I am proud to cosponsor, does that. While it addresses a narrow set of challenges and opportunities, it should remind us all that we are capable of meaningful, forward-
looking action. If enacted, our bipartisan bill would be the most significant conservation achievement in more than 50 years and would provide benefits for generations to come.
Throughout my service in the Senate, it has been an honor to bring Vermont's values to Washington. And for Vermonters, stewardship of the land and water is a bedrock value. Our agrarian tradition, sense of place, and outdoor economy all rely on preserving open spaces and conserving our natural resources. This bill reflects those values on a grand scale.
The Great American Outdoors Act would secure full, permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. As is true for States across the country, the LWCF has played an unparalleled role in permanently protecting some of Vermont's most important and iconic landscapes, and I am proud to have been able to take a leading role in championing this program and these investments. In the 55 years since its creation, LWCF investments totaling nearly $150 million have helped conserve more than 275,000 acres in Vermont. From the Green Mountain National Forest, to Camel's Hump, to the Long Trail and Green River Reservoir State Park, this program has played a role in protecting Vermont's invaluable natural spaces. It has also helped Vermont towns conserve local treasures and facilities, such as Rutland's Pine Hill Park and the school playground in Pomfret.
As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I was proud to lead the creation of the Forest Legacy Program in the 1990 Farm Bill. This voluntary program recognizes the critical stewardship role that private landowners play by helping them conserve working forest lands. In so doing, the Forest Legacy Program supports timber sector jobs and the forest products economy, and it sustains all the other benefits provided by intact forests: outdoor recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and air and water quality. Since the Forest Legacy Program's first project at Cow Mountain Pond in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, more than $39 million in Federal Forest Legacy funds have supported the permanent conservation of thousands of acres of private working forest lands in my State.
The conservation ethic embodied in this bill is not just about green mountains and open waters. This is a conservation bill, a stewardship bill, and a jobs bill. Passage of the Great American Outdoors Act would provide immediate and sustained economic stimulus to States and communities that desperately need it. Vermont's outdoor recreation sector alone contributes an estimate $5.5 billion annually, supporting 51,000 jobs. Our forest products industry supports more than 10,000 jobs and generates nearly $1.5 billion in economic output. Maintaining the land base that these sectors depend on through LWCF investments is essential to Vermont, particularly as our State's economy gets back on its feet. An analysis by the Trust for Public Land estimates that every dollar invested in LWCF returns $4 in economic benefits. I call that a wise investment, particularly considering that LWCF is funded by revenue from offshore oil and gas leases.
The 116th Congress began with the passage of a sweeping, bipartisan public lands package, the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. That bill established permanent authorization for LWCF. How fitting that we should continue the work we started by now establishing permanent funding for this legacy program and by finally addressing the maintenance backlog facing our National Parks and other public lands. During such an uncertain period for our Nation, it is clearer than ever that access to trails and public lands is essential for the physical, emotional, and economic health of every community. The Great American Outdoors Act embodies the spirit of stewardship that Vermonters have cultivated for generations, and I am proud to support it. We should celebrate the Senate's leadership today and thank the broad coalition of conservation stakeholders in Vermont and across the country that has helped make this moment possible.
Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I am very pleased to support the Great American Outdoors Act. This is an effort that is many years in the making, so I am gratified the majority leader has taken this historic step for the future of our natural landscape.
When the President signs this bill into law, as he has indicated he will do, it will do two incredibly important things. It will finally, after 55 years, fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at its authorized level. It will also address the deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks and public lands. This will be an historic achievement to preserve America's most treasured places for generations to come, and I could not be more proud to be a part of it.
As my colleagues know, I have long been a champion of LWCF. LWCF is America's most successful conservation program. It is effective. It is proven. And it costs taxpayers nothing. Over the years, LWCF has supported more than 42,000 outdoor recreation projects. It has benefited every State in the country. In North Carolina, it has helped preserve parks, trails, and outdoor sites from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. After a hard-fought battle by those of us who have long recognized LWCF's centrality to our conservation efforts, last year, Congress permanently authorized the program.
But there was still one essential piece missing: full funding. In recent years, the program consistently received less than half the amount it was authorized for. I must remind my colleagues that this was essentially theft from the program. It derives its own funding to achieve its $900 million level, yet we have given it far less than that nearly every year it has been in existence. This bill will change that. Going forward, the $900 million that annually flows into the fund will finally be fully dedicated to the good things LWCF provides, from securing access to recreational and hunting lands, to protecting watersheds and preserving habitats for wildlife and endangered species.
In addition to fully funding LWCF, the Great American Outdoors Act will address the deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks, forests, and fish and wildlife refuges. My home state of North Carolina is blessed with some of the most iconic public lands in the world: Great Smokies National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores, Pisgah National Forest, and Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, just to name a few. Millions visit these special places each year, and they support tens of thousands of jobs.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government has not been able to provide the resources necessary to maintain these treasures at the level they deserve. For example, at the Blue Ridge Parkway, as of 2018, the maintenance backlog was over $500 million, but the parkway receives only $15 to $20 million a year for maintenance work. This bill will help fill those gaps by dedicating $1.9 billion a year from energy development on Federal lands to address maintenance needs at our national parks and public lands.
We would not be here without the efforts of many people, but I would like to give special thanks to our colleagues Cory Gardner and Steve Daines. I have been on the frontlines on this issue for years, and I know they worked extremely hard to build the bipartisan coalition behind this bill. I would also like to thank my colleagues on both sides who I have worked with for years to get to this point on LWCF: Joe Manchin, Maria Cantwell, Lamar Alexander, and many others.
I encourage each and every Senator here today to support this critical legislation. Future generations will thank them for it.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to add my support for the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act.
This landmark bipartisan bill directs significant funding to public lands nationwide, which will benefit communities across the country. This investment will continue to pay dividends for future generations.
The purpose of this legislation is twofold. First, it provides $900 million per year in permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports the protection of Federal public lands and waters, including national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas, and voluntary conservation on private land.
Importantly, this dedicated new funding would come from a portion of royalties on offshore oil and gas development, not the American taxpayer.
Secondly, the bill establishes the National Park and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund. Similar to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, this is also funded through onshore and offshore energy revenues over 5 years, up to $1.9 billion annually for a total of $9.5 billion.
Its sole purpose is to address the deferred maintenance needs of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Education.
Currently, the National Park Service alone has a backlog of approximately $12 billion. This legislation will go a long way in helping to complete priority maintenance projects across America's public lands.
As we face a severe economic crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I particularly want to highlight the fact that this legislation before us today is more than just a public lands bill; it is also a jobs bill that will help fulfill Congress's commitment to make public lands accessible to all Americans.
The National Park System welcomed a record 327 million visitors last year, adding nearly $42 billion to our national economy and supporting more than 340,000 existing jobs.
According to Pew Charitable Trusts, this bill would also create 110,000 additional jobs repairing infrastructure in our national parks.
The Great American Outdoors Act also upholds Congress's long-standing commitment to ensuring access for all Americans to public lands.
My hope is the investments made by this legislation will continue to fulfill the purposes laid out in the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965, articulated as ``. . . preserving, developing, and assuring accessibility to all citizens of the United States of America of present and future generations . . . and to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States.''
As our population continues to grow, it is even more vital to help all communities, regardless of race or income levels, enjoy access to America's beautiful open spaces, historical sites, and natural wonders.
California is home to nine national parks--more than any other State--and we understand the tremendous value our public lands provide.
According to the National Park Service, in 2019, 39.6 million park visitors spent an estimated $2.7 billion in local communities while visiting National Park Service lands in California. These expenditures supported a total of 36,000 jobs and $4.3 billion in economic output.
That is an impressive amount by any measure, and I have witnessed the power of investments in our national parks with my own eyes in places like the California desert.
For example, in 1994, I was proud to help enact the California Desert Protection Act which designated Joshua Tree as a national park and protected an additional 234,000 acres.
Today, Joshua Tree is one of the most visited national parks in the country and welcomed 3 million visitors in 2019, according to the National Park Service. These visitors spent approximately $150 million in local communities surrounding the park and supported 1,860 jobs.
In addition, California has been the largest recipient of Land and Water Conservation funds in the program's five-decade history. This funding has helped protect beloved places like the Lake Tahoe Basin, California Desert, Point Reyes National Seashore, Headwaters Forest, San Diego and Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuges, and the National Forests of the Sierra Nevada.
According to a recent study, every $1 million spent from the Land and Water Conservation Fund supports as many as 30 jobs. Simply stated, an investment in our public lands is an investment in the health, welfare, and economies of our communities.
In closing, I would like to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who came together to prioritize these investments in our Nation's prized public lands and the communities that rely on them.
Thank you.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I rise to reflect on land conservation as the Senate is poised to make an historic commitment to our public lands and waters. S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act, contains two core components. The first establishes the National Park Service and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on Federal lands. The second makes funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent. Taken together, these policies will conserve land for the enjoyment of the public for generations to come and ensure that we continue to protect our shared resources.
The Restoration Fund must be used for priority deferred maintenance projects that are administered by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Our National Parks desperately need help, a situation President Trump's disastrous 2018-
2019 shutdown exacerbated. There is an estimated $11 billion maintenance backlog within the National Park System alone. Visitor numbers have increased in recent years and are likely to continue to do so, particularly as the public seeks respite at available units from the constraints that the novel coronavirus--COVID-19--pandemic has placed on daily life. Parks have been indispensable assets for communities during the ongoing public health emergency, allowing people to exercise and enjoy the outdoors safely with precautions, including staying local, practicing physical distancing, and using face coverings.
The LWCF is one of our Nation's most successful conservation programs. Congress established the LWCF in 1964. Since then, it has protected nearly 5 million acres of Federal lands and supported over 41,000 State and local projects through matching grants. LWCF has enjoyed bipartisan support since its inception; however, permanent funding will provide the fund with the long-term security and stabilization it deserves.
Maryland has benefited immensely from Federal investment in public land. Open spaces are particularly important to just over 6 million Marylanders who live and recreate in a highly developed State. Outdoor enthusiasts have a significant economic impact on the Maryland communities they visit. In 2019, nearly 7 million park visitors spent an estimated $233 million in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands in Maryland. These expenditures supported 2,960 jobs, $117 million in labor income, and $313 million in economic output in the Maryland economy, according to the latest annual report, National Park Visitor Spending Effects.
Consideration of this legislation coincides with Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week--June 6-14, 2020--leading up to the 6-year anniversary of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The agreement outlines five themes with 10 goals for the restoration and protection of the watershed region, including conserved lands, engaged communities, and climate change. On June 16, 2014, the Chesapeake Executive Council signed the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Signatories include representatives from the entire watershed, committing for the first time the seven headwater jurisdictions--Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia--to a full regional partnership with State, Federal, local, and academic watershed organizations in the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Permanently funding the LWCF furthers the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement--foremost, the land conservation goal: to conserve landscapes treasured by citizens in order to maintain water quality and habitat; sustain working forests, farms, and maritime communities; and conserve lands of cultural, indigenous, and community value. Stormwater runoff from urban and suburban areas is the fastest growing contributor of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay. While States have improved their urban and suburban stormwater regulatory programs, overall loads in the sector continue to increase due to population growth and development. Land conservation is a powerful tool for reducing this type of runoff. Protecting open spaces and sensitive natural areas reduces the water quality and flooding impacts of stormwater runoff, while providing recreational opportunities for residents.
Public lands serve as essential cultural education centers, as is the case with the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park. Congress established this park in 2014 in Cambridge, MD, within the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a LWCF beneficiary site. The park memorializes the life of American hero Harriet Tubman, known for her contributions as a Civil War spy and nurse, suffragist, abolitionist, and Underground Railroad agent. The park allows visitors to explore the landscape in Dorchester County where Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. This unit is crucial to understanding Maryland's history and celebrating the life of Harriet Tubman and complements the stewardship goal to increase the number and diversity of local citizen stewards and local governments that actively support and carry out the conservation and restoration activities that achieve healthy local streams, rivers, and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay.
The LWCF advances the Climate Resiliency Goal to increase the capacity of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including its living resources, habitats, public infrastructure and communities, to withstand adverse impacts from changing environmental and climate conditions. With more than 3,000 miles of coastline, Maryland is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts related to sea level rise, increased flooding, and extreme weather events according to the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies. While advanced technology is necessary to combat climate change, we must not forget nature's carbon sink: our wetlands and forests. Natural capital, also known as green infrastructure, is a cost-effective way to support sustainability, including by protecting water resources and enhancing resilience. LWCF funds, particularly grants through the Forest Legacy Program, have enormous dividends by protecting forests and wetlands that have the natural ability to store excess carbon via photosynthesis. Best management practices can help protect these stores of carbon and the ability of forests and wetlands to sequester it. While this legislation is not explicitly linked to climate change, it is an example of how we can find commonsense, bipartisan climate change solutions.
LWCF programs are also terrific examples of successful partnering with State and local government and private partners. Broad Creek in Dublin, MD, is an excellent example of forest stewardship in a rapidly urbanizing landscape. The Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America owns this 1,964-acre property located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and uses it for national and regional Boy Scout events. Several Federal- and State-listed rare, threatened and endangered species exist on the property. LWCF supported this conservation effort while supporting Boy Scout and environmental education activities, in Harford County, MD, in line with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement's environmental literacy goal: Enable students in the region to graduate with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed.
For Conquest Waterfront Preserve, $1,750,000 in LWCF resources helped protect Maryland's Eastern Shore. This 76-acre acquisition helped complete a 758-acre waterfront park in Queen Anne's County in partnership with the State, county, and the fund. Situated on a peninsula with 5 miles of shoreline along the Chester and Corsica Rivers, the project preserves important waterfowl habitat and wetland areas and expands public access to the Chesapeake Bay--another Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goal: Expand public access to the Bay and its tributaries through existing and new local, State and Federal parks, refuges, reserves, trails, and partner sites.
Communities across the globe are asking their leaders to consider how their policy decisions affect all of their constituents. The Great American Outdoors Act expands our opportunities for growth as a nation. This historic legislation represents the product of concerted bipartisan effort to invest in our Nation's future. By investing in our National Parks and other similar assets, we are helping to conserve our natural environment and create educational, accessible spaces for future generations of visitors. I am proud of what this body has accomplished and urge enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act into law.
I do have one regret. I understand the legislation represents a carefully crafted compromise, but I think it is unfortunate that Senators have not been able to offer amendments to the bill. I filed an amendment, S. Amdt. 1636, to establish a Fallen Journalists Memorial here in Washington, DC. June 28 will mark the 2-year anniversary of the fatal shooting that occurred at the offices of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper serving Annapolis, MD. I based my amendment on legislation I introduced, S. 1969, the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, which Senator Portman, Senator Manchin, and 10 other Senators have cosponsored. The amendment reflects changes the House Natural Resources Committee made when it marked up the bill and ordered it to be reported favorably by voice vote. The changes the committee made, in turn, reflect input from stakeholders including the National Park Service, which supports the bill. The legislation is bipartisan, noncontroversial, and does not impose any cost to taxpayers. The memorial would serve as a fitting tribute to the Gazette's staff and to all other journalists who have died in the line of duty and to our Nation's commitment to a free press. I hope that I can work with Senators Murkowski and Manchin, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, respectively, to secure this bill's passage as soon as possible.
Ms. CANTWELL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, in a few minutes, we are going to be voting to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, and before this bill crosses the finish line, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect upon all the work that it took to get us here today.
You see my colleagues around. This has truly been a labor of love from all of us who love the outdoors. If there is one thing we have found about the outdoors, it is no matter whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you love it. We all participate in it; we all enjoy it; and we want to pass it on to our children and grandchildren and next generations to come.
I am proud to be joined by every Member of the Democratic caucus in supporting this legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and to put $9.5 billion toward maintenance backlogs on our treasured public lands, and I am very appreciative and very proud to be working with our Republican friends who are joining us to support the Great American Outdoors Act. It truly has been bipartisanship at its best, and it is something we need so much more of.
Passing permanent LWCF authorization last year was an important step, but securing a permanent, dedicated funding source for the multiple conservation programs funded by the LWCF has been the ultimate goal of the Democratic leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee all the way back to Senator Jeff Bingaman. So it goes back quite a ways.
Many other Senators, Democratic and Republican, Members of the House, both retired and here today, have been champions for the LWCF and helped to pave the way to where we are today. We are within striking distance of realizing the goal of permanent, mandatory funding, especially since we have only seen the full funding twice in 55 years. To have it now, where it is going to be permanent, and the $21 billion that went down the black hole, that will no longer happen. We will be able to make sure that the projects in all of our wonderful States--and I think almost every county in the country is going to benefit. It is on a personal basis. It truly is a long, hard-fought caucus achievement, and I am incredibly proud that as the current ranking member of the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee, as a sponsor of the LWCF Permanent Funding Act, and one of the lead Democrats on this bill to be part of getting this legislation done.
I have my good friend Senator Heinrich of New Mexico, who has worked so hard. Then we have had Senator Cantwell. We have had Senator Ron Wyden and all who have been former chairs of the committees or ranking members. On the Republican side, all my colleagues there will be speaking on behalf of bringing so many people together.
So its time has come. It is a testament to the importance of this historic conservation legislation that has brought so many of us together in support. Something this impactful doesn't happen overnight. It takes time and hard work. I would like to recognize the work of my colleagues and thank them again.
We had a lot of votes. We have had a lot of votes that we have had to shepherd through and make sure that everybody understood how important, how historic, and the timing of something--to be able to say that you were in this body, you were able to vote and participate on a piece of legislation so our country, the United States of America, is going to be able to share with every inhabitant we have and all the visitors coming from around the world for years and years and generations to come, that is pretty historic. To have that happen, I think, is one of the most important things we have done in the conservation world in the last 50 years.
So we are very proud of that. Sixty of my Senate colleagues have cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act, and 20 more joined us last week, resulting in strong bipartisan votes to begin consideration of the historic bill. The beauty of our Nation's great outdoors truly brings them together.
All of us have been able to speak and show you pictures of our wonderful, beautiful States. These are some beautiful pictures from my beautiful State of West Virginia. This is Cheat River Canyon here. Anybody who has ever rafted that or hiked it or been on top and looked down to the beautiful vista, this is just truly as rugged as it looks right here. It is something gorgeous when you pass through it on a raft. It is really unbelievable.
I would invite everybody to come and visit. We are only a 5-hour drive from about half the population of the United States, right here in West Virginia.
This other photo is of the Dolly Sods Wilderness, a beautiful place. This is what we call Bear Rocks. I have a little, little place right down in the Canaan Valley area here, and I intend to be there this weekend with my family. This is something we enjoy. This is an unbelievable vista here. Again, it is only 3 hours from Washington, DC, by driving
So we invite you all to West Virginia. We would love everybody to come visit and enjoy what sometimes we take for granted. When you have these types of views, you can never take that for granted, what the Good Lord gave us all. Every one of our States has so much to offer.
At the end of the day, this is an opportunity for us to pass down a legacy to our kids, our grandkids, and of course generations to come.
I believe this will be the most impactful nationwide conservation legislation since the Land and Water Conservation Fund was first created over 50 years ago.
From what we have seen from the votes over the last week and a half, I anticipate we will see again today. It is a shining example of Democrats and Republicans coming together to put politics aside to do what is best for conserving this great Nation's natural resources.
So I would like to say thank you to all of them.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a list of all of my staff who have worked on this. I am sure my friends on the Republican side would do the same because there has been a lot of effort put forth. People have worked long nights and long weekends to make this happen
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
H.R. 1957--Great American Outdoors Act Staff (Senator Manchin)
David Brooks, Democratic General Counsel; Renae Black, Democratic Staff Director; Sam Fowler, Democratic Chief Counsel; Samantha Runyon, Democratic Communications Director; Bryan Petit, Democratic Senior Professional Staff Member; Elliot Howard, Democratic Professional Staff Member; Melanie Thornton, Democratic Professional Staff Member; Charlotte Bellotte, Democratic Research Assistant; Adam Berry, Democratic Research Assistant; Cameron Nelson, Democratic Research Assistant; Jeremy Ortiz, Democratic Digital Manager; Peter Stahley, National Park Service Bevinetto Fellow; Lance West, Chief of Staff; Wes Kungel, Legislative Director.
Mr. MANCHIN. I have got David Brooks, who has been on the committee for 30 years. He probably knows more about this process. I know he is fretting over is every word right, is every comma in the right place, every dot in the right place, but we have confidence in David and Sam Fowler and Renae Black doing a great job with the committee on the ranking member's side.
To every one of them who have worked so hard, thank you. God bless each and every one of them for a job well done, and it is something that we can all take pride in.
Someone said: How was your work in the Capitol? I said: We had a great week. We had a great week, and today is going to be the culmination of that great week.
So I want to thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to make these comments. I want to make sure we enter into the Record all the people who deserve the credit. I want to thank my colleagues for being here also.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from the great State of West Virginia for his work on this over the past many, many years, as we have worked on, individually, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Restore Our Parks Act, for his leadership on the Energy and Natural Resources committee. I am grateful to Senator Manchin for his leadership and friendship.
So many people worked on this together: Senator Burr and the work he did, tirelessly, year after year, on the Land and Water Conservation Fund; of course, Senator Heinrich, Senator Warner, Senator Portman, Senator Alexander on the Restore Our Parks Act, Senators King, Cantwell--all crucial to the success this bill will see today--Senators across both sides of the aisle coming together for what one newspaper in Colorado described as the holy grail of conservation legislation.
But it is the staff as well. I start with Senator Daines and his leadership on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Restore Our Parks Act, his leadership on the Parks Subcommittee and the Great American Outdoors Act; Senator Daines and his staff, Jason Thielman, Darin Thacker, Joshua Sizemore, Holly Hinojosa; Senator Warner, Elizabeth Falcone, Micah Barbour; Senator Portman, along with Pam Thiessen and Sarah Perry--incredible work by staff members.
In Senator King's office we were greatly aided by Chad Metzler and Morgan Cashwell; Senator Alexander's great team of David Cleary, Allison Martin, and Anna Newton; Senator Cantwell's, Amit Ronen; and Senator McConnell, Terry Van Doren.
Obviously, for the floor time, I am very grateful to Senator McConnell for bringing us to the floor to allow this debate to take place over the last week and a half and the work that we did to achieve and secure the President's support for the Great American Outdoors Act.
Senator Heinrich, Lio Barrera, Maya Hermann; Senator Manchin, Lance West, Renae Black, David Brooks; Senator Burr's staff of Natasha Hickman, Joshua Bowlen; and of course on my team, the outstanding work--they have to overcome a lot working with me, Ashley Higgins, Spencer Hamilton, Dustin Sherer, Jennifer Lorain, and Curtis Swager. I am grateful to all of them for their work and their support.
The Great American Outdoors Act is the culmination of two things that have taken this Congress a long time to be able to pass. In fact, we tried last Congress to get it out of the House, and we couldn't do it alone under the Restore Our Parks Act. We tried and we got pieces and parts of the Land and Water Conservation Fund done, but we couldn't quite get the whole thing until we brought these two bills together.
Senator Manchin, Senator Burr, Senator Daines--the whole group of people whom I mentioned, working bipartisan across the aisle to make this happen.
The two bills together will help create significant opportunity for all of America. This isn't a bill that just benefits the East or the West. This isn't a bill that just benefits the coastal States or the interior States.
This is a chart that shows the States that benefit from the Great American Outdoors Act. The States that are in green shows who benefits from the Great American Outdoors Act. The States in orange are the States that do not get the benefit from the Great American Outdoors Act.
There are no States in orange. The entire country, from Alaska and Hawaii to Florida and Maine and everywhere in between, benefits from the Great American Outdoors Act.
We know this is going to create jobs across the country: $495 million dollars a year in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. For every $1 million a year invested in the Land and Water Conservation Fund, it supports between 16 and 30 jobs. This bill will assure full and permanent funding in the Land and Water Conservation Fund--$900 million a year--the opportunity to create between 16 and 30 jobs for every $1 million spent.
On national parks, you think about the national park economic benefits. In 2018, economic benefits from national park visitor spending increased by over $2 billion. If you look at the number of just in Colorado alone, we had 7.6 million national park visitors. Those visitors helped create 7,000--over 7,000 jobs paying over $258 million in income.
Overall, we know this bill on the park side alone will create over 100,000 jobs--100,000 jobs in the communities that were hardest hit by the first waves of the coronavirus; communities in our public lands that saw their ski areas shut down, their outfitters canceled.
This will create jobs and opportunity. In Colorado, thousands of jobs will be created by this portion of the bill alone.
You know, it has been said by some of our greatest advocates that within our national parks is room--glorious room--in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.
In 1893, Katharine Lee Bates visited Colorado Springs and climbed up Pikes Peak. While looking out over the land, she wrote a poem that we all know very well. She wrote the words to ``America the Beautiful''--
of spacious skies and amber waves of grain. She talked about purple mountain majesties.
Our lands define who we are--our struggles and triumphs, our homes and our futures. From the solemnity of the redwoods to the vastness of the everglades, they inspire us and give us space to dream. In Hawaii, these lands crackle as new Earth forms from molten rock. In Pennsylvania, they bear the blood of a nation on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg and Flight 93. In Colorado, they are a testament to prairie and peak, to plateau and pioneer. From sea to shining sea, our public lands are the story of America.
All of these lands--every single acre--tell the story of a nation formed out of hope for fairness, justice, equality, and freedom. Acre after acre shows our Nation's continued struggle to form a more perfect Union, a nation never content but committed to learning from the mistakes of the past to become a better place tomorrow than we are today, and to assure the Nation's greatest treasure, our youth, has these lands to learn from, to live with, and to prosper on for generations to come. Long after this Congress adjourns, they will give life to America, these great and wild places.
In just a few minutes, we will take a vote on a very historic piece of legislation, and I hope that my colleagues will find it within them to vote yes on this important piece of legislation for generations to come.
I yield the floor to Senator Heinrich.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Colorado. I really thank my colleague from West Virginia and the incredible teamwork that has played out here on the U.S. Senate floor.
This is a time in our country when we don't always have that kind of teamwork. Let's be honest. This has been a year when much of the country has been divided, but we have been able to come together around the one thing that truly unites us. Certainly, in having lived through the last 3 months, when many people have been shuttered in their homes for weeks and weeks at a time, I think it has really driven home for many of us that the outdoors is not just a luxury but is something we need.
I see we are now joined by my colleague from Montana as well, who did great work on this, which also drives home the fact that nothing around here gets done by one single individual or one party. It gets done when we come together.
I want to take just a minute and thank Senator Jeff Bingaman, who held my seat before I did, who made this the centerpiece of his work while he was in the Senate and plowed the ground on which we walk today.
I thank all of my staff, especially Maya Hermann and Lio Barrera, for all of their good work. I also thank Senator Gardner for recognizing all of those on our staff--all of the good people who made this happen.
In New Mexico, we have protected such incredible landscapes with the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Valles Caldera--New Mexico's Yellowstone--is known for its herds of elk, its hot springs, its enormous volcanic caldera, and places like Ute Mountain that wouldn't be in the public trust were it not for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
I was so proud to work with Senator Lamar Alexander on a bill called Every Kid Outdoors. This is the bill that will allow us to make sure that every kid will be within walking distance of a neighborhood park.
I hope that all of our colleagues will find it in their hearts to support this legislation today and will send a strong message to the House of Representatives to take up this legislation quickly.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired.
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time.
The bill was read the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 73, nays 25, as follows:
YEAS--73
AlexanderBaldwinBennetBlumenthalBluntBookerBoozmanBrownBurrCantwellCapitoCardinCarperCaseyCollinsCoonsCortez MastoCottonCramerDainesDuckworthDurbinErnstFeinsteinGardnerGillibrandGrahamGrassleyHarrisHassanHeinrichHironoHoevenJonesKaineKingKlobucharLeahyLoefflerManchinMcConnellMcSallyMenendezMerkleyMurkowskiMurphyPerduePetersPortmanReedRobertsRosenRubioSandersSchatzSchumerScott (SC)ShaheenSinemaSmithStabenowSullivanTesterThuneTillisUdallVan HollenWarnerWarrenWhitehouseWickerWydenYoung
NAYS--25
BarrassoBlackburnBraunCassidyCornynCrapoCruzEnziFischerHawleyHyde-SmithInhofeJohnsonKennedyLankfordLeeMoranPaulRischRomneyRoundsSasseScott (FL)ShelbyToomey
NOT VOTING--2
MarkeyMurray
The bill (H.R. 1957), as amended, was passed
Amendment No. 1618
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the title amendment No. 1618 be considered and agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 1618) was agreed to, as follows
(Purpose: To amend the title)
Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to amend title 54, United States Code, to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, and to provide permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and for other purposes.''.
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