Run toward justice, and hands that serve your purposes. Empower them to be faithful to you and their calling to do your will on earth, inspiring them with your presence to live above reproach deliver them from the pride that leads to shame, providing them with the humility that comes with wisdom. And lord, keep us all on the right side of history. We pray in your great name. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington, d. C. , june 12, 2020. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable steve daines, a senator from the state of montana, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed chuck grassley, president pro tempore. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h. R. 1957, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 75, h. R. 1957, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from colorado is recognized. Mr. Gardner thank you, madam president. Thank you for your willingness to preside over the chamber at this late hour at least in the nations capital. Midnight here. 10 00 back in the great states of colorado and montana. My colleague and one of the leading sponsors of this legislation has been doing a lot of work this past week on the Great American outdoors act to make sure that we can get this across the finish line. The truly bipartisan spirit of this bill has been remarkable. I think thats kind of what i wanted to start off with my comments tonight, is really the coasttocoast nature of this legislation, the Great American outdoors act, because so many people have put in not just a couple weeks of work or a couple months of work or a couple years of work, but decades of work on the legislation that we have before us. The Great American outdoors act, of course, combines two pieces of legislation, the crown jewel of our conservation programs across the nation, the land and Water Conservation fund, and the restore our parks act. The restore our parks act focuses on catching up with the maintenance backlog in our National Park systems. About 70 of the funding, 1. 9 billion a year roughly will go toward our National Parks. Additional dollars will go toward the bureau of Land Management. The bureau of Land Management now headquartered in the great state of colorado. A portion will go to the u. S. Forest service. A portion will go to the u. S. Fish and wildlife service. A portion will go to the bureau of Indian Education. The land and Water Conservation fund, of course, goes toward the efforts to protect some of the greatest spaces in our nation. I wanted to thank the people who have been working on this, and we have more work to do, to be clear. Senator manchin, senator heinrich, senator cantwell, senator king, senator warner, senator portman and alexander, senator danes, all have been working very, very diligently to make sure that we can pass this. Im sure i have missed a few people as we have talked about them tonight. And we will be talking about this work with our colleagues over the next several days. The land and Water Conservation fund has benefited every state in the country. There are a few things that have been said on the floor today that i thought i would clear up and address because they need to be. Im going to show a chart here that talks about the states that have received benefit from or will receive benefit under the Great American outdoors act and the states that do not benefit from the Great American outdoors act. So the states that do not benefit from the Great American outdoors act are highlighted in orange, and the states that benefit from the Great American outdoors act are highlighted in green. Now, as you can see from this map, there are no orange states. This is an entire country, alaska, hawaii, 48 states that have benefited from the land and Water Conservation fund, who will benefit from the restore our parks act. All 50 states across the country have already benefited from these programs. In fact, i would ask unanimous consent that a letter written march 9 of 2020 from the land and Water Conservation fund and the coalition of countless organizations be submitted for the record in support of this legislation. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner the march 9 letter begins the land and Water Conservation fund has been our nations most successful conservation and Recreation Program for 55 years. Now permanently reauthorized by congress after a nationwide advocacy effort. That was a bill that came forward in the john b. Dingell conservation bill, a Public Lands Bill we passed last congress. It passed this chamber 928, another extremely bipartisan provision. You know, the land and Water Conservation fund isnt just about the coast. Its not just about the interior. Its about all of our states. Half the money goes to the east, half the money goes to the west. It is distributed across the nation. Its not a federal land grab. I think its important that some people want to talk about this being a federal land grab. 99 of the funding from the land and Water Conservation fund actually goes to inholdings within existing public lands, meaning if you have a place like Rocky MountainNational Park in colorado and there is had a little bit of land out in the middle of that, land and Water Conservation fund, 99 of the funds from that have been used to purchase those inholdings. You have a significant portion of the land and Water Conservation fund that is not managed by the federal government at all. Its actually handled by the states. Its an important thing. Baseball fields, soccer fields, and other programs the states can manage. A huge chunk of funding from the land and Water Conservation fund actually goes back out to the states and out of the hands of the federal government. If you go to another letter that we have talked about before, the six previous secretaries of interior sending a letter june june 3, 2020, talking about the privilege and responsibility of stewarding some of americas most scenic landscapes. Incredible landscapes and natural and cultural treasures. And it talked about how theyre all cognizant of the Critical Role that our public lands play in our lives as places to recreate, recharge, and seek solace in the midst of great uncertainty and also to create jobs. This was signed by republican and democrat secretaries of the interior, most recently secretary zinke and secretary jewel, secretary ken salazar from colorado, secretary bruce babbitt, another westerner from arizona under president clinton. This talks about the importance of the Great American outdoors act and how it will help ensure a better, Brighter Future for nature and for all of us. And speaking of sort of bright futures, some people have said on the floor that this legislation was crafted in secret. What could be further from the truth . The land and Water Conservation fund has been around since 1965, 1964 in this chamber. It was approved by the Committee Just a couple months ago. The restore our parks act cleared the energy and Natural ResourcesCommittee Just a couple of months ago. It was debated. There were amendments offered. They failed. We combined these two pieces that came out of committee, and we put them into the Great American outdoors act, and thats what we are being asked to vote on tonight. Of course, the secretarys letter talks about the dollars that will be going to our communities, the opportunities for more conservation. We talked about the letter here from the coalition. Lets just talk about the jobs, too, though. Its important as we start voting tonight that we recognize that this is a jobs bill and an Economic Opportunity for our country. Its estimated that the Great American outdoors act will create nearly 100 over 100,000 jobs across the country. As we get our feet underneath us again, as we get back on our feet from the health pandemic, covid19 emergency, we have a chance to create new jobs and new opportunities. Remember where these jobs are going to be created. They will be created around the country. The land and Water Conservation fund is in nearly every county across the nation. For every 1 million we spend on the land and Water Conservation fund, we support between 16 and 30 jobs. So the National Parks supporting over 100,000 jobs through the Great American outdoors act, the land and Water Conservation fund, every million dollars, between 16 and 30 jobs. Those communities that have been impacted because of job loss. Maybe their tourism season ended earlier, maybe it started late, maybe a combination of both as we faced in colorado, those communities that have 20 , 22 , 23 unemployment are going to be able to gain significantly economically across the country, thanks to this legislation. We also have a letter here from the american the archery trade association, the association of fish and wildlife agents, boon and crockett club, the catch a dream foundation, you name it, congressional sportsmans foundation. A march 11, 2020 letter in support of the Great American outdoors act. And i would ask that this be entered into the record unanimous consent this be entered into the record to show support for this legislation. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner the jobs aspect of the Great American outdoors act of course is recognized by the u. S. Chamber of commerce. On june 4, 2020, they sent a letter to members of the United States senate. The u. S. Chamber of commerce strongly supports the Great American outdoors act and the important bipartisan bill that would provide funding certainty for the land and Water Conservation fund and address the pressing maintenance and construction backlog on public lands. It addresses long overdue Infrastructure Modernization challenges, interNational Park system, and other federal and agricultural lands. It would also permanently authorize the lwcf, providing an important tool for Smart Development of open spaces in communities across the nation. Enactment of this bill would also provide muchneeded funding to support and sustain bureau of Indian Education schools. By setting aside 5 of the funds created in this act, as much as 475 million can flow to bureau of Indian Education schools over the next five years. A. P. I. , American Petroleum institute, writes in support of the Great American outdoors act. They start with practical safe and responsible offshore Energy Development doesnt just create jobs and power our lives. It also funds americas largest federal conservation program. Senators will soon vote on the Great American outdoors act, and they hope that we would support this legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the letter from a. P. I. And both the chamber of commerce be entered into the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner furthermore, to highlight the economic importance of this legislation, the Outdoor Recreation industry. These have some of the most notable names in Outdoor Recreation i think everybody would recognize from polaris, bass pro, cabelas, northface, pat goan yeah. They are all on here in support of the Great American outdoors act. The Outdoor Recreation industry is extremely encouraged by recent announcements that the Senate Public lands to hold a vote on the Great American outdoors act. As Outdoor Recreation business leaders, we know investments in recreation, access and infrastructure are vital to the recreation industry and economies across the country. I ask unanimous consent that this letter be entered into the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner rei, a place that secretary jewell knows very well, the coop rights in support of the Great American outdoors act talking about the impressive process that this bill came together with, the bipartisan nature of this legislation. My colleague, senator heinrich, from new mexico, is on the floor. I cant thank him enough for the work that we have done together and for making sure that we can get to these votes, as we approach the very late hours in washington. I ask unanimous consent that the rei letter be entered into the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner so this is about National Treasures, the Great American outdoors act. Its about National Treasures. Its about protecting these incredible places that are owned by all of us, not just the people of colorado or new mexico or the great state of georgia. Owned by all of us. Its about some of the most scenic and majestic landscapes, unique ecosystems that they have created. But its also about a National Treasure in the American People. That National Treasure that has been hit pretty hard over the last several months pandemics, conflict in our society and racial injustice. And its this National Treasure, the American People, that this legislation is focused on. A National Treasure that will help create jobs and opportunity, empower peoples lives, get their communities back on track, and maybe, just maybe, provide a little bit of respite to somebody who is seeking that opportunity to get outside, to get away, to find time to think. As inis mills said, to making them maybe a little bit more reflective and kind during difficult times. Weve got a long ways to go in this legislation, still. Well have more debates later tonight. Well have a vote later tonight, and i hope my completion will join my colleagues will join me in support of this legislation. It is bipartisan in nature. It has the significant support of the American People. It benefits our country from sea to shining sea. And were going to have some votes next week on monday as well, perhaps tuesday, maybe even more. But one thing this bill is not is a surprise. This bill is a collection of debates and arguments and passion and advocacy for decades. I think the argument has been, one, we want to protect our countrys most treasured places. So now we just have to win the debate, and making sure we can do that with the votes tonight. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes tonight and through the remaining votes we have, either today or next week to move on to passage of this legislation. And the good it can do. So i thank the president , and i thank my colleagues, and i would yield the floor. Mr. Heinrich madam president . The presiding officer the senator from new mexico. Mr. Heinrich madam president , i rise today with my colleagues from colorado and montana to talk about the incredible coalition that has come together to support the Great American outdoors act and why weve been able to build a group of folks ranging far beyond this body who have come together from very disparate parts of the political spectrum, very disparate parts of our incredible geographic country to support this piece of legislation. And i think part of the what has made this legislation so timely is what weve all been through in the last three months. Many of us were couped up in your homes for weeks at a time, and i