While creating new public spaces that reflect continuing stories that is our great country. In my view, when the Senate Debates this kind of legislation, the debate also has to include discussion about a particularly important topic and that is jobs. Now a major component of this bill is of course the land and Water Conservation. That puts funding into natural wonders all over the country, in cities and rural areas. And so today i want to speak for a moment, specifically about those rural areas and rural economies. The Economic Impact of the covid19 pandemic has hit so many of our Rural Communities like a wrecking ball. These are communities that have been struggling, going back a long time and Building Back up after covid19. This is going to be enormously challenging. The senate ought to be looking at every good idea the gig help get these rural economies moving again that land and waterou Conservation Fund is not just about opening up the countries treasured areas for everyone to enjoy and to help people get outdoors. It has got a proven track record of boosting the economies of the communities near those lands. The lands and water Conservation Fund is the ultimate win win approach because you focus with this program on recreation that involves protecting our natural wonders and jobs. Thats a big step forward. So what i wanted to do was just spend a few minutes talking about how we could do evenwo more. For some time now, i have been working with my colleagues from the pacific northwest, around trying to help secure to economic lifelines for the Rural Community of the northwest and much of our nation. Im talking about curing schools in payments in lieu of taxes. In the west there are a lot of areas that have long depended on resource distraction and a lot of areas made up of federal land. We went through a light of boom and bust cycles to define those economies for generations. Nearly always those of boom and bust cyclesd proved to be harmful and unsustainable. So some time ago, a number of years of go. Former senator larry craig and i wrote the bill that created the secure rural schools program. It has provided years and years of reliable revenue for Rural Counties so they could plan budget. After a while, secure rural schools got caught up in the knockdown back and forth physical battles that happened in congress too often. So once in a while, the program with lapse. It meant then that from all over the country, county leaders of Rural Communities came to washington and had to plead for extensions of the secure rule Rural School Program that has always been successful a model that involves local input, spending this program should have been a nobrainer all along. It expired just last year before congress stepped up its last minute to reauthorize the program. At the start and stop authorizations do nothing for certainty. I remember one year, mr. President , that to keep secure rural schools program, the distinguished senator from alaska, we were involved in selling off the helium reserve. That gave us some money, some key money for secure rural schools and programs in the west. I remember when we sold off the helium reserve to get money for secure rural schools a number of editorial writers out west had a lot of fun with it and basically said well we always knew ron why didnt full of a lot of hot air. The point is, we have got to end that cycle that boom and bust cycle of having to just go through this routine at the end of the period when secure rural schools are helping with roads and schools for many kinds of areas. I worked with the senator to propose reforms that would upgrade the secure rules program in sustainable funding for Rural Counties the bill would establish a Permanent Endowment Fund for county Economic Development and roads and schools that is where the money goes it goes into Economic Development goes into roads and schools and by the way when you are helping those Rural Communities with their budget, when they have those funds secure it frees up money for them for important things like Mental Health. We have certainly seen the demand for Mental Health increased dramatically in the last few months. After Congress Makes an initial investment into the fund under our proposal which would establish a permanent endowment to provide funding for county Economic Development roads and schools Congress Makes that initial investment into the fund the principal will be invested in the interest will be used to make payments to counties. So you have senator crapo, senator merkley summoned arisha and i proposing a way to move away from this roller coaster in the west to upgrade secure rural schools into a stable sort of funding. You have a Permanent Endowment Fund that provides money for the roads and schools and the counties and the principles invested in the interest to be used to make payments to counties the proposalth is backed by a one 100 of oregon senators and one 100 of idahos United States senators. For united or state senator to democrats to republicans having worked closely with rural groups and National Association of counties and others to advance this idea. The proposal with directm revenue sharing payments would force that to be deposited into the endowment nature that way the payments the county will grow in the safety net they provide to their constituents can expand. These inre my view are the basics of an economic toolkit for rural areas. If you focus on roads, if you focus on schools. If you make sure that counties have the money for services so they stand for example take care of Mental Health needs. That is theea key to building up rural economies and create jobs forng residents. Now payment in lieu of taxes similar reasons. People who live in these Rural Counties dominated by public land also deserves support. They to rely on local Governmental Services and deserve a safety net like everyone else. They ought to be able to budget, planning create jobs like bigger cities can. Our amendment to really promote secure rural schools and pill would extend for ten years to give these counties the certainty and predictability they need. Im going to wrap up here in a moment, mr. President , but i just hope that the majority leader is going to set up a process for real debates on these ideas and these amendments. This is a bipartisan proposal when we have offered in the past, senator and i and others proposals to extend this program we nearly always get at least 70 votes here in the United States senate because there is an awareness of how important it is that these Rural Communities have certainty for school and road and basic kinds of services that our efforts support. Covid19mo pandemic is causing an normas pain everywhere. But we have seen big corporations, we talked about this yesterday in the finance committee, some colleagues think we ought to cut the Unemployment Benefits in half but it is a fine to make available trillions of dollars to the biggest corporations in america so the covid pandemic is causing pain everywhere. It seems to me with so many resources going to big corporations and intensely populatedra areas the United States senate has an obligation to make sure rural economies and rural workers and Rural Businesses art just left behind upgrading secure rural schools and spendingre pilled as a targeted way to advocate for Rural Communities we are going to be home for several weeks in july my hope is to be able to have conversations with folks in person in those areas and we have not been able to do as much of that with 970 town Hall Meetings in person just they are to be able to respond and answer questions. I really hope we will be able to do that again soon. And when we have those discussions, you can be very sure that in those Rural Communities front and center will be secure rural schools. Front and center will be payment in lieu of taxes, folks will in on those areas because they will say they have to meet since larry craig, former colleague and i program, people will come up and say it with secure rural schools is doing is giving us a chance to make sure we have a real education program. Before we got that program going, people thought they would have school three days a week. N people will say ron we need secure rural schools. We need itds for education. It is the key to our Roads Program, Roads Program for smaller counties it is an able to have rural life without rural roads and schools the heart of secure rural schools as you cannot have rural life. These two programs are Solutions Based on providing certainty andct predictability to help build thriving economies good jobs in rural areas. I am going to keep pushing for support here in the senate. I know my colleagues are going to continue to do so as well. And with that, i yield the floor and i would note the absence of a quorum. Mr. President this week we considered a measure for permanent funding of the land and water Conservation Fund for our National Parks. I would support this measure joyously if there were am Similar Program for americas coasts and bays and oceans. As it is, i support this measure but with a heavy and frustrated heart as once again the urgent needs of coastal communities go unaddressed. Put bluntly, the land and water Conservation Fund massively favors inland and upland states and projects. That is indicated by the prevalence of advocates on f the floor from landlocked states. It fails to meet the needs of coastal communities. Over the past decade, for every dollar the fund sent to inland states. Capita coastal states just got 40 cents. The imbalance against coasts gets worse if you factor in theirs greater coastal inland and the imbalance worsens furthernd when you factor in much of the land and water Conservation Fund spending and coastal states is for upland, indolent, projects. Coasts and saltwater are not treated fairly. The upland freshwater imbalance is not justified and we want to make it right. Look at rhode island. People from the nation and around the globe visit our wonderful beecher gem beaches in bay and they drive a huge amount of the economic activity. In 2018, Rhode Islands commerce suggests 5 Million People visited our state bringing in tax revenue and over 86000 jobs. In total, travelers through rhode island generated 6. 8 billion in our economy. Our coast attracts that economic activity. It is a big deal for us. And rhode island has over half of americans live in a coastal county nearly 60 of the nations gross semester product derives from coastal counties. According to the american sure and beecher preservation association, i will quote them here, more than twice as many visit americas coasts is visit state and National Parks combined. Consequently, 85 of all tourism related to revenue in the u. S. Is generated and coastal b states. Where beaches are the leading attraction it supports 2. 5 million jobs billion dollars in revenue and 45 billion in taxes annually. For all of that, you had Water Conservation gives 40 cents to coastal states for every dollar that sends to inland states. And that 40 cents is. Capita, not adjusted for the greater Coastal Economic activity in the greater tax revenue and, it doesnt trust for uses and coastal states. Coasts are over looked. I wish it were just the land water Conservation Fund but look at the inland to coastal disparity in the army court flood and coastal storm damage reduction fund. Over the past ten years the core has spent of that fund in various years between 19 and a 120 times more on inland work than it spent on coastal work. 19million to one coastal dollar was our coast best year. 120 inland dollars to one coastal dollar was our worst coastal communities are exposed to storms to sealevel rise, to shifting fisheries to all manner of other conservation and infrastructure challenges that they received acrossha that decade less than three pennies out of eachnt dollar spent from an Army Corps Program that has coastal in its name. This persistent and unfair aimbalance against coasts nor is the massive and unique risks which that coastal communities, coastal features, coastal infrastructures and coastal economies now face. Look at the dire warnings of Coastal Property value crash. Freddie. Not an environmental group, has estimated somewhere between 238 billion worth of coastal real estate will be gone, below sea level by 2100. Freddie. Warns about that text nothing losses and social disruption likely to be greater in total experience of the housing prices and great recession. Are we listening . Along the east coast, the first three foundation estimates Property Values already took a 15 billiondollar hit due to Sea Level Rise the Providence Journal using first street and Columbia University data reported rhode island lostn over 44 million relative Coastal Property values from 2005 to 2017. Firstrate data showed maine, New Hampshire massachusetts and rhode island lost a combined 403 million during that stretch. Hundreds of millions of dollars lost already. And the worst is yet to come. Look elsewhere along the coast, want to know why senator cassidy is so motivated . His entire louisiana coast is in a declared state of emergency. A recent headline from the timesc and those words we are screwed. The only question is how quickly will the wetlands advantage the study says. That is a quote. That two lady universities that says Sea Level Rise will flood 5800 square miles of louisiana coastal wetlands the report concludes this is a major threat. Not only to one of the ecologically richest societies in the United States, also the one point to million inhabitants with associated economic assets that are surrounded mississippi delta marshland. Obvious, right but are we listening to senator cassidy . In florida, coastal communities already see flooded streets on sunny days. Researchers project over two and half feet of Sea Level Rise in the next 40 years affecting 120,000 Florida Coastal properties in or near rising seas. Some studies say miami beach is iconic south beach has two decades left. Communities in southern florida are considering abandoning Public Infrastructure because of the sticker shock of protecting it. Fish, manatees, sea turtles, and other Sea Creatures have washed up on florida beecher student toxic algae as the oceans get warm. The iconic everglades are in peril who is listening . In north carolina, the outer banks face erosion and sealevel rise such as the National Park service has normative loss to the area will be inundated in the country outer banks washington d. C. , there goes a millions of annual visitors, thousands of local jobs at a local economy with over 250 million. Over 5500 homes and coastal texas are projected to flood in the next decade. Homes with a one point to billion dollars coastal South Carolina just since 2017 has been hit by four different billion dollar hurricanes. The list of what our coast are facing those on and on and the projected losses are enormous. Here is Moodys Investor Services warning for coastal communities is the issue bond i quote moodys the growing effective Climate Change includingec priming, with temperatures and rising sea levels forecast avid increasing Economic Impact on state and local issuers. This should be a glowing negative credit factor for issuers without sufficient adaptation and mitigation strategies. Going to ask my colleagues if you are amu small community, on the coast where are you going to go to get sufficient adaptation and mitigation strategies for moodys . Where are we to help those communities. Says the union of concerned scientists i quote by the end of the 21st century, nearly 2. 5 million residential and commercial properties collectively valued today at 1. 07 trillion we will be at risk of chronic flooding. Chronic flooding . Makes thosech property on insurable and un mortgage suitable. She was one of the word freddie. s warning about a Coastal Property value crash. But his listening . Not the land and water Conservation Fund. Our Coastal Public land and resources coastal private property face enormous peril in the Land Water Fund ignores that peril. That is why im offering a commonsense bipartisan amendment not a spoiler amendment, but a partisan amendment, not a gotcha amendment, not a poison pill, a common sense bipartisan commitment. T my minute takes nothing away in the land and water Conservation Fund. Just leave the landingti Conservation Fund and its upland bias intact. It separately provides revenues, coastal revenues. Dedicated fromnd offshore wind and Renewable Energy development. To support coastal states. Coastal resiliency, coastal infrastructuread and coastal adaptation. Unless we do this, billions of dollars in offshore wind energy willyp bypass coasts and go straight to the federal treasury. On light, offshore oil and gas Energy Revenues that goes in significant part to gulf coast states and ironically to the predominantly upland projects of the land and water Conservation Fund. Dont get me wrong i do not begrudge her Landmark College their fundings. Does give me the opportunity to add to the coast. There should be a coastal in Saltwater Program to balance the upland and freshwater bias of the land andns Water Conservation are landlocked colleagues are wrong to stop this amendment. It does them no harm in the situation along our coast is dangerous and worsening. Let me repeat the situation along the coast is dangerous and worsening. Im going to vote for this bill i will do so as i said with a heavy and frustrated heart. And i want you pushing as hard as you stand for the day we get parity for coastal communities is what we are doing here, refusing this amendment is both shortsighted and unfair. And this is not my first rodeo on the subject. Ive got to tell you i am sick to death of people telling me your rights, we need to do something for coasts and then as soon as the land and water Conservation Fund passes they are gone. Zippo, vanished. My environmental friends say you are right, sheldon, just help us on this. And we will help you with coasts. And then you dont. My colleagues say you are right, sheldon just help us on this we will help you with coasts. And then you dont. And now, by making the land and water Conservation Funding permanent, we are permanently making its inland and its upland bias. And there is nothing added for coasts. And everyoneg, is saying yes you are right sheldon just help us on this. And we will help you with ricoasts. All my friends a bitter experience tells me otherwise that you will have my vote and you will have my help to help Water Resources as we should, and we, from coasts will again have to old weights our day. Today is not our day and coastal states. Today is not our day. But maybe one day and one day soon, i pray, all of this talk will finally turn into action for our coasts. A sense of decency, and a sense of urgency with both seem to demand that. I yield the floor. I note the absence of a quorum. I think mr. President the senate is considering landmark legislation i called up because it is indeed landmark legislation but is about the great landmarks of our nations. We have a chance to lead in this country this week with historic package of bills the Great American outdoors that combines the land and water combines that with the resort parks act the legislation that would help make a dent in help to catch up the deferred maintenance a backlog throughoutem our National Park system. More ss than just the National Parks out of addresses the need of the National Forest or forest system. The bureau of land management, fish and Wildlife Service as well as the bureau of indian education. This legislation affects all four corners of colorado. It also affects every part of this country in fact gets the money for the Great American outdoors act for those states are in green on the ones that dont get support are highlighted in orange. It may be hard to see but there are no orange states. Every state in t the union receives support to the Great American outdoor act. From sea to shining sea. Land and water Conservation Fund, restore the parks act the Great American outdoors act will provide billions of dollars in opportunity and recreation hiking and camping conservation access to lands in the public already held that didnt have a way to g get to 99 of land and water Conservation Funds go to purchasing access to land they already hold or are in holding in a National Park. Thats in the most recent purchases and land water Conservation Funding colorado was within Rocky Mountainat National Park to privately and within the National Park helping to complete the great Rocky MountainNational Park the most recent country went to the park in the country. This legislation gives this congress a chance to lead on a bill that affects everyone from maine to california from texas to alaska from maine to hawaii. Hawaii to utah, utah to alaska and beyond. I know there are some who believe this is a federal land grab it simply not true. 99 of the land goes to purchase and holdings of the dollars goes to purchasing and holdings some believe its a mandatory spending member how this bill was passed in 1965 the land water Conservation Fund was authorized its only been reaching that level twice in the history of the program. Throughout the past 55 years though, dollars have been diverted with this legislation does there its permanent funding takes dollars we have authorized beginning in 1965 reaffirmed by congress in the permanent . Authorization of 92 to eight make sure that doesnt get diverted make sure it stops being siphoned off and instead does go see what its intended to go to in the land and Water Conservation beginning in 1965. We have the chance to makeon street stop and remember this is not new this is paid for not by the taxpayers, this is paid for by oil and gas revenues. These dollars are generated from the revenues that come from offshore. Those Energy Revenues the exercise tax couple of other things not coming out tax dollars its an opportunity to protect our men are most precious spaces the deferred maintenance of National Picture of the doing that across the country. Without costing the taxpayers money. This land is purchase there is no federal land grab. They dont use imminent domain for this there is no premium that the federal government gets to buy land with to crowd outpe other people as a form use that allow ford the premiums this is indeed another stick in the bundle of Property Rights for land owners. Also look with the bill has on the economy. We started working on your tongue what Economic Impact of what it would mean. We are talking about in terms of the overall Outdoor Recreation economy which is 20 billion in growing the fivepoint to Million Dollars of employed and the Outdoor Recreation economy and then covid hit. Aand we saw what happened in western colorado the ski industry the ski slopes shut downl the restaurants were emptied, this bill will create over 100,000 jobs, restoring our National Parks preparing trails for systems it does so at a time when theres high unemployment rates in those communities surrounded by public lambs because of the shutdown of the coronavirus this is an economic and jobs package is much as a conservation package for every 1 million we spend in land and water Conservation Fund that supports between 16 and 30 jobs. Its our chance to not only protect the environment to in preferred but helps the economy needs the growth. After spending the last several months in the Great Indoors is time to get into the Great Outdoors in this bill accomplishes bothy, of those goals. Now it is historic in another way because we have received support from over 850 groups across the country representingsp significant spectrums of purposes and ideology. From sportsmen to the Nature Conservancy to all of the groups that touted over 850 groups strongly supporting thispp legislation i would ask unanimous consent that the letter from these 850 plus get inserted into the record. Without objection. Is another historic feature io am grateful to the previous secretaries of the interior who have signed a letter to congress urging the passage of the Great American outdoor act. This includes two secretaries of interior from colorado and secretary gale norton who is secretary under George Bush George w. Bush in 2001 to 2006 it wass a letter they sent on june the 2020 secretary of interior secretary dinghies salazar norton, norton, babbitt, under president clinton. I would ask unanimous consent that this letter from the secretary of interior be included in the record. Id without objection. We have a chance to lead. We have a chance to show the American People that congress can work. Leave a chance to show that the American People indeed republicans and democrats can come together for the good of their country. To provide great things for future generations. And despite the bickering you see on the nightly talk shows, this congress can come together, pass a Great American outdoors act and can restore face and our government toat do people hope we will do. And that is to come together, to work together, to inspire each other with those dreams of previous generations. Who protected our lands and had the idea and forethought to create National Parks. To create National Forests to say there are places places in ourne great land that can and should be enjoyed for generations to come. Its about ballparks and swim goes to purchase not all these dollars go to purchase plan. Heres a photo of an upset on baseball team, their ego. This is a photo of a ballpark that runyon park that was funded to the land and water Conservation Fund. We have swimming pools across utah and alaska funded bite as well. The states determine a great portion of it. I have example after example heres paradise town utah sounds like a great place to thousand 1,580,000 for the paradise sports park 321,000 in land Water Conservation to this town. Lets lead. Lets inspire. Lets show the American People that it leads from sheet sea to shining sea across this america the beautiful, the Great American outdoors act can stand and is testament to congress that realizes generations ahead of us need us to work for them as well. And i will end this with another quote from the father of Rocky MountainNational Park who said within the interNational Parks room theres glorious room room in which to find ourselves to think and hope and dream and plan, to rest and resolve. Mr. President , i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting the motion for the vote we are about to take. I would encourage my colleagues about yes and i yield the floor. The senate is gaveled out but lawmakers continue debate on the public lands package that would permanently fund the land and water Conservation Fund while establishing maintenance with National Parks and other public land. Final vote on that could take place this week. Also possible executive and judicial nomination as well as a motion to meet at the house on fisa reauthorization negotiation on that continues off the floor while the senate live here on cspan2 when the gavel back in. Thank you for the invitation here today to talk about my big brother, george. The world knows him as george, but i called him perry. Yesterday we laid him to rest. It was the hardest thing i have ever had to do. I am the big brother now. So it is my job to comfort my brothers and sisters, perrys kids and everybody who loved him and thats a lot of people. I have to be the strong one now, because george is gone. And me being the big brother now is why im here today. To do what perry always would have done. To take care of the family and others, i could not take care of george the day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today, i can make sure his death will not be in vain. To make sure he is a more than another face on a tshirt, more than another name on a list that will not stop rolling, george always made sacrifices for our family and he made sacrifices for complete strangers. He gave the little he had i was reminded of that he called all the officers, sir, he was mild mannered, he did not fight back, he listened to all of the officers. The man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him sir as he begged for his life. I cannot say the kind of pain you feel when you watch Something Like that. When you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life die, died begging for his mom . I am tired, im tired of paying the pain you feel when you watch Something Like this. When you watch your big brother who you looked up to for your whole life die, died begging for his mom . Im here to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain, stop being tired, george called for help and he was ignored. Please listen to the call i may continue now. To the call of our family and its ringing out across the streets around the world. All genders races backgrounds have come together to demand change. Anna them, honor george and only when life is at risk. You can watch the entire House Judiciary Committee hearing on Police Reform tonight beginning at eight eastern on cspan. You can watch anytime online as cspan. Org or listen on the free cspan radio app. Spaceman washington journal every day youre taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and discussing policy issues that impact you. Coming up thursday morning Brooklyn College professor and author of the end of policing alex talks about policing and america. An republican congressman from texas Michael Burgess will be on to discuss the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Watch is hes been washington journal live at seven eastern thursday morning and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, textbooks messages and tweets. Jerome powell and not the Interest Rates will remain near 0 for the foreseeable