Senator Feingold Takes Action To Increase Funding To Protect Great Lakes

Bipartisan Trio of Senators Reject Funding Cuts to Great Lakes Programs

March 4, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is calling for greater protection for the Great Lakes from invasive species, decreasing water levels, and other problems. Feingold, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, is leading an effort with fellow Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) to urge the committee to fully fund Great Lakes programs to address problems including toxic sediments, habitat destruction and decreasing water quality in addition to invasive species and decreasing water levels. The president has proposed funding cuts of 16 percent for these programs in his budget proposal.

“Congress must fully commit to keeping the Great Lakes healthy,” Feingold said. “The Great Lakes are a national resource like no other and we can’t afford to take them for granted. The Great Lakes require our immediate attention and commitment if they are to remain a vibrant economic and environmental resource for Wisconsin, the Midwest, and the entire nation.”

The push to fund programs to keep the Great Lakes healthy is the latest example of Feingold’s record of defending the Great Lakes. Late last year, Feingold successfully pressed the International Joint Commission, a joint U.S./Canadian body that oversees the Great Lakes, to quickly address the issue of record low water levels in the Upper Great Lakes. Feingold also joined a group of senators from Great Lakes states last year to push the Senate to address the critical issue of ballast water bringing invasive species into the Great Lakes, which cause tremendous economic, environmental and human health problems. Feingold is also championing the Clean Water Restoration Act, supported by many of his House and Senate colleagues from Great Lakes states, to turn back efforts to roll back the Clean Water Act of 1972. Congress must act to prevent direct dumping of pollution and degradation of wetlands and headwater and smaller streams that are critical to both the quality and quantity of the Great Lakes’ water.

“The longer we wait to meet the problems facing the Great Lakes, the more expensive and difficult they will be to solve,” the senators said in their letter to the Budget Committee.

Source: Senator Russ Feingold