Statement on Great Lakes Funding in FY14 Appropriations

WASHINGTON " Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) fought to protect the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) from a $190 million cut contained in the FY2014 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. Rep. Quigley, along with Reps. Betty McCollum (MN-04) and Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), offered an amendment to the bill that would restore funding to the FY2013 levels.

Below is a transcript of this speech.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I listened very carefully to what the chairman of the subcommittee had to say about the bigger picture of debt and deficit. Mr. Chairman I do want to say I rise in support of Ms. McCollum's secondary amendment, because I was one of the five, I guess, on the committee who supported Cooper-LaTourette, but I do say it's possible to oppose this particular bill while supporting Cooper-LaTourette. I guess it's a question of priorities, and I know we still have to make those tough choices.

Let me add this: part of the language in what we're talking about today does seem to be extreme, regardless - especially when we talk about regulation as if every aspect of it is so negative. Well, part of those regulations matter to what this amendment touches on, and the first amendment touches on as well, because if you drink water in Chicago, it has mercury and cadmium in it. It's not just that it's in the lake " Lake Michigan, less than a mile from my house " with all due respect, you have the luxury of drinking bottled water here. You don't have that luxury everywhere, there are people who can't afford it, and have to drink mercury and cadmium. It's just necessary.

So I would just respectfully ask folks, I know we can do better on regulation " its part of the reason I supported Cooper-LaTourette " and why we need to reinvent and redesign our government. But before we go to extremes and damn all regulation, I just ask you to try not to think about government regulation when you get on a commuter airliner in Buffalo, or when you cross a bridge in Minnesota, or go to a State Fair in Indiana, or you have your eggs in the morning " or any food given the percentage of Americans who have food poisoning every year, or you live next to a fertilizer plant in Texas, or you live on the Gulf Coast, or so many other examples. So I ask, and I get to the point that the chairman of the subcommittee was getting to. I ask that we not focus on those extremes, and understand there's a middle ground where we all care about the debt and deficit, some of us apparently act more extreme in trying to get to those points.

But the Great Lakes matter a lot to us, the entire country. It's going to matter a lot more to even those who live outside the Great Lakes region because they're going to be starving for water. A very famous, smart man from my state, Paul Simon said "Your children will not fight over oil; they're going to fight over water. Well, he was absolutely correct in his statement. And I think that this amendment and this secondary amendment go toward that end. I just ask that we recognize it's not just the extremes that we're talking about here, any success that we have to save these precious resources will be found in the middle. Thank you.