Latimer and Lawler Agree Again
Advocates Call on Congress to Renew a Landmark Investment to Fix Public Land Infrastructure and Boost Local Economies
As the nation continues to celebrate our 250th anniversary, a broad, bipartisan coalition is calling on Congress to pass a crucial piece of legislation that maintains our public lands and national heritage for generations to come. The America the Beautiful Act (S. 1547, H.R. 9250) would ensure that America’s national parks, forests, public lands, and wildlife refuges remain safe and accessible for the hundreds of millions of annual visitors. The legislation enjoys significant bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Established under the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, the Legacy Restoration Fund was a generational, non-taxpayer funded investment that facilitated the repair of hundreds of trails and roads, campgrounds, marinas, visitor centers, and water systems across all 50 states. Since the Fund expired last year, advocates are urging Congress to pass the America the Beautiful Act as quickly as possible. Extending this investment would be an appropriate gift to the American people during the nation’s 250th birthday.
By extending the Legacy Restoration Fund, the America the Beautiful Act will deliver nearly $2 billion annually to address high-priority infrastructure and maintenance needs nationwide. Enacting this legislation will provide an opportunity to fund priority repair projects within parks and public lands in New York, boosting travel and tourism, safeguarding historic sites and ecological resources, and benefiting local communities that rely on visitor spending.
Examples of projects that received funding include:
- Rehabilitating the Main Immigration Building at Statue of Liberty National Monument: The Statue of Liberty National Monument served as the gateway for more than 12 million immigrants, and the Main Immigration Building on Ellis Island, completed in 1900, is now the site’s museum. This $39.4 million Legacy Restoration Fund project is rehabilitating the building’s exterior, repairing window finishes and leaking skylights, replacing all eight non-historic 1980s-era clerestory windows that light the Great Hall, repairing brickwork, and treating granite surfaces, restoring the weather barrier and protecting the structural integrity of the stone veneer.
- Rehabilitating the battlefield interpretive experience at Saratoga National Historical Park: Saratoga preserves the sites of the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, the turning point of the Revolutionary War. This $6.6 million Legacy Restoration Fund project replaced unsafe and deteriorating interpretive waysides and exhibits and rehabilitated routes, parking, and walkways to provide universal accessibility at all ten stops along the Saratoga Battlefield Tour Road, improving safety and access as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.
The congressional legislation has the support of lawmakers from all political parties who recognize that safeguarding our public lands, providing visitor access and safety, and sustaining local economies that depend on visitor spending transcend political differences. In New York, the following members of the congressional delegation support the bill:
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY-17)
- Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21)
- Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY-31)
- Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15)
- Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY-5)
- Rep. Timothy Kennedy (D-NY-26)
- Rep. John Mannion (D-NY-22)
- Rep. Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY-23)
- Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11)
- Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-2)
- Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-NY-25)
- Rep. George Latimer (D-NY-16)
For more information about the America the Beautiful Act, please visit this article from the Pew Charitable Trusts: As the U.S. Celebrates its 250th Year, the National Parks Face Unfinished Business