In The News
Huizenga fights to save Great Lakes restoration funds from murky future
Washington,
April 3, 2017
With funding for protecting the Great Lakes on the chopping block under the Trump administration’s budget proposal, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) is making both the ecological and the economic case for saving the largest freshwater system in the world. “The Great Lakes ecosystem is extremely important and I believe we need to continue supporting it – the cleanup of it and the restoration of it,” Huizenga told The Ripon Advance in a recent interview.
As co-chair of the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force, Huizenga’s top priority is safeguarding Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding, the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. In proposing cuts of nearly one-third to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), President Donald Trump’s preliminary budget blueprint would eliminate the GLRI’s $300 million per year in funding. “GLRI touches on so many other things, whether we’re dealing with algal blooms, cleanup of superfund sites,” or other so-called areas of concern, Huizenga said. “The other big issue that is connected to this is invasive species. That will be another focus of mine.” ... Earlier this month, the congressman teamed up with U.S. Reps. Mike Bishop (R-MI) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) to lead a bipartisan letter to Trump requesting that he instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to continue working with state and local officials to implement a long-term solution for keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. The lawmakers urged the Army Corps to release its evaluation of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, which was expected to contain measures to combat the invasive species from entering waterways but has been delayed. Huizenga also recently testified before the House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee on the importance of using a greater proportion of funds from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to support water infrastructure projects across the Great Lakes. To learn more about Congressman Huizenga's efforts to protect the Great Lakes, you can read his entire interview with the Ripon Advance here. |
