Question:

Lack of funding hinders the ability of the National Park Service to protect land and educate visitors. How will you use the upcoming centennial of the park system to mobilize Congress and the public to provide adequate funding?

Asked by: NPCA from Washington, DC

Asked of U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) on Jan 22nd, 2008
Categories: Environment. Tags: National Parks.
46
votes
Answer:

Answer from: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

I agree with Senator Casey. I would just add to that that if you look at the war in Iraq we are spending approximately 12 billion dollars every single month. Now I don't have the budget for the National Park system in front of me, but let me tell you it is a tinny fraction of what we spend in Iraq every single month. And those are the kinds of priorities we need to debate and I think that we need to change.

Answered on Feb 20th, 2008

Answer:

Answer from: U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA)

Well I think its critical that we make the kind of commitment that Dionna is talking about to the National Parks service. And part of that is setting priorities. When Sen Sanders and I spoke earlier about the economy and the budget... You can't make the kind of investment that we have to make in major priorities like health care and education as well as the kind of quality of life investments when it comes to preserving our national parks and our national heritage, if you're giving tax breaks like this administration has. And its not just a question of priorities, its a question of real dollars. I mean 50 billion dollars in one year to people making a million dollars or more can not be made up from some other part of the budget. So part of it is getting our tax policy right, but also having the kind of fiscal discipline that this administration lacked that allows your economy to grow so that you can make these kinds of investments

Answered on Feb 20th, 2008

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