Resolution #20-3 Proposed by: Rep. Jennifer Schultz, Minnesota, and Rep. Curt Sonney, Pennsylvania
In Support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
WHEREAS,
the nonpartisan, binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus (GLLC) supports the continued bipartisan work of the Great Lakes Region’s Congressional Delegation in its efforts to secure a continuation of funding for the Great Lakes
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Restoration Initiative (GLRI); and
WHEREAS,
clean water is essential to support a healthy population, a thriving economy, and a well-
functioning ecosystem; and
WHEREAS,
as the major source of water for communities located within the Great Lakes basin, the Great Lakes system is a vital resource in which the region’s residents all share a common
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interest; and
WHEREAS,
a 2018 study by the Great Lakes Commission concluded that, from 2010 to 2016, every dollar of federal spending on GLRI projects ultimately will produce $3.35 in additional economic output in the Great Lakes states through 2036, with the return on each dollar invested in older industrial cities such as Detroit and Buffalo reaching $4 or more; 1 and as stated by Andrew Wheeler, EPA Administrator, “joint efforts” by “11 federal departments, … states, tries, municipalities, businesses, citizens’ organizations, academia and other stakeholders within the Great Lakes Basin… have resulted in unprecedented
WHEREAS,
progress in Great Lakes restoration;” 2 and
WHEREAS,
GLRI investments in over 4,000 projects covering more than 300,000 square miles have resulted in the delisting of four “Areas of Concern” in the U.S., including most recently
the Lower Menominee River shared by Michigan and Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS,
the incredible environmental recovery of the Great Lakes, and the economic benefit to coastal communities that result from this environmental restoration, will not continue
without the projects enabled by the GLRI; and
WHEREAS,
continued funding of the GLRI is critical to the economic and environmental viability of the Great Lakes Region and to successfully fulfilling the United States’ commitments
expressed in the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; and
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