Environment
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to be responsible stewards of our environment and natural resources. I support common sense solutions to environmental questions that address long-term concerns and that do not put American businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. American national parks are a treasure to our nation, and I support policies that protect their serenity and natural beauty. I offered an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2012 Energy and Environment Appropriations bill to transfer funding to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund (NAWCA). My amendment, which passed the House on July 27, 2011, transfers $3 million to NAWCA by reducing funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) administrative budget. Arkansas sits in the cradle of the Mississippi Flyway, and migratory waterfowl often settle in the wetlands along the White River and Arkansas River. The health of these wetlands in Arkansas and wetlands across the country is closely tied to the health of the wildlife that inhabits them.