Letter in Support of Funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)

Dear Acting Director Zients:

We are writing to express our strong support for efforts to protect the Great Lakes.  As you finalize the President's budget for Fiscal Year 2014, we respectfully request that you include at least $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). 

The Great Lakes are a unique and invaluable national treasure.  The Lakes hold 95 percent of our nation’s supply of fresh water, provide drinking water for over 30 million Americans, and produce substantial economic benefits for the region and the nation overall.  It is estimated that 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the Great Lakes, generating $62 billion in wages each year.

While a great deal of progress has been made in recent years to restore the Great Lakes, the Lakes continue to struggle with invasive species, nonpoint source pollution, toxic chemical contamination, habitat loss, and other threats to the ecosystem that endanger public health, recreation and tourism, and overall economic growth.  Fully restoring the Greats Lakes is a critical component of our nation’s strategy to grow our economy while protecting one of our nation’s most precious natural resources.

The GLRI is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades and works to protect, restore and maintain the Great Lakes ecosystem.  The GLRI has also been crucial to the effort to prevent the invasive Asian carp from becoming established in the Lakes and destroying its $7 billion fishery.  In developing the Administration’s upcoming budget request for FY 2014, we hope you and the President will continue to support this vital program.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,

Sander Levin
Louise Slaughter
John Dingell
Gwen Moore
Tim Ryan
Janice Schakowsky
Jerrold Nadler
Brian Higgins
Hansen Clarke
Marcy Kaptur
Dale Kildee
Gary Peters
John Conyers
David Curson
Bill Owens
Steven LaTourette
Dennis Kucinich
Paul Tonko
Keith Ellison
Robert Dold
Dan Benishek
Tim Walz
Carolyn Maloney
Mike Quigley