Sánchez: Put Americans Back to Work, Rebuild America

Washington, DC - Rep. Linda Sánchez introduced an appropriations bill today for $4.75 billion in direct spending to create jobs in design, engineering, maintenance, repair, and construction in National Parks, Monuments, and Forests across the U.S.

"There is one simple way to get Americans working again; by creating jobs where they are needed," said Rep. Linda Sánchez. "My legislation is a two-pronged solution that addresses both an economic crisis and a backlog of work in our national parks."

Opportunities to improve roads, buildings, and other infrastructure exist in urban and rural areas across the nation, from the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City and Fort Sumter in South Carolina to Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego and the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan.

The Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job Creation Act, H.R. 4291, will address years of underfunding and a growing number of projects on deferred maintenance lists. Investments in inventory, design, cyclic repair and maintenance, as well as major repairs and construction, will help break the logjam of work to be done. Experts project that an investment of $4.25 billion in the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration will create at least 45,650 park-based jobs, and that an investment of $500 million in the Forest Service will create an additional 7,250 forest-based jobs. The jobs will range from entry level to highly skilled.

"Since January 2008, the number of unemployed Americans has grown each month and in my home state of California, the unemployment rate has reached more than twelve percent," continued Sánchez. "These investments will do more than create jobs-they will make our infrastructure safer, our Parks more user-friendly, our water cleaner, and ecosystems stronger. Much like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects of the Great Depression era, the results will benefit Americans for generations to come."

The Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job Creation Act is supported by Wilderness CPR, the Wilderness Society, the National Parks Conservation Association, the American Equipments Distributors, and more.



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