Coalition Praises Members of Congress for Supporting Great Lakes Restoration Funding

Ann Arbor, Mich. (March 28, 2019) – Just weeks after the President’s budget blueprint proposed cutting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative drastically, 59 Members of Congress have sent a letter to House appropriators requesting that full funding be restored in this year’s budget. The letter was organized by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). Read the letter here. “The Great Lakes continue to bring people together. We are grateful for the bipartisan support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has received, rejecting the proposed cuts to a program that is producing results,” said Chad Lord, policy director, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The proposed GLRI budget cuts are a non-starter for the region, and this letter is a clear indication that a strong, bipartisan group of Representatives agrees. We know the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is producing results, with new miles of stream open for fish, toxic sediment being cleaned up, and beaches open for swimming once more. But we also know we can’t cut funding now because we have more work to do and projects will only get harder and more expensive the longer we wait. This letter shows there is strong support for restoring funding in FY2020.”