WASHINGTON, D.C. – Everglades Caucus Co-Chairs, Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter from the Everglades Caucus to President Joe Biden requesting that he include $725 million for Everglades restoration in his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025. Read the full letter below and here. "Dear President Biden:" "As you prepare your Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, and within all applicable rules and regulations, the members of the Everglades Caucus write to respectfully request that you consider an allocation of $725 million under the Army Corps of Engineers construction account for South Florida Ecosystem Restoration. Since 2019, fifty-five Everglades restoration projects have broken ground, reached a significant milestone, or been completed. The most recent completion of the Stormwater Treatment Cell 1 in the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir is an example of the tangible progress by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the State of Florida, and it correlates with the increased investment at both the Federal and State levels." "The Everglades is a national treasure, one of the true ecological wonders of the world, and further efforts to preserve this unique ecosystem will prove imperative to its long-term viability. Comprised of the diverse habitats and sweeping watershed that includes over 2.5 million acres of federally protected lands and waters at Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and fourteen National Wildlife Refuges, as well as 2,800 nautical miles of marine habitat at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; and environmentally and culturally significant Tribal Lands. Everglades restoration is no small undertaking but is undoubtedly a worthy one." "As you know, nine million Floridians rely on the Everglades for their drinking water. A healthy Everglades and appropriate water infrastructure provides storage capacity to prepare for and respond to infusions of significant quantities of water from hurricanes and other severe weather events. The Everglades restoration infrastructure provides the ability to manage water effectively and makes Florida’s environment, economy, and communities more resilient to the extreme conditions of drought. A restored Everglades supports economic resilience, ecological resilience, and resilience to severe weather events and drought." "For more than twenty years, the efforts by our State and Federal partners have proved America’s commitment to restoring our cherished wetlands. Continued restoration of America’s Everglades is a global model for large scale ecosystem restoration and infrastructure investment that supports economic vitality, and promotes a wide range of ecological and community resilience benefits. With this in mind, we ask that you join us in building on decades of upward momentum for a restored Everglades for the people of Florida." "We look forward to our joint effort to restore the Everglades as we work to advance vital Everglades restoration projects. Thank you for your consideration of our request for $725 million for Everglades restoration in FY25." In addition to Reps. Díaz-Balart, and Wasserman Schultz, the letter was signed by 20 members of the Florida Congressional Delegation, including Reps. Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL-28), Scott Franklin (R-FL-18), Brian Mast (R-FL-21), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20), Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Michael Waltz (R-FL-06), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16), Laurel Lee (R-FL-15), Daniel Webster (R-FL-11), Byron Donalds (R-FL-19), John Rutherford (R-FL-05), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Bill Posey (R-FL-08), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23), Neal P. Dunn, M.D. (R-FL-02), Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), and Cory Mills (R-FL-07). |
