LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to aid in the appropriation of the $475 million called for in
President Obama's budget for a Great Lakes Restoration initiative to
provide the economic investment and revitalization that the Great Lakes
system needs

WHEREAS, The Great Lakes contain more than 18 percent of the world's,
and more than 90 percent of North America's fresh surface water; Lakes
Erie and Ontario alone provide drinking water to more than three million
New York residents; and
WHEREAS, Lakes Erie and Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are irre-
placeable public resources that provide New Yorkers with places to swim,
play, camp and fish, supply our clean and low-cost hydropower, provide
economic investment from our travel and tourism industry, serve as an
efficient way to transport and trade New York-made goods, and provide
natural habitat for our abundant wildlife; and
WHEREAS, The health of Lakes Erie and Ontario and the St. Lawrence
River are jeopardized by threats such as toxic contamination, wetlands
degradation, sewage overflows and invasive species; and
WHEREAS, Inaction or delay in confronting these threats will make the
problems worse and the solutions more costly; and
WHEREAS, The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy for Great
Lakes restoration and economic recovery proposed a multi-year strategy
of solutions to be implemented to overcome the hurdles that the Lakes
system faces; and
WHEREAS, In 2007, the Brookings Institution issued a report which
found that a $26 billion investment in the Great Lakes Regional Collab-
oration Strategy would create $50 billion in economic gains for the
region, a two-to-one return on investment with a net gain of at least
$24 billion from increases in tourism, the fishing industry, recreation-
al activity and home values; and
WHEREAS, In his 2010 budget, President Obama called for $475 million
to initiate a multi-year effort to protect and restore our Great Lakes
consistent with the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy's recom-
mendations by funding on-the-ground work to clean up toxic hotspots,
restore habitat, and combat invasive species; and
WHEREAS, A substantial investment in the Great Lakes system's health
will create jobs and improve New Yorkers' quality of life; now, there-
fore, be it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation by and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to aid in
the appropriation of the $475 million called for in President Obama's
budget for a Great Lakes Restoration initiative to provide the economic
investment and revitalization that the Great Lakes system needs; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.