FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2021
Barragan-led letter urges reverse of Trump Interior Department’s last-minute order to redirect funds
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán led 26 of her colleagues in encouraging President Joe Biden to preserve funding for urban parks and immediately overturn a last-minute decision by the Trump Administration to unilaterally divert all funding for the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program to unauthorized uses.
The ORLP helps to fund urban parks in communities lacking equal access to parks and outdoor recreation.
“The attack on urban parks funding comes at a time when we need to be making additional stimulus investments in our urban parks to create jobs and provide outdoor access to communities of color,” Congresswoman Barragán said.
In a letter to President Biden, Congresswoman Barragán and her colleagues wrote that this last-minute action by the former president’s Interior Department “ignores the intent of Congress” by diverting these funds from their intended use.
“The outgoing Administration’s action ignores the intent of Congress by reprioritizing the intended use of the grant funds away from underserved communities who have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Restoring and reinvesting in the OLRP program is a critical step the new administration can take to show its commitment to environmental justice,” the members of Congress wrote.
Congresswoman Barragán was joined on the letter by Lori Trahan (Conn.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), Brian Higgins (N.Y.), Carolyn B. Maloney (N.Y.), Alan Lowenthal (Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Tony Cárdenas (Calif.), Grace Napolitano (Calif.), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (Ill.), Bill Foster (Ill.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Mondaire Jones (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Albio Sires (N.J.), Diana DeGette (Colo.), Adam Smith (Wash.), Peter A. DeFazio (Ore.), Mike Quigley (Ill.), Kathy Castor (Fla.), Jim Himes (Conn.), Jahana Hayes (Conn.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Gerald E. Connolly (Va.), and Pramila Jayapal (Wash.).
Full text of the letter is here.
###
Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington