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Cape Cod and vote Democrat, but I do think the Council could do 

 a better job in reaching out. 



As much as the Conservancy likes to be the recipient getting this 

 money, we would like to reach out to our partners and bring them 

 into this program. 



Mr. Studds. I appreciate this. If I had known about your inlaws, 

 the red light would not have gone on. The gentleman from Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Mr. Weldon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I apologize for hav- 

 ing to leave for a brief period while our panelists were speaking. 

 I do want to thank them for their ongoing leadership in keeping 

 this program so alive in the Congress and so visible with Members 

 because largely it has been the work I think of the entities involved 

 here that have really been key to the program's success. 



I want to particularly thank you personally for helping me in my 

 push to be named to the Migratory Bird Commission. As you know, 

 there was a strong effort on the part of several Republican Mem- 

 bers for that spot vacated originally by Sil Conte and it was 

 through the cooperative efforts of some of you that I was able to 

 secure that position. I appreciate that. 



Mr. Eno, I want to thank you for your most recent help with the 

 efforts to get the Environmental Education Center constructed, the 

 John Hines National Wildlife Refuge. As you know, just before we 

 broke for the Memorial Day recess we attached language to the 

 junior duck stamp program which will make this project possible, 

 again using matching funds, about $2.6 million of private money 

 that we will be matching, with a bequest that was made by a citi- 

 zen to allow us to finally complete the original mandate of that 

 urban wildlife refuge in Philadelphia and build what I think will 

 be a premier environmental education center for the East Coast of 

 America. 



It is not even in my district, Mr. Chairman, but it is very impor- 

 tant to me personally. 



I do not have much to say. Your testimony is on the mark. I sup- 

 port the changes you are talking about. I think they would make 

 the program more viable and more effective. My only concern, and 

 I guess it ties in with what the Chairman has said, we need to con- 

 tinue to get the word out about the program, particularly the local 

 governments. 



Before coming to Congress, I was a county commissioner. Many 

 of us who come here from the State legislatures, and I can tell you 

 as a county commissioner oftentimes we do not get the word about 

 these kinds of programs, where if we take the initiative at the 

 county level, whether by passing a major bond issue, as several 

 counties in my area have done, or by being aggressive in getting 

 local private sector support from corporations and other local foun- 

 dations, we can get involved and apply for the funding through this 

 program. 



So if you have any suggestions on how we can enhance the visi- 

 bility and how we can get more local involvement, particularly in 

 the case of Pennsylvania, where we had a State that did nothing, 

 that did not advertise the program, did not extol the virtues of the 

 program to local governments, and we had to bypass the State net- 

 work to get interest. 



