Daniel Fanning, Northeast Minnesota Field Representative for U.S. Senator Al Franken, met with Mayor Sue Hakes recently to discuss a wide range of local issues that face a city like Grand Marais. Fanning, based in Duluth, covers several counties in northeast Minnesota.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has joined senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) in a letter calling on the chairman and ranking member of the Senate budget committee to include $475 million in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has been cut to $300 million in the president’s budget proposal.
“The Great Lakes are a national treasure, not to mention crucial to the economies of Minnesota and countless local communities,” said Franken. “We need to take a systematic approach toward addressing the many threats facing our lakes, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative does exactly that.” This funding will be used to target invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment, which are threatening the lakes.
In March, Franken introduced the Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act, which authorized funding for new and existing programs aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes.
Leave a Reply