{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://scholten.house.gov/media/press-releases/scholten-applauds-advancement-legislation-reauthorize-great-lakes-restoration", "Scholten Applauds Advancement Of Legislation To Reauthorize The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative", "2025-12-26", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "MI", "Hillary J. Scholten", "S001221", "scholten.house.gov", "scholten", "https://scholten.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten voted alongside her colleagues to advance the American Water Stewardship Act, which includes the reauthorization of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), out of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support. During the committee\u2019s markup, she led the effort to increase GLRI\u2019s authorization level from $475 million to $675 million to keep pace with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law\u2019s investments into the program. GLRI is a collaborative effort to address the most significant environmental concerns of the Great Lakes, including pollution, the degradation of habitats, and the proliferation of invasive species.\n\n\u201cThe Great Lakes are vital to our culture and way of life in Michigan, and the GLRI does critical work preserving these waters and safeguarding public health,\u201d said Rep. Scholten. \u201cJust 40 years ago, Muskegon Lake was a symbol of environmental degradation, serving as a dumping ground for industrial pollution, municipal wastewater, and sewer overflows. Following a $10 million investment through GLRI, the EPA removed Muskegon Lake from its list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. This delisting is anticipated to produce more than $66 million in economic benefits \u2013 a 6 to 1 return on investment. This is the kind of good work EPA regional programs can do, and we cannot take our foot off the brake. I am proud to have voted to advance this bipartisan legislation, and I urge Speaker Johnson to move this bill to the floor as soon as possible.\u201d\n\nThe Great Lakes and their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on Earth, constituting nearly one-fifth of the world\u2019s freshwater supply and nine-tenths of the U.S.\u2019s supply. These lakes are also an economic powerhouse, creating $3.1 trillion in gross domestic product and employing 25.8 million people.\n\nRepresentative Scholten is a longstanding advocate for the health of the Great Lakes. She is an original cosponsor of the GLRI Act of 2025, which would reauthorize the GLRI through 2031. Last year, she led a bipartisan letter urging the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure leadership to swiftly reauthorize GLRI. This year, she led another bipartisan letter \u2013 with the support of several Republican and Democratic Great Lakes members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee \u2013 urging the extension of GLRI.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://scholten.house.gov/media/press-releases/scholten-applauds-advancement-legislation-reauthorize-great-lakes-restoration"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6196919605135918, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}