Vet Voice Foundation Statement on Latest Secretarial Order from Trump’s Corrupt Interior Department Gutting LWCF

This afternoon, the Interior Department issued a Secretarial Order that attempts to rewrite the Land and Water Conservation Fund and put up arbitrary roadblocks to implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act.

In reaction to the announcement, Vet Voice Foundation’s Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton, a US Army veteran, released the following statement:

“Shameful. In an attempt to undermine the will of Congress and the American people, the Trump administration’s Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, today released a secretarial order to try and block the successful implementation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

“This should come as no surprise. Throughout the Trump administration, we’ve repeatedly witnessed attempts to lock-in the out-of-step views of anti-public lands zealots.

“Veterans, along with our allies, have worked for years to see the Land and Water Conservation Fund fully and permanently funded. This was realized when the Great American Outdoors Act overwhelmingly passed out of Congress and was signed into law.

“These moves by the Interior Department and Trump’s corrupt cronies exceed their authority and defy Congress — and the will of the American people.

“We ask that Congress pay this order no mind and move ahead on FY2021 LWCF spending without regard to this ridiculous attempt to rewrite the rules of this incredibly popular and successful program.

“We won’t let up. Veterans have been fighting for our public lands for years — in our communities and in DC — and we’re ready to do whatever is required to ensure our public lands are safeguarded now and for generations to come.”