madam chairman , i rise to express my disappointment with the interior appropriations bill that we are considering today .  i am concerned with the lack of funding for many important programs , and am particularly concerned with the appropriation committee 's decision to zero out funding for a federal program that is important to my state and the nation -- the land and water conservation fund .  the land and water conservation fund has been instrumental in assisting local and state government 's preserve such vital open spaces is the land and water conservation fund ( lwcf ) .  this program was established in 1965 to address rapid overdevelopment by increasing the number of high quality recreation areas and facilities and by increasing the local involvement in land preservation .  to achieve this goal , the fund was separated into two components , one portion of the fund serves an account from which the federal government draws from to acquire land and the other portion is distributed to states in a matching grant program .  new jersey has been active in seeking grants from this program and has received funds from the lwcf that were used to preserve treasures such as the pinelands national reserve and the delaware national scenic river .  in addition , lcwf has provided more that $ 111 million in state and local grants to build softball fields , rehabilitate playgrounds and to expand state parks .  unfortunately , in recent years funding for the state side part of this program has been insufficient .  in fact , this program was zeroed out in the mid-1990s .  in 1999 , i joined representative mcgovern in restoring funding for this program .  since then funding for the program has risen to 91 million in fiscal year 2005 , i am dismayed that the interior appropriations bill for fiscal year 2006 has once again zeroed out funding for the state grant portion of the program .  i am fully aware that we are working under a tight budget and that many programs in this bill receive a significant reduction in funding , but i believe that it is unnecessary and unwise to strip this program of all funding .  urban and highly developed regions will suffer the most from the elimination of the lwcf state grant program .  the lcwf matching grant program has proven to be a successful way to overcome the high cost of living that makes land acquisition and renewal projects costly in these regions .  elimination of this program will leave local leaders without the financial capital necessary to enhance the quality of life in their communities .  theodore roosevelt once said , `` the nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased , and not impaired , in value. '' although the citizens of new jersey and this nation have demonstrated their enthusiasm for this program , this bill fails to meet their commitment to our future .  