SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION FUNDING INCREASE

Deadline: Thursday, March 28 at NOON

Dear Colleague,

Please join this letter in requesting a $1 million increase in funding for the International Joint Commission in the Fiscal Year 2020 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill.

The International Joint Commission prevents and resolves disputes between the United States and Canada regarding the use of boundary waters and shared water resources. As an independent and objective advisor of the U.S. and Canadian governments, the IJC
plays a critical mediating role and shares information about emerging issues on the border. By increasing the Commission’s budget, we can strengthen the capacity of the United States to work in partnership with Canada and address some of the most serious environmental
challenges facing the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes, shared by the United States and Canada, form the largest system of freshwater lakes in the world. They provide drinking water for 48 million people and support a $52 billion recreational economy from fishing,
hunting, boating, and beach use.  The U.S. effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes cannot be effective unless it is carried out in partnership with Canada.

I hope you will join me in supporting an increase in funding for the International Joint Commission to carry out its good work in FY2020. To join, please contact Kevin Rambosk in Rep. Dingell’s office (kevin.rambosk@mail.house.gov).
The deadline to join is Thrusday, March 28 at noon.

Sincerely,

Debbie Dingell

Member of Congress

The Honorable Nita M. Lowey
Chairwoman
House Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
HT-2, the Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Hal Rodgers
Ranking Member
House Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Rodgers:

Thank you to the members of the Subcommittee for continuing to recognize the need for binational cooperation across the Great Lakes region. As you consider the Fiscal Year 2020 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill, we write
to respectfully ask that you increase funding for the American Section, International Joint Commission (the Commission), by $1 million over the President’s FY2020 budget request. This increase will strengthen the capacity of the United States to work in partnership
with Canada and address some of the most serious environmental challenges facing the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes, shared by the United States and Canada, form the largest system of freshwater lakes in the world. They provide drinking water for 48 million people and support a $52 billion recreational economy from fishing, hunting, boating, and beach
use.  The U.S. effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes cannot be effective unless it is carried out in partnership with Canada. Common goals and objectives for these shared waters have been established in the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(the Agreement) and the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. The Commission plays a vital role in ensuring that United States and Canada work together to achieve these goals and objectives.

Under the Agreement, the Commission responsibilities include facilitating binational cooperation and public engagement, as well as undertaking science based studies designed to advise the governments on particularly acute challenges, such as harmful algae
blooms.  The Commission also is directed to assess the extent to which programs and other measures in the United States and Canada are achieving the General and Specific Objectives of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Every three years, the Commission
produces an assessment report that identifies progress and makes recommendations to improve programs in each country and strengthen binational cooperation. 

While these recommendations are primarily focused on the federal governments, much of Commission’s advice is applicable to state, provincial and municipal agencies to help these jurisdictions better address their Great Lakes related challenges.  

As part of the process, the Commission employs binational advisory boards and working groups that leverage knowledge within government agencies, academic research institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in both countries in order
to analyze environmental challenges and recommend common responses. The Commission also consults extensively with stakeholders to seek input, raise awareness and build support for Great Lakes restoration programs.

Under the Boundary Waters Treaty, the Commission ensures that the flows through hydropower projects at the outlets of Lake Superior and Lake Ontario are managed to comply with conditions and criteria that take the diverse interests in both countries into
account. In recent years, the task of managing water levels and flows has become more challenging in light of more extreme water supplies, extreme storm events and unusual ice conditions. 

The Commission’s Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee is the only entity currently taking a fully binational approach to assessing available information on climate trends and the impact of fluctuating water levels and flows
on affected interests in order to help both countries respond to change. Through the Commission’s GLAM Committee, US and Canada science agencies are enabled to collaborate on a whole-lakes approach. Unfortunately, the current investment in monitoring, data
collection, post flood surveys, modeling and assessment of shoreline protection standards are seriously underfunded, and too often these issues poorly understood.

We urge you to support the binational work of the Commission on critical Great Lakes issues at a higher level to take advantage of the essential synergies and contributions that are unique to the International Joint Commission.

Sincerely,

Debbie Dingell