SENATE

NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM: Voting 79 for and 19 against, the Senate on Sept. 24 tabled (killed) an amendment to shift $420 million in the 2010 Interior Department budget (HR 2996) from land acquisition to maintenance in the National Park System. The $32.2 billion appropriations bill was later sent to conference with the House.

Tabling supporter Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said national parks maintenance was amply funded in the 2009 economic stimulus bill.

Amendment sponsor Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said the park system has an $11 billion maintenance backlog "that ought to be a priority before we add one more acre to 650 million acres we already own."

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

MINNESOTA Voting yes: Al Franken, D, Amy

Klobuchar, D

Voting no: None