Story Published: Jul 26, 2010 at 6:18 PM MDT
Story Updated: Jul 26, 2010 at 10:43 PM MDT
Vice President Joe Biden walked to the stage holding hands with his granddaughter, which symbolizes Biden's speech: Preserving National Parks for future generations.
"My granddaughter Naomi and I, we're heading out and spending the rest of the day in the park," said Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden defended the injection of $12.4 million into Yellowstone under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and said it was more about preserving parks than creating jobs. The Vice President said the Obama administration would have passed the measure even, "If we were booming and had 9% growth, and 0% unemployment."
It was an intimate gathering here at the Junior Ranger Station in Yellowstone. Many of the families of the rangers got an opportunity to shake hands and meet the Vice President.
"The fact the Vice President took the time out of his schedule to come to Yellowstone National Park and share his thoughts about some of the projects going on here as well as some of his thoughts about the National Parks in general, I think it's fantastic," said Rich Jehle, a ranger supervisor.
"For too long our Nation's crown jewels have been neglected. For the last 20 years we've tried very hard to get more funding for the parks. And it was always the last item on the agenda. The single greatest jewel we have is the last agenda on the agenda," said Biden.
The largest project in Yellowstone under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the building of a new wastewater treatment plant. The old facility has been in service for 50 years, and the new one will double the amount of wastewater that can be treated to 75,000 gallons a day.
And while the Obama Administration remains adamant about banning deepwater offshore oil drilling, as well as cancelling federal oil leases like in Vernal Utah...
"We should be freeing ourselves from the grip, FREEING OURSELVES FROM THE GRIP, of foreign oil," repeated Biden.
By the way, Biden's trip to Yellowstone did not shut down the park and had very little impact on traffic. Last year thousands had to wait to get in while Obama made his visit.