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Kaptur urges reauthorization and increased funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
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Summary
Representative Marcy Kaptur told the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) must be reauthorized and funded to protect drinking water, fisheries and local economies across the Great Lakes region.
Representative Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, told the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee that Congress should reauthorize and increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), saying the program restores fisheries, reduces toxic pollution and protects drinking water for millions across the region.
Kaptur said the GLRI Act of 2025 would reauthorize the initiative for five years through fiscal 2031 and increase funding for projects across the Great Lakes watershed. "For the largest body of fresh water on Earth, GLRI is life giving across the vast area that I represent and call home," Kaptur said, citing cleanup work on the Black River in Lorain, Ohio, that she said concluded in 2024.
Kaptur told the panel that GLRI projects have produced economic and environmental benefits in her district and across the region. She said GLRI funds remove legacy toxic pollution and help stem invasive species such as Asian carp, which she warned "seriously threatens our Great Lakes' $7 billion fishery and our $16,000,000,000 boating industry." She also pointed to harmful algal blooms as an ongoing public-health and water-delivery problem, recalling the 2014 Toledo water shutdown when the city closed customer taps for three days because of toxins in the supply.
Kaptur urged consistent base funding at the Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that "Without solid base funding at the Environmental Protection Agency, the GLRI cannot be effective." She said GLRI combines environmental remediation with job creation and recreation opportunities and noted that roughly 40,000,000 people draw their drinking water from the Great Lakes.
Ranking Member Chellie Pingree and other members of the subcommittee praised Kaptur's advocacy and said they would monitor proposed cuts and the appropriations process as the committee develops funding levels. Committee leaders framed the testimony as input for the fiscal 2026 appropriations cycle for agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction, including the Department of the Interior, EPA, U.S. Forest Service and Indian Health Service.
Kaptur closed by reiterating the bipartisan support she said the GLRI receives in Congress and by urging the subcommittee to protect and expand funding as the budget process moves forward.
