Russell Begaye: “But, over 90 percent of Utah Navajos support the monument.”

Instead of this bill, the Subcommittee should be holding a hearing on H.R. 4518, the Bears Ears National Monument Expansion Act, introduced by Congressman Gallego.

I am here because 150 years later we must continue to fight to honor our treaty, our landscape, and our cultural patrimony for future generations.

This is incorrect. The Navajo Nation and the other tribes of the five-tribe Bears Ears Inter-Tribal coalition were not consulted with prior to the introduction of H.R. 4532.

In designating the Bears Ears National Monument, President Obama recognized this truth.