Tourism alone is not able to sustain these communities.

This bill codifies the President's action of last week.

Can you imagine being a locally elected official who is responsible for roads, schools, and all the services that a community needs in order just to survive, and having 93 percent of your tax base taken out from underneath you?

We used to have a thriving timber industry. It has been decimated because of some of these policies.

If people felt like they had a voice, if they felt like they had an opportunity to make their input and actually be heard, and if the decision went the other way, I think most people would be willing to accept that.

If the alleged letter only asked for information about Utah, it looked biased, but ask for a broader review and it would have been clear that there are more compelling areas for designation than Utah parks.

There are special interest groups out there that are trying to confuse that, as if one is synonymous to the other; they are not.

This time, we can do better. We can work it out for the American people and for Utah, in open discussion with honest brokers, congressional authority and the state of Utah's imprimatur.

To help overcome the negative views toward Clinton, a designation of a new monument would create a compelling reason to enthusiastically support the administration.

This Committee has passed out a CAP Act, which tries to put an established process that would guarantee, depending on the size, there would be public involvement before the designation, and conversely, if you are going to rescind or…

If this new monument is created, Commissioner Pollock, it will be right outside the town of Escalante.

The BLM will also fund the plan?

Opposition would come from those who, in candor, are unlikely to support the administration under any circumstance.

I want to commend Mr. Stewart for the legislation that you have here. That is exactly the process we are trying to have.

The Antiquities Act is unique, it is wrong, it is not democratic, and it needs to change.

If this had been done by congressional action or if this had been done by the administration working with the state of Utah, would you have solved these problems ahead of time?

There is a reason that Washington declarations like Grand Staircase and Bears Ears are described in Utah as 'midnight monuments.'

Could it have been done better? Absolutely. But it needed to be done in a way that did not involve secrecy.