the Department of the Interior ignored local concerns and local input.

Thank you very much. I am going to yield a minute or so of my time to Representative Jones.

these overly restrictive policies show signs of developing into a nationwide problem that may require congressional action to correct

The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands is meeting today to hear testimony on how the national park visitors are increasingly being denied access to our national parks in all defiance of common sense.

The Committee will come to order. You just heard the gavel bang.

This is a recreation area. It should be a primary concern.

Good grief, this is a recreation area. And the only thing you seem to be prohibiting is recreation.

The Chair notes the presence of a quorum.

This bill will restore reasonable pedestrian and motorized access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area.

I ask unanimous consent to include any Members' opening statements in the hearing record if submitted to the clerk by the close of business today.

I want to thank you all for coming this morning. It means a great deal that we could have your expertise in this area.

These tax increases are ones for the record book, and Congress should have already prevented them from occurring.

Unless Congress acts appropriately come January 1, 2013, Americans will be hit with the largest tax increase in history.

This impulse to increase taxes at all costs risks a recession.

It is a tough job you have. So I am the last to try to find major fault with it.

I would give the IRS a failing grade, and I suspect that the nearly 40 percent of taxpayers whose calls go unanswered would probably agree.

Governor Romney supports the right of states to craft laws that assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, particularly when the federal government has failed in its duty to enforce those laws.

I anticipate before the November election we'll be laying out a whole series of policies that relate to immigration.