Whenever you do changes to public lands in Utah there will be collateral damage, and there will be collateral damage that hits kids.

I would like to make a motion of unanimous consent that a letter from the Utah State Board of Education be inserted into the record, who is opposed to this proposal.

One of the problems I have with this particular bill is that every state in the West with all of those public lands was promised elements that would help their public education funding.

We now want to create nine million acres of wilderness. That means 18 percent of Utah has to support the rest of the state.

If my kids are going to have a decent education in Utah, my state has to have a balanced economy.

One in every three acres is owned by the Federal government, and 90 percent of that land is congregated in the West.

The reason why I am Chairman of the Western Caucus, if for no other reason, is because all the colored land in there is land that is owned by the Federal government.

I appreciate that opportunity and, in honor of our Senators being here, this is the beginning of a filibuster.

The small Utah towns that depend on ranching, outdoor motorized recreation and energy production would see their economies decimated because of the restrictive burdens created by this bill.

I would encourage the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Representative Hinchey to do the same, to work cooperatively with all stakeholders.

I think the record would reflect it a little differently.

I would hope that what you would be supportive of is when we go to try to get more money for PILT payments out west.

My door is always open. I will be happy to talk to anybody because I am as committed as anybody in getting this problem solved.

That is a major reason why I do not support H.R. 1925. It does not reflect the collective views of the many stakeholders in Utah.

It is true that all Americans are stakeholders in the management of our federal lands.

It follows, Mr. Chairman, that the voices of those stakeholders most impacted by legislation should be given the greatest weight.

We want good wilderness, but we want to do it the right way, and this is certainly not the right way.

Well, there may be some truth to that point of view, but it is an intentionally simplistic view.