Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. This commonsense piece of legislation moves nine parcels of land to the respective communities that currently manage and maintain these cemeteries. It frees the Forest Service from…

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to Mrs. Noem of South Dakota, the sponsor of this bill, who has worked so hard and has done such a great job on it, to explain this commonsense bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3874) to provide for the conveyance of eight cemeteries that are located on National Forest System land in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota, as amended. The Clerk…

With that, Mr. Speaker, since this is a significant bill that makes a change that has been long overdue, I yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of this bill, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Heck).

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2745) to amend the Mesquite Lands Act of 1986 to facilitate implementation of a multispecies habitat conservation plan for the Virgin River in Clark County, Nevada, as…

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of…

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2621) to establish the Chimney Rock National Monument in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill…

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Authored by Congressman Heck, H.R. 2745 was amended by the Natural Resources Committee and is further amended today to ensure that there is no cost to the taxpayer. This will treat all…

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of this bill, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), who has done such great work to move this potential issue forward.

In closing, may I just say that I want to commend the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton) for taking the time and the effort to put forth a well thought-out and locally supported piece of legislation that designates an area of special…

I know how business works. I know why jobs come and why they go.

I do not come into this hearing with any pre-conceived agenda as to how we ought to treat tribes and territories.

OK. To our friends here, this is actually an official hearing. I realize you have a great deal of passion. We are also on a time limit. If you approve of what we say, it cuts into the amount of time we can ask questions.

I am convinced that for us to have sustainable forests, we must demand that the decisions made by our public land managers be based on proven science, not ideology and perception.

A sharp decline in forest management has left these forests in an extremely unnatural and unhealthy state, the result of which has been a feeding frenzy for the beetles but only dead trees for the rest of us.

I want to thank Representative Tipton for his leadership on this issue, inviting us and our Subcommittees to Montrose to see firsthand the impacts of this issue and the paths toward addressing it.

A sharp decline in forest management--and I should say because of aesthetic, not scientific reasons--has left these forests in an extremely unnatural and unhealthy state.

As many of you are witness to each day, the Mountain Pine Beetle has turned most of Colorado, not to mention pine forests throughout the West, into a sea of dead and dying trees.