Political Quotes

“I would like to share a few moments with my colleagues on actions taken by the Clinton administration this week. We have had discussions concerning the appropriateness of the President withdrawing about 1.8 million acres in Utah under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. I ask the Chair and my colleagues, is this really the creation of a national monument, or is it simply a reelection ploy? The administration justifies the action based on some historical withdrawals of Federal land, referring back to Teddy Roosevelt's time. I would ask for a quick reflection on the oversight of the various land management agencies and laws as they have been developed over the years--the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the management of our refuge systems--and suggest that there is, indeed, enough oversight in the process to ensure extremes are not taken on the utilization of public land. I think a number of people are asking, in the wake of President Clinton's surprise announcement Wednesday of the 1.8-million-acre national monument withdrawal in southern Utah, just what the President and the administration have in mind.”