Lisa Murkowski: “I have had an active interest in the decisions of the Clinton administration to acquire the Headwaters Forest in…”

“I have had an active interest in the decisions of the Clinton administration to acquire the Headwaters Forest in northern California, and the New World Mine Site in Montana. These decisions were made by the administration with little congressional involvement and the administration has now gone out of its way to, in my opinion, limit the role of Congress in how these properties actually are acquired. Originally, the administration proposed acquiring both of these properties through land exchanges. When that proved to be very difficult and impossible to do without going through Congress, the idea of land exchanges was abandoned. So clearly the objective was to circumvent Congress. The Clinton administration then proposed using $315 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase both of these properties. The administration then insisted, contrary to the provisions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, that such money could be spent without specific congressional authorization, clearly intending to go around Congress. Ultimately, that argument failed.”