Bruce Westerman: “There is a place and a time to debate wilderness and wild and scenic rivers, but I don't think the NDAA is the place for…”

“There is a place and a time to debate wilderness and wild and scenic rivers, but I don't think the NDAA is the place for that. In conclusion, I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment which will harm our environment and do nothing to improve our national security. Mr. Speaker, I encourage a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, let me just clear up a few of the pieces of misinformation that have come out about this bill tonight. The first one is that the HAT, the high-altitude training I talked about which is used by the military, is not supported by pilots. Actually, the Colorado National Guard has issued a statement of support of this legislation because we do protect those training areas, and it is very important--it has been important ever since Afghanistan--to do that. The second thing I want to talk about is that all of the economic studies have shown that more wilderness actually creates more jobs. So for people who are in rural communities in remote areas, when there is wilderness around them, the growing and new economy in the West is for more jobs in recreation and other industries. Last but not least, the portion of this bill that is in my State of Colorado, the Colorado Wilderness Act, which is my bill, is about 660,000 acres. Those acres are almost all currently wilderness study areas. All the wilderness study areas are currently managed by the BLM as if they are wilderness.…”