Bruce Westerman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. This bill is very cleverly named to imply that it is safeguarding the Grand Canyon, something I believe that we all support. After all, who wouldn't want to protect one of our Nation's most iconic natural sites? But when we look at what this bill actually does, we quickly see that it has very little to do with the Grand Canyon. Instead, it is a Federal land grab that would lock up approximately 1 million acres of public land in northern Arizona and permanently ban mineral development. Let me make this clear: H.R. 1373, the so-called Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, focuses on land outside Grand Canyon National Park, miles away from the canyon. To hear this policy described, it sounds like we would be backing backhoes and trucks right up to the canyon and chipping off the rim of the canyon, but that is just not so. This is land very far outside of the park. This policy is progressive. It progressively increases outside bureaucratic control over more Federal land. The policy and the world view that supports it reminds me of the story of the greedy farmer. He said he didn't want all the land; he just wanted the land that bordered his land. Policy like this doesn't claim to want all the land; it just wants to put the land in protection that borders the land that is in protection.…”