Paul Gosar

Your management of the Forest Service, I think, has been just appallingly negligent.

We think this is a great, balanced approach, fair, end to the timber wars, and hopefully the resurrection of rural timber counties across this country.

Our proposal received endorsements, as you have heard, from the Oregon State Senate, the Oregon House of Representatives, and the Governor's office.

Without active management, forests have become overgrown, leaving them extremely susceptible not only to the catastrophic wildfire Congressman Walden alluded to.

I support Arizona's collaborative, landscape-scale restoration project, the Four Forest Restoration Initiative or 4FRI.

The current federal system continues to prioritize fighting fires.

If we don't, we are going to bankrupt our federal and local governments.

There is an emergency situation in our communities and we must act.

The status quo is no longer good enough. The status quo has given us decades of declining forest health.

Our forests and natural resources are a way of life in Arizona. I remain saddened by what has happened to our constituents that have been adversely affected by wildfire.

I came here today to urge you to join me, and the citizens of Pinal County, in support of this land exchange.

If there would have been agreement, 'Let's do NEPA now,' we would be waiting and resolving and debating what the remediation would have had to be.

There is no substitute for, one, skipping over NEPA and doing it after the fact where there is no enforceability.

I encourage you to read these letters, these petitions, and hear from your citizens and what they are telling you.

There would be no shortcuts for the NEPA process in regards to the way this language is written.

I would like to point out that Section 4 of H.R. 687 specifically requires the same appraisal standards that the agencies are required to use to determine fair market value.

We have to deal in facts, because the facts set you free.

There are no shortcuts. There are absolutely no shortcuts.

The EPA put the animals and the environment in front of all the concerns of public safety

I would invite you, like I would invite the Member from Arizona who has not been in his tenure, out to the mine.

As an elected official, my responsibility is to improve the quality of life for my constituents.

There is unanimous opposition among Native Americans, not only in Arizona but across the country.

I think some due diligence on the part of this Committee to understand value and what we are giving back to the taxpayer is an important issue.

This legislation is not only a jobs bill, it is a conservation bill.

This legislation has national security implications.