Raúl Grijalva

Climate change is driving up the frequency and severity of forest fires, and this is a reality that has not been ignored by the Forest Service and other management agencies.

There is a crisis in our forests. No one disputes this simple fact.

The time for political posturing is over. I am ready to sit down with my colleagues and try to work out something that has a realistic chance of becoming law.

Congress also bears serious responsibility.

We have to deal with forest management, but it isn't just forest conditions that are in crisis.

The time for political posturing is over. I'm ready to sit down with my colleagues and try to work on something that has a chance of being enacted into law.

We've failed to have a serious conservation about what future management should look like.

The crisis of confidence in the agency responsible for managing National Forests isn't really the issue.

The Back to Work budget sets a level of 2006 for defense. Pentagon spending has doubled over the last decade; 2006 was the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism. We just celebrated the 10th anniversary of…

When, in the course of the last decade- plus, multinational corporations, billionaires in this country have been curried favor with tax breaks, loopholes that have allowed them to pay less than the average American, that has hurt the…

Let me yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

There is some adage about if you do the same thing over and over again without changing it, that that is a mark of insanity. That adage applies to the Ryan budget 2, the same as Ryan budget 1, and to 10 years of failed fiscal policy that…

The bill constitutes a multi-billion dollar giveaway to a foreign-owned mining company

The bill would desecrate and destroy an area of religious and sacred significance to the Apache and Yavapai people

Federal laws and policies require meaningful consultation with Tribes before Federal action.

Oak Flat is one of our holy places, where spiritual deities reside.

We strongly oppose this bill and the land transfer it mandates for three reasons: one, it will destroy our sacred areas; two, it will deplete and contaminate the region's already overdrawn water supply; and three, it is a bad deal for the…

We don't know what the impacts are.

There is nothing there that prevents it from being disturbed underneath.

At some point we will follow up with questions.

As a result, wouldn't the bill, as drafted, prevent the Forest Service from properly identifying or considering any mitigation measures that may be necessary, including the tunnels under Apache Leap and Oak Flat?

I couldn't agree more.

I think that is a fair comparison.

But don't be fooled--this land exchange has strong bipartisan support across the State of Arizona.

Many of the issues that the detractors of this project will bring up in today's hearing have been addressed in the Congressional record at some point.