Raúl Grijalva: “H.R. 2016 unifies separate units into a coherent system. It ensures permanency, and I think that is the most important…”

“H.R. 2016 unifies separate units into a coherent system. It ensures permanency, and I think that is the most important point. It will permanently establish perhaps a last great American conservation system in statute, and those lands will continue to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management and prevent any future attempts to get rid of the system. It enhances the statute of this system, and it deserves to be enhanced. It is a good piece of legislation. It has good support from Members of Congress and from interest groups who care about the conservation issues that we face in this Congress. NLCS will eternally lock land into Government control and prevent Americans from their right to property ownership. Our Federal Government already owns 653,229,090 acres of land. Does it really need to control any more? NLCS would take control of 26 million acres of land--13 percent of the nation's surface. This land will be forever taken and the right to own land denied. There is no justification to consume more land.”