Sam Farr: “Thank God for the Antiquities Act. Thank God for the action of the President to take Federal lands and upgrade their…”

“Thank God for the Antiquities Act. Thank God for the action of the President to take Federal lands and upgrade their status so that they are more protected. The reason the President had to do it by executive order is because this Congress under this leadership is failing to deliver these things. I introduced two bills in Congress on these issues that did not even get a hearing in the committee. The only member of the other party that has been supportive of all this effort is the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula). He has been the best environmentalist the Republican Party has because he is on the Committee on Appropriations and he can appropriate money. But to try to get a hearing in the other committees and try to get some substance out and get these lands protected, no way. Now they want to take them away. Give me back my monuments. Give me back Sequoia in California. Give me back the Grand Canyon-Parashant in Arizona. Give me back Agua Fria in Arizona. Give me back the California Coastal Monument. Give me back the Pinnacles National Monument in my district. Give me back the Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado. Give me back Ironwood Forest in Arizona. Give me back Cascade-Siskiyou in Oregon. And give me back Hanford Reach in Washington.”