Sam Farr: “I rise as a former county supervisor remembering the debates about not wanting the Federal Government to leave to close…”

“I rise as a former county supervisor remembering the debates about not wanting the Federal Government to leave to close bases, not wanting the Federal Government to abandon land. As a former State legislator, I have never seen a resolution by Idaho or any other State saying we really want you to join in petitioning us to get rid of Federal land. Do my colleagues know why? Because that Federal land employs people. That Federal land not only has Federal employees who pay taxes and their kids go to school, they pay those fees, the in lieu fees, but there are the recreational activities that come off of that land that supported private businesses. When I go down the Salmon River in Idaho, I see a lot of people making money off the boaters, staying in hotels, eating in the restaurants there before they go on the river and after they come out. Do we want to abandon that as an Idaho asset and say we cannot add to that without the permission of the State legislature? There is local control in the United States Congress.”