the essence of the legislative process, which is, once again, why the Constitution gives Congress authority over these matters, not the President, so that these voices can be heard.

It should be done legislatively. Rather than just a stroke of a pen and somebody's arbitrary decision making.

This bill seeks to right a wrong and to go about monument designation the constitutional way.

The over-arching objectives of this Subcommittee bear repeating: to restore public access to the public lands, to restore good management to the public lands, and to restore the Federal Government as a good neighbor to those communities…

And they have every right to demand that Congress reassert its role over management of the lands on their behalf.

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands meets to consider H.R. 4532, the Shash Jaa National Monument and Indian Creek National Monument Act, by Congressman John Curtis and co-sponsored by the entire Utah congressional delegation.

The Constitution gives sole jurisdiction over the public lands to the Congress.

But we are also opening up vast acreage that has been set off limits for the enjoyment of the American people, and for the prosperity of the regional economy.

I wish my colleagues from other states where the Federal Government holds maybe 1 percent of the land area would consider what would happen to their communities if the Federal Government suddenly took over 93 percent of the land area.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton, in a breathtaking abuse of this law, unilaterally declared 1.7 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in southern Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument without any…

This bill seeks to right this wrong and to go about monument designation the constitutional way: through open hearings, debate, and congressional action.