Bob Beauprez: “occasionally on this floor we get to do win/win proposals, and this is clearly one of them. This legislation is almost…”

“occasionally on this floor we get to do win/win proposals, and this is clearly one of them. This legislation is almost identical to legislation adopted by this Chamber earlier this session which I, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall), and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) introduced. The difference is, this legislation actually is better. It is better in that it provides the United States Forest Service a 45-day window of opportunity to do their due diligence before the transfer actually takes place, and it also increases the acreage that the city of Golden is willing to trade to the government to accomplish this mission. What is this mission? The mission is the city of Golden gets to increase its water storage capacity by 40 percent, which is critical to this small town in my district, in exchange for 10 acres to connect a pipeline to the reservoir, the storage reservoir. The United States Forest Service will acquire 80 acres near the city of Evergreen which will stay perpetually green, maintaining pristine wilderness, and also an additional 56 acres that includes a portion of the Continental Divide Trail. Yes, the Continental Divide, that place where east and west divide and a pristine wilderness trail that is critical not only to our State but to much of the Nation as we connect from our southern border clear to our northern border. Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to see this legislation before this body.”