On the recordJuly 13, 2016
I, again, thank the gentleman that there is not any sale of public lands in this bill. I would point out that there are Members in this body--in fact, the chair of the authorizing committee in this general area--who speak regularly about privatizing our public lands, so there is a real threat. This is not simply something that comes out of nowhere. I think the peace of mind that we would get by including this kind of language in an appropriations bill would make it very clear that Congress supports the opinion of the American people, supports the economy in districts like mine, and wants to keep our public lands public. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. {time} 2310
