Helen Chenoweth-Hage: “This amendment very simply prevents funds from CARA being utilized for the management or creation of national monuments…”

“This amendment very simply prevents funds from CARA being utilized for the management or creation of national monuments designated after 1995 under the Antiquities Act. For the past 5 years, the current administration has grossly misused the 1906 Antiquities Act to lock up literally millions of acres throughout the United States from production. This first occurred in 1996 when President Clinton, on a campaign stop in Arizona, much to the surprise of every State official in Utah, declared millions of acres in Utah as the Grand Escalante Monument. He pulled this maneuver with virtually no environmental or Congressional process, but simply as a political favor to the Sierra Club. Now, as the Clinton-Gore administration winds down, Secretary Babbitt has traversed the western United States, declaring 'monuments' of massive proportion in Arizona and California and scoping others in my own State of Idaho and also in New Mexico, keeping in mind, Madam Chairman, these designations, which have the impact of shutting down activity and economies in the affected areas, are done without any Congressional authorization or even oversight, without any real local input, and without any environmental assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.”