On the recordNovember 2, 2023
I thank the chair of this committee for opposing the amendment. As far as I am concerned, this amendment is extreme. It will not gain bipartisan support and become law. The draconian cuts proposed in this bill violate the agreement reached by former Speaker McCarthy and President Biden that were memorialized in statute in Public Law 118-5, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. We would not be teetering on the brink of government shutdown if my Republican colleagues would hold up their end of the bargain. As to this amendment, with the West reeling from the historic megadrought, the worst in 1,200 years, why would any of my colleagues want to hamstring the Bureau of Land Management from protecting our public lands for the American public and future generations? Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment.
