Jon L. Christensen: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4593 has been returned to the House with Senate amendments that both add and detract from the bill…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4593 has been returned to the House with Senate amendments that both add and detract from the bill that originally passed the House last month. The additions to the bill involve modifications that the Senate made to the Lincoln County, Nevada, public land provisions. These changes bring the bill's language more in line with what has been done previously on public land sales in Nevada. This refinement has been tempered, however, by the fact that the Senate deleted the designation of the Ojito wilderness in New Mexico that was included in the original House-passed version of H.R. 4593. The gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), the sponsor of the Ojito wilderness language, had developed a bipartisan proposal that has significant local, State and national support, and it is regrettable that his language is not this bill before us today. Mr. Speaker, the amendments made by the Senate to the Lincoln County public lands provisions are an improvement, and notwithstanding the dropping of the Ojito wilderness land designation, we have no objection to the consideration of H.R. 4593 by the House today.”