Many people are asking, why are we even having this hearing today? My response to that is that it could not come at a more important time, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I appreciate your scheduling this hearing and giving us all the opportunity to be here to talk about this.

A lot has changed since, but we are still working to protect wild public lands in Utah.

The land that we are trying to designate holds less than a few days worth of oil and a few weeks worth of gas.

The circumstances of the lands that are overseen by the Federal Government in this country comes about as a result of the fact that the states were not interested in them.

We are now in the twentieth year of this effort, but it is just the latest chapter in nearly 140 years' effort to protect and preserve our nation's most pristine natural resources.

It is fitting that we are having this hearing while PBS is airing Ken Burns' new documentary, 'The National Parks: America's Best Idea.'

If you don't mind, one of the issues that was brought up was the issue of education and how potentially the expansion of wilderness land is going to have a negative impact on education...

We are in the process now of trying to get Federal recognition of certain areas in New York, including in the Hudson Valley...

It is also a great pleasure to be here with other witnesses who will be speaking later who have traveled here today from Utah.

It put more money in the hands of the wealthiest people, as we have seen, and it also caused a decline in the income and economic sustainability of middle-income and lower middle.

There is an awful lot more work that needs to be done.