Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva). I rise today to express my opposition to H.R. 2954, the mistitled Public Access and Lands Improvement Act. Rather than improving our Nation's lands, this bill negatively affects our land management decisions. It conveys or disposes of Federal lands improperly. It rewrites grazing policy, and it waives numerous environmental laws like the Natural Environmental Policy Act, the Wilderness Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Overall, H.R. 2954 contains a number of provisions that would undermine the responsible balance of interests and considerations in the stewardship of our Nation's lands and our Nation's resources. Included in the myriad of poor land management provisions that this bill cobbles together is language that gives away thousands of acres of Federal land in Florida, Alaska, and Nevada, valued at millions of dollars, without a transparent public planning process. When the Federal Government gives away land, we do so with certain understandings of how it will be used. It is just wrong to change the rules without due consideration and without any compensation for the Federal Government--the taxpayers of this Nation--if others will now profit from this land. Yet another ill-advised land management provision, H.R. 2954 also prevents the Bureau of Land Management from carrying out its mission to manage public lands for multiple use.…”