Bob Bennett: “I share in some of the concerns that my good friend from Wyoming voiced when he began his presentation. I am…”

“I share in some of the concerns that my good friend from Wyoming voiced when he began his presentation. I am uncomfortable opposing the Senator from Wyoming on a business or political matter, and I have great respect for his judgment and his predictive powers. I think his analysis of what is going to happen is right on most of the time. At the same time, I must rise to disagree with him on this occasion. He says he hopes he is wrong about his predictive powers. Obviously, so do I. But I would like to respond to some of the issues that he has raised and make it clear why I am supporting this particular legislation. First, I must agree completely with the Senator from Wyoming in his discussion about the wisdom of the past with respect to national parks. I agree that our decision--ours, that is, the Congress--was a wise one in setting up the system that we have at the moment. I agree that the Federal Government would undoubtedly not have put the amount of investment into the national park concessions that has been put there. And I applaud the past Congresses for the action that they have taken. The one thing with which I disagree with the Senator from Wyoming is his statement that the situation has not changed. As I look at it, I think there has been significant change that requires some kind of change in the underlying statute.”