Jason Chaffetz

Americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them.

We exist to secure two fundamental principles. First, Americans have the right to know that the money Washington takes from them is well-spent.

Protecting the privacy of this information is up to Congress, and given the reasonable expectations of privacy we have about our location information, the appropriate standard is probable cause.

I propose that we enact legislation to address uncertainty in the law and provide the appropriate standard.

Our hearts and prayers go out to those in Boston and Massachusetts and all the States where people came from to participate in the marathon. I, in particular, Mr. Speaker, wanted to stand and thank those first responders. They're firemen…

It is the responsibility of Congress to make these budget cuts more targeted and less likely to put innocent citizens in harm's way.

It is not like we just went to war for the first time. We spent an awful lot of time in Iraq and we have been in Afghanistan ten plus years.

I appreciate your passion on this issue. I share it.

We do not seem to learn these lessons.

This kind of stuff going on has to be brought to a halt.

If we are not going to use them, why have them?

We will work tirelessly in partnership with citizen watchdogs to deliver the facts to the American people and bring genuine reform to the Federal bureaucracy.

We thank you, Mr. Schuster, for your time and participation here today.

We exist to secure two fundamental principles. First, Americans have the right to know that the money Washington takes from them is well spent.

This has to be one of the prime poster child for government contracts spun out of control.

Our duty on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is to protect these rights.

My concern is I wonder if we actually learned any of those lessons.

There are 107,000 people who haven't paid about $1 billion in taxes. To suggest there isn't a problem is, I think, factually without merit.

Actually, at this time, what I would like to do is yield back and respond based on the other comments.

For example, just weeks before the 1996 election, President Clinton designated more than 1.7 million acres--that is a lot of land.

Unfortunately, Presidents have used the Antiquities Act for purposes clearly beyond its original intent of preserving small parcels of land containing Indian artifacts that were being looted and vandalized and required immediate protection.

Congress passed the Antiquities Act in 1906 with the intent of preserving archeological sites, mainly Indian ruins and artifacts on small parcels of land that required immediate protection.

Under current law the President can unilaterally designate national monuments on Federal land outside of Alaska or Wyoming without any check or balance from the U.S. Congress.

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about H.R. 250, which would reform the Antiquities Act of 1906 by requiring congressional approval of any national monument designated by the President.

We need to have a comprehensive strategy to secure the border and part of that strategy has to be a measurement system that makes sense.