On the recordJuly 21, 2010
It has been that way for the last 12 months. So, somewhere, somebody has to figure out what is unique about my State and about our area in the West that has given us this wonderful distinction of having the best joblessness in the Nation for well over a year. I think, obviously, there are a number of causes, but it is also, I think we can say for a certainty, that many of the new policies and regulations that have been adopted during this administration, coming out of Washington, are flat out not helping when we could be unleashing economic upturn as well as providing domestic energy independence for this country, which is a boon to economic development. Yet we're doing the exact opposite. Let me show you three charts, if I could, simply to illustrate. You know, every time I come here, I rant about the amount of public lands that we have. The Federal Government owns 650 million acres. That means that 1 out of every 3 acres in this country is now owned by the Federal Government. Unfortunately, in my area--the West--1 out of every 2 acres is owned by the Federal Government. For example--and this is a different chart than I have used before-- if the amount of land owned in the West by the Federal Government were owned in the East, that is how much area, the area in blue, would be owned and operated and controlled by the Federal Government.…





