Rob Bishop

I have long said it is not the use of the Antiquities Act, but rather the abuse of the Antiquities Act--by presidents of both parties--that requires Congress to carefully review this law.

This is the only way you can actually have that kind of input taking place.

I like you. You are wrong, but I like you.

And when the President made the Bears Ears declaration, it shut the process down.

It is arrogant on the part of this legislation, given that tribal nations were given, rightfully so, under the Constitution, the ability to be sovereign and, more importantly, the ability to consult, confer, and reach consensus with the…

We were promised data coming from the Interior Department that did not show up.

There were no restrictions.

Eagles or Patriots, and your spread?

I want to commend Mr. Stewart for the legislation that you have here. That is exactly the process we are trying to have.

Could it have been done better? Absolutely. But it needed to be done in a way that did not involve secrecy.

There are special interest groups out there that are trying to confuse that, as if one is synonymous to the other; they are not.

The Antiquities Act is unique, it is wrong, it is not democratic, and it needs to change.

This Committee has passed out a CAP Act, which tries to put an established process that would guarantee, depending on the size, there would be public involvement before the designation, and conversely, if you are going to rescind or…

If this had been done by congressional action or if this had been done by the administration working with the state of Utah, would you have solved these problems ahead of time?

If this new monument is created, Commissioner Pollock, it will be right outside the town of Escalante.

The BLM will also fund the plan?

This time, we can do better. We can work it out for the American people and for Utah, in open discussion with honest brokers, congressional authority and the state of Utah's imprimatur.

There is a reason that Washington declarations like Grand Staircase and Bears Ears are described in Utah as 'midnight monuments.'

If the alleged letter only asked for information about Utah, it looked biased, but ask for a broader review and it would have been clear that there are more compelling areas for designation than Utah parks.

Opposition would come from those who, in candor, are unlikely to support the administration under any circumstance.

To help overcome the negative views toward Clinton, a designation of a new monument would create a compelling reason to enthusiastically support the administration.

The law's implementation is a far cry from what President Nixon signed decades ago.

The purpose of our hearing today is examining ways of how we can fix a system that is not functioning the way it was intended.

The environment can have a review, and in a timely manner, and it does not have to be mutually exclusive.

The provisions of NEPA also created, for example, the CEQ, which came up with a sweeping climate change for regulatory guidance.