Rob Bishop

My legislation would prohibit any presidential administration from imposing new monument designations in the State of Idaho.

While it may be technically possible for the President to abuse the Antiquities Act, history has shown that Presidents over the past 100 years from both parties have used good judgment when exercising the power granted to them.

The Antiquities Act was put to perfect use in coordination with State and local authorities in breaking congressional gridlock by establishing Fort Monroe National Monument.

The legislation being considered before the Subcommittee today attacks the very law that served Virginia and the Hampton Roads area very well.

We have to have some certainty in this process.

Reform of the Antiquities Act is long overdue.

What we are simply saying is there should be a concurrence of Congress.

H.R. 250 is not intended to stop the creation of national monuments. The bill simply seeks to add transparency, oversight, and a debate to the process of designating national monuments.

For too long, Washington has been making unilateral national monument designations that infringe on States' rights...

But it is a lot nicer having you than Senator Carper coming here to testify in front of us.

States and their citizens deserve to have a say in the disposition of Federal lands within their jurisdiction.

That is why I introduced H.R. 382, the Preserve Land Freedom for Americans Act, to require State approval...

What was most damaging, however, was the manner in which this designation was made. There was no local involvement or input.

This Proclamation violated both the letter and spirit of the 'smallest area' clause and purposefully locked-up an abundance of domestic energy resources.

There is widespread feeling within our State that we were dealt a great injustice by President Clinton when he created the Grand-Staircase-Escalante Monument.

When Grand Staircase was initiated, private property was surrounded by the Staircase, and the squeeze to those property owners began.

The process is far from perfect, I admit. But it is an established process by which activities are subjected to a transparent and public process, which have not always been the case.

There was no local involvement, no consultation with those who would be impacted by the decision.

This monument proclamation violated both the letter and the spirit, and purposely locked up an abundance of domestic NG resources.

I love representative democracy in action.

So, let me just simply say today we are going to hear testimony on a number of bills that would reform the Antiquities Act.

We need to ensure that the interests and livelihood of all residents and stakeholders are considered and protected...

I am as frustrated as others with not only of the impact of sequestration but the other two cuts to the military that took place in these last 5 years.

I still wish we still had 200 more of those F-22s to be flying around here.

If I could be shameless at the very beginning, basically since Korea, this country has maintained air superiority, which is a fact we usually take for granted.