Rob Bishop

It would create new jobs, strengthen rural economies, promote healthier forests, reduce the risk of wildfires, and decrease our reliance on foreign countries for timber and related products.

This morning we will look at two pieces of legislation that represent a much-needed and important paradigm shift in federal lands policy.

What we tried to do in the first bill, the National Forest County Revenue, Schools, and Jobs Act, which deals with SRS, Secure Rural Schools, as we know, is to give the Forest Service some direction and ability to actually manage a portion…

States rights are key to the strength of our nation.

The Montana Land Sovereignty Act isn't about stopping new monuments, it is simply about making sure that the American public has a voice in the process.

With the stroke of the pen, 500 high-paying jobs in a rural Utah county disappeared.

How in the hell can you come up with those numbers?

The only reason we found out was because the documents were leaked.

For Montana, the Antiquities Act is something like the Sword of Damocles.

What we don't need is the Administration making those decisions for us.

That is why it is essential that the bills we are discussing today pass and the Congress be given the ultimate say on which areas will become national monuments.

With a stroke of the pen 500 high paying jobs in a rural Utah county disappeared.

Unfortunately, this authority is too easily abused.

Many of them believe that it is their duty to 'protect' the land from any future development.

Ultimately the goal of this bill is to protect jobs.

It is an honor to recognize you, Mr. Chairman, and your continued efforts to stand up for the needs of Utah here in the House of Representatives.

America is in the midst of a recession with elevated unemployment, yet the Obama Administration continues to push a 'wilderness agenda' that competes with our national priorities of job creation and domestic energy independence.

Now once more, importantly, it is significant that legislative functions should reside with the Legislature, not the Executive Branch.

Wilderness is attainable, but it is also to be considered with other factors in the use of the land in mind.

The Antiquities Act has been abused by Presidents, unfortunately, of both parties.

I do appreciate the first thing you said saying that the cause/effect relationship is no way proven by any of the data you have.

The land that we were promised in other areas has yet to be given to the State of Utah over a decade later.

A lot of decisions that affect our daily lives are made by faceless bureaucrats who are thousands of miles away.

We need to protect our state from anymore surprises like the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

We should never allow the Administration to try and avoid Congress, and actually never allow them to use a legislative function to avoid Congress in the first place.