Political Quotes

“I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1157 directs the Department of the Interior to provide the public with motorized, nonmotorized, and pedestrian access to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, located in my district on the Hanford Reach National Monument. This 195,000-acre monument, designated by President Clinton in 2000, is near the Hanford Nuclear Site and is the only one in the continental United States managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At 3,600 feet, Rattlesnake Mountain is the highest point in the region, and it provides unparalleled views for miles around the monument, the Hanford Site, the Snake River, the Columbia River, and, of course, the Yakima River. Unfortunately, it took the Fish and Wildlife Service 8 years to write a management plan that effectively closed Rattlesnake Mountain to public access, despite the public comments favoring just the opposite. After I first introduced this bill in 2010, the Fish and Wildlife Service offered two public tours for selected individuals and then suddenly reneged on the offer just days before the tours were to occur. During a 2011 committee hearing on the bill, the Interior Department's testimony suggested that the Fish and Wildlife Service supports tours of Rattlesnake, but very carefully didn't go the extra step of ensuring the Service would allow public access to the summit.…”