I just want to respond to my good friend from California about working with us if there is a flaw in this amendment. I would just remind him he offered a similar amendment in committee; we brought up precisely the same arguments, precisely…

How much time do I have remaining, Mr. Chairman? The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman has 2 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The fundamental purpose of H.R. 1904 is to make copper in the United States and to create thousands of American jobs. This amendment is purposefully written to make this mine impossible by mandating conditions that…

I claim time in opposition. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.

the President's Executive Order creates a new Federal bureaucracy that requires regional plans to be created whether States want it or not and in a manner that excludes stakeholders.

Decisions on wilderness designations should be made on a case-by-case basis.

It takes an Act of Congress to create a wilderness area, and it requires an Act of Congress to fix or make necessary modest adjustments to an established wilderness area.

The Obama Administration attempted to bypass the clear letter of the law with its Wild Lands Secretarial Order, which was a backdoor attempt to create new wilderness by Executive fiat.

A wilderness area is the most restrictive land use designation that Congress, and only Congress, can apply to our nation's lands.

There is a near zero--in fact there is a zero--chance that the Committee will act on or advance bills that seek to designate wilderness areas in a district or a state that a Member isn't elected to represent.

To ensure that public access is allowed to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, including motorized access.

It is Congress, and only Congress, that has the authority to designate lands as wilderness.

Let me be very clear about the goal of this bill. It is to ensure that public access is allowed to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, including motorized access.

A law is necessary because, quite frankly, the Fish and Wildlife Service can't be trusted to ensure such access.

The imposition of the fishery management restrictions put in place last January will cost the commercial fishing industry between $44 million and $61 million per year, and cause a job loss of between 250 and 750 jobs.

Thirteen, and I am sorry, I thought it was 70,000, but 13 out of 55,000 is still a pretty darn small number.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's own documents state that the imposition of the fishery management restrictions put in place last January will cost the commercial fishing industry between $44 million and $61 million…

These management actions are the latest in a series of restrictions placed on commercial fishing activities in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska in an effort to protect Steller sea lions.

I ask unanimous consent that in addition to my oral statement that I will be giving that my colleague from Alaska, Congressman Don Young, be permitted to give an opening statement.

Instead of looking at the number of permits issued, we should also look at production levels.

The time it takes to get approval for permits and exploration plans is much longer today.

We seem to have a grand agreement here.

The Obama Administration's inability, or refusal, to issue permits in a timely and efficient manner after the official moratorium was lifted resulted in lost jobs and significant economic pain.

if I had my way, every time we have a hearing here and have a member of the Administration here I would like to have the Secretary of the Interior here.

I was very, very frustrated that we had to postpone this for three weeks.