Emily Randall: “Mr. Speaker, next year our Nation will celebrate its 250th birthday. H.R. 4285, the STARS Act, would mark that milestone…”

“Mr. Speaker, next year our Nation will celebrate its 250th birthday. H.R. 4285, the STARS Act, would mark that milestone on September 17, 2026, by providing free entrance to National Park Service sites and waiving standard amenity recreation fees to sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Forest Service. I fully support helping more Americans experience our public lands and will be honored to support this bill. However, it is hard to ignore how hollow this gesture feels when it comes alongside the ongoing Republican effort to undermine access to these very places. While we may be hearing how treasured our public lands are from my colleagues today, some of their actions paint a different picture. Republicans are slashing the already underfunded land management agencies' budgets. Republicans are firing hardworking Americans who keep our public lands open and safe. Republicans are trying to sell off our public lands for a quick buck. Republicans are working to undo protections for national monuments, trying to block updates to outdated resource management plans, and pushing reckless development for extractive industries no matter the public health or environmental consequences.”