David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, this is not a static country. In the next decade, we will have 20 to 25 million new people added to our…”

“Mr. Chairman, this is not a static country. In the next decade, we will have 20 to 25 million new people added to our population. We will have 35 to 40 percent more commercial airline flights, God help us all. We will have about 35 million more people knocking on the doors of national parks. If one does not think that those parks are overburdened, I invite them to visit Yellowstone or Yosemite or any other of a couple dozen national parks around the country and see how much people are crammed in. It is in the national interest of the United States for additional areas of special value to be preserved for future generations. Now we have heard an attack on President Clinton for abusing his power in adding 9 additional national monuments to the Nation's storehouse. I would like to cite what the record has been since 1906. Teddy Roosevelt, and I recognize that the former Speaker of the House, Mr. Gingrich, indicated that one of his goals was to eliminate the Roosevelt legacy from the Republican Party and return it to the philosophy of William McKinley, but nonetheless, thank goodness, Teddy Roosevelt served a wonderful stint as President and he acted 18 times to put aside territory just like this.”