Political Quotes

“as the ranking member on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, I was especially pleased by President Trump's decision to withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley to lead the Bureau of Land Management, or the BLM, as we know it. I said, when the President nominated Mr. Pendley, that he is the wrong person in the wrong job in the wrong place and he should not continue to lead the Bureau. The job of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management is not just another Presidential appointment. It is a sacred public trust. The Director of the BLM is one of the principal stewards of our public lands, as we are hearing from our colleagues today. The Bureau of Land Management manages 245 million acres of public land, more land than any other Federal agency. The Bureau is required by law to manage the lands committed to its care not only for the benefit of our own generation but for many generations to come. It must carefully balance the use of the land for grazing, timber production, mineral development, recreation, fish and wildlife, and the protection of scenic, scientific, and historic values of the lands. In addition to the 245 million acres of surface land the Bureau manages, it also manages another 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights. It manages over 63,000 oil and gas wells and over 300 coal leases, covering nearly half a million acres of coal lands, which together contribute about $4 billion a year to the Federal Treasury.…”