Alan Simpson: “I have certainly enjoyed over the years the spirited debates in which I have engaged with my good friend from the State…”

“I have certainly enjoyed over the years the spirited debates in which I have engaged with my good friend from the State of Arkansas. He is a most passionate and articulate representative of his constituents and he is certainly a credit to them. In the debate over raising grazing fees on ranchers who use the public lands, however, I find myself pining for a new subject. We have oft been down this road before. We have heard it all; about how those rotten billionaire ranchers are ripping off the American people; about how they are overgrazing and ruining the lands; about how we should have a progressive fee system that would hit some ranchers hard and leave others alone; about the inequity of rates charged for Federal versus State lands. It is all 'old hat.' Mr. President, I commend Senators Thomas, Craig, Domenici, Burns and all the others who have spoken out against this poor idea. I would be hard pressed to express my objections more cogently than they have done. Let me just underline a few concerns that those of us from Western States share with regard to this issue. And these concerns are many. Indeed, I dare say that I cannot see one virtue in this amendment. To begin with, let there be no doubt about it: This amendment is not an effort to inject fairness into public lands grazing. Rather, this is the effort of interests who want nothing more than to get private ranchers off of public lands.”