[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9861-H9862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SAY WHAT IS TRUE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, out West the predominant church out there in 
one of the States sings a song that says, ``Oh, say what is true.'' 
What a refreshing statement, that you should always say the truth.
  When I was a freshman around here in 1981, I remember distinctly 
getting a fundraising letter from an organization, and they wrote to me 
and they said, if you will only send us some money, $10, $20, $30, $40, 
$50, we will be in a position to take care of the Chesapeake Bay which 
then-Secretary of the Interior Jim Watt is polluting. We can take that 
money and we can step in and we will save Chesapeake Bay.
  Strangely enough that afternoon Secretary Watt had an appointment 
with me. He came in the office. I showed him the letter. He got a good 
laugh out of it and he said, how ridiculous. He said, in effect, we are 
putting a lot of money into the Chesapeake Bay to take care of it. Out 
of curiosity, though, I sent them some money and about 6 months later I 
got an interesting reply that said out of your generosity, Mr. Hansen, 
we were able to save Chesapeake Bay from the ravages of Secretary Watt 
and all the rotten things he was going to do.
  We all know in reality that he did nothing to the bay. In fact he put 
the money into it, but it was a whale of a good fundraising letter.
  I think that the American people should realize, Mr. Speaker, that 
this is the oldest fundraising trick in the book. Create a straw man 
and knock it down. I thought it was interesting today, because sent to 
me from the great State of Utah is a letter, and this letter comes from 
a man by the name of Robert Redford from Sundance, UT, kind of a 
familiar name around the United States, and he is sending out a 
fundraising letter and Mr. Redford is asking basically the same thing 
as these folks did on Save the Bay.
  I will not bore the House with all of the things that are in it, but 
he says.

       Incredibly the new leadership in Congress is ready to break 
     this longstanding contract. They want to begin selling off 
     our natural heritage to private commercial interests in order 
     to raise a few quick bucks under the pretext of deficit 
     reduction. Our national parks would be closed down like 
     military bases.

  I am sure that Mr. Redford is a little misguided here, but here is 
the bill he is referring to, H.R. 260. Page 13 of the bill, as we used 
to say around here, and in State legislatures and in county commissions 
and even the third-class cities, when all else fails, read the 
legislation.
  Let me read it, for all these people who are trying to come out with 
a national park closing bill:
  ``Nothing in this act shall be construed as modifying or terminating 
any unit of the national park system without an act of Congress,'' the 
way it has been for almost 200 years.
  He goes to say, ``Our national forests would be sold off and 
logged.'' Pray tell, where is the bill? Can somebody bring the bill up, 
give me a bill number and show it to me? I am the chairman of that 
committee. I am the one that handles all the public land, national 
forest, parks. Where is the bill? I want to see it. But, of course, 
this will be a great one to raise a few bucks.
  Our wildlife refuges would be opened to destructive oil and gas 
development. Name the wildlife refuge in America, Mr. Redford. Where 
is it? There is only one that I am aware of and that happens to be 
Anwar in Alaska, of 19 million acres, and Mr. Young, the chairman of 
the full Committee on Resources, wants an infinitesimal part of that to 
be used for exploration of fossil fuels. But where in the lower 48 or 
Hawaii or Guam, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico, where is it? I 
would like to know where it is, but I am sure that will hit the hot 
button with a few folks and they will come up with it.

  Hundreds of millions of acres of scenic lands would simply be given 
away. Where is that bill? I do not know. Every piece of legislation, 
the Park Service, the BLM, the Forest Service, every one of them has a 
management plan, and nobody but nobody is giving away any private 
ground at this particular point.
  Well, another one says, ``Here in Utah, we would lose 20 million 
acres overnight. That's two-thirds of all our federally protected 
lands, under legislation that is now before Congress.'' What is the 
bill number? Where is it? Who is sponsoring the bill? As the old Member 
from Utah, I would sure like to know where that bill is.
  I have nothing against Mr. Redford. He has a right to do that. But 
come on, now, folks, let us be reasonable about this. If we are going 
to do it, let us go back to that old Mormon song, ``Oh, say what is 
true.'' What a refreshing thing to do. Would that not be nice if in all 
America the politicians did that?

[[Page H 9862]]

  I still remember all the people on Social Security who call in and 
say, gee, I got a letter from a past Congressman and he thinks Social 
Security is going to be gutted, but if you will give $10, $20, $30, 
$40, $50, we will save that legislation. I have not been around here as 
long as a lot of folks but 15 years, and I will tell you most of that 
legislation is saved right now.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a lot more examples here, I can see I have used 
my 5 minutes, but I would surely hope that people are wise enough, 
prudent enough, and have enough judgment to realize when they get these 
letters, are they predicated and grounded in truth or are they just 
some way to pick up a fast buck for a lot of people?

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