[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 38 (Friday, March 21, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      DEDICATION OF UTAH NATIONAL MONUMENT BACKFIRES ON PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, a thought occurred to me as my colleague 
from the Third Congressional District of Utah got up to speak about 
something. He talked about President William Jefferson Clinton going to 
the south rim of the Grand Canyon on September 18, 1996, and in a few 
short words he declared that 1.7 million acres of Utah would be a 
monument. He said he did the same thing that Teddy Roosevelt did using 
the antiquities laws when Teddy Roosevelt created the Grand Canyon.
  History tells us a different story. Teddy Roosevelt planned this out 
for years. He talked to the Governors, legislators, interested people. 
Teddy Roosevelt went all over the Grand Canyon. He hunted in the Grand 
Canyon. He hiked in the Grand Canyon. He floated the Colorado River. He 
knew it inside and out. He was a historian and a man who understood it. 
Then he made the Grand Canyon, and bless his heart for doing it, into a 
beautiful area.
  William Jefferson Clinton, if he was asked to put his hand on this 
new monument, would probably miss it by 500 miles. He did not even know 
it was there. So the question comes up, why did he do it? I guess a lot 
of environmental folks said, gee, this will be a wonderful thing for 
you to do, Mr. President. We will all think it is a great thing if you 
make this monument and set it aside.
  Who benefits from this? Anybody benefit? The schoolchildren of Utah 
had a little piece in there, just 40 acres, of low sulfur coal that 
would accrue to their benefit and their education, so much so it is the 
only coal that I am aware of in this hemisphere that is acceptable with 
low sulfur and high Btu.
  The President cut that out, just like that. How much money would that 
mean to the kids in Utah? How about $5 billion that they are not going 
to have for their education at this time.
  Who benefited from this? There is a coal industry in Indonesia owned 
by Red China, and they now have a monopoly on all of the coal of the 
world that is acceptable coal because this occurred. Of course, the Red 
Chinese seem to have some affiliation with this administration, but I 
will not get into that.
  We have another problem as we look at regarding who benefited from 
this. Did the environmental community benefit from this at all? Oh, 
yeah. Wow, we are going to get all this wilderness in this area.
  Guess what? That wilderness was extinguished by the President. In 
1964, Congress passed a law that said only Congress could create 
wilderness, and in this area there are three big WSA's, wilderness 
study areas. Nowhere can a monument have wilderness.
  So instead of a pristine area set aside for people to enjoy, now what 
is it going to be? Hotels, airports, everything going through there. 
And there should be wilderness in that area. No, nobody benefited from 
this. Nobody. Absolutely nobody.
  That is why my friend from the Third District, our Senators and 
others, are introducing right now, yesterday as a matter of fact, the 
Fairness Antiquity Law, which means the President of the United States 
cannot willy-nilly go around declaring places all over this country. He 
will be subjected to 5,000 acres. If he goes over 5,000 acres, he will 
have to have the concurrence of the Governor, the legislature, and it 
will have to pass this Congress. I personally think that is the right 
thing to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I am really disappointed that the President would do 
this for a few measly votes with a few people, and then it flies right 
in his face. It did not work at all. In fact, it has hurt people all 
over America. But it has helped the Chinese. I hope they enjoy it.

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