[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2217) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and 
     for other purposes;

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 2217, making appropriations for the 
Department of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2002, contained language under the National Park 
Service/Land Acquisition and State Assistance section regarding federal 
grants to the State of Florida for acquisition of lands or waters 
within the Everglades watershed, including the areas known as the Frog 
Pond, the Rocky Glades and the Eight and One-Half Square Mile Area. 
This language begins on page 29, line 15 of the House engrossed bill 
and continues until page 30, line 11.
  This language does not constitute any new authority to acquire land 
or to obligate funds beyond existing law under Public Law 101-229, the 
Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989. The 
Committee on Resources has primary jurisdiction over this statute. The 
authority of the federal government to acquire land, directly or 
indirectly by eminent domain, must be specific. If I felt that this 
language in the Interior appropriations bill authorized new acquisition 
authority, I would have exercised my prerogative under the rules of the 
House of Representatives to have the language struck on a point of 
order.
  Similarly, nothing in this language from the Interior appropriations 
bill provides any new project authorization beyond that contained in 
the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act. Again, I 
would have raised a point of order against the text if I believed that 
it constituted new or amended project authority.
  I hope this clarifies any questions or concerns that my colleagues or 
the public might have regarding these provisions.

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