[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          GUN AMENDMENT TO OMNIBUS PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Smith) for 1 minute.
  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I rise today out of concern for the public 
lands bill that we are taking up. We will be taking up the Senate 
amendments to H.R. 146. I support the underlying goals of our Nation's 
conservation systems, but I am concerned about overreaching actions by 
the Federal Government negatively affecting the American public.
  The original bill, S. 22, combined 170 separate measures--most of 
which have never received a committee hearing. Last week, the Senate 
called up H.R. 146, an unrelated battlefield preservation bill, and 
substituted the text of S. 22. Because we have already passed an 
earlier version of H.R. 146, the measure can be shielded from further 
amendments. This is unfortunate. There will be no opportunity to amend 
this bill. By sidestepping a legislative process, we are not making 
this bill better.
  Last week, there was an amendment that protects hunting and fishing, 
but it certainly was silent because it didn't need to be vocal at the 
time on the right-to-carry provision. But, on March 19, U.S. District 
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly single-handedly decided to block the 
government's common sense policy.
  We can do better, Mr. Speaker, and we should do better.

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