[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 108 (Monday, July 13, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4987-S4988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   BASIN AND RANGE NATIONAL MONUMENT

  Mr. REID. Madam President, cowboy poet Georgie Connell Sicking 
conveyed my feelings for the Nevada desert in her poem ``Nevada's 
Subtle Beauty.''
  This picture I have in the Chamber has appeared all over the country. 
It appeared, for example, in the Washington Post a week or so ago, and 
there are other pictures that show this at more of a distance. The man 
there is so small compared to the vastness of the Nevada terrain. But 
here is what Georgie Sicking said in her poem:

     Have you gone outdoors one morning after a summer rain,
     With a gentle breeze blowing across a black sage valley
     And smelled the earthy sagey freshness, none like it on this 
           earth.
     It sure makes life worth living, and you know when God was 
           giving, He didn't short-change Nevada.
     Have you ever in the afternoon watched the mountains changing 
           colors,
     From the shadows as they grow from brown and black to tan and 
           violet,
     Or sometimes the deepest blue.
     Ever changing, ever different, they seem to smile, then 
           frown,
     Waiting for sky colors to be added as the sun goes down.
     If these things I mention you have seen and felt and known,
     Beware, for Nevada has a hold on you and will claim you for 
           her own.

  This is not Iowa terrain. It is very typical Nevada terrain, the 
deserts of Nevada. It is perfect. It is peaceful. It is the Nevada 
desert. It feels right. To me, it feels like home.
  Last Friday, President Obama permanently protected over 700,000 acres 
of land in Eastern Nevada as the Basin and Range National Monument, 
which photographer Tyler Roemer has captured beautifully in these 
pictures.
  The land President Obama designated as a monument--two basins and one 
range--is a perfect example of the stark beauty of the Nevada desert. 
This monument is an area where the Mojave Desert meets the Great Basin 
and Joshua trees and cactus give way to sagebrush. This monument is an 
area that is home to desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and 
pronghorn antelope.
  This monument is an area that provided food and shelter for Native 
Americans and is where one can see their history today in incredible 
rock art panels we call petroglyphs. This monument is an area that 
reflects the pioneering western history from early explorers to the 
ranching that still exists.
  Four or five years ago, I visited this area. I had been in the area 
but not here. I went there for a number of reasons. I had been informed 
of a five-decade-old art project in the middle of the vastness of this 
desert. While going to see this work of art, I also saw the unique 
beauty of the Nevada desert, and it is unique. After I completed my 
trip, in giving this a lot of thought and contemplation, I became 
passionate about doing something to protect and preserve this 
incredible work of art and the stark beauty of the desert, both of 
which are priceless.
  This picture is part of the City. This work of art has taken 48 years 
to construct. It is the size of the National Mall here. It is a couple 
miles long and very wide--almost a mile wide. It is something that is 
in the center of the Basin and Range National Monument. It is called 
the City. It is a grand modern art sculpture the size of, I repeat, the 
National Mall, part of which you can see in this photo from a group 
called the Triple Aught Foundation.
  The creator is internationally renowned artist Michael Heizer, who is 
known all over the world. He has been working on this project, as I 
indicated, since 1972.

[[Page S4988]]

  The New York Times has called City ``the most ambitious sculpture 
anyone has ever built, one of those audacious improbable American 
dreams at the scale of the West, conceived for the ages.'' The canvas 
which makes up the background of his art is the untouched desert land 
of the Basin Range, which makes it all the more monumental. Hundreds 
and hundreds of people worked on this under the guidance of Michael 
Heizer. He has done remarkable stuff all over the world. The latest 
thing he did is in Los Angeles--in the middle of the city of Los 
Angeles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. That is a big project, 
but it pales in comparison to this. What he did there, he moved a rock 
weighing 400 tons 102 miles through the cities of California. It is 
called Levitated Mass. The thing in L.A.--this 400-ton boulder--looks 
like it is suspended in space. It is not. But people walk under it.
  I talked very recently to the Los Angeles County Museum director, and 
he said this thing needs no advertising. People come to see this. And 
that is the same way this will be. This is a wonderful piece of art.
  One of the art critics for the Washington Post said it was the most--
and I am paraphrasing--significant piece of art in the last 50 years in 
America.
  When I first brought this up to President Obama, he said: Tell me 
what it is. Explain it to me. I said: I can't. How, Madam President, as 
you are presiding over this body, would you describe this? It is really 
hard to describe, and we are only seeing a tiny bit of this. It is 2 
miles long and 1 mile wide, approximately.
  He has done amazing things. He has developed his own dirt. We have 
plenty of dirt in the desert, but he was afraid it would be washed 
away. This will never be washed away--the same up here.
  As I indicated, he has art projects all over the world, but he is 
from Nevada. He has spent a lot of his time in Nevada for the last 48 
years, in addition to his other projects. So I am very happy this has 
happened in Nevada.
  By using his authority under the Antiquities Act, President Obama has 
helped preserve the life, history, and culture of Nevada--the land I 
love.
  Look at this. This has been preserved for my children, my 
grandchildren, their children, and their grandchildren. This is 
exquisite.
  Nevada is growing very rapidly. In the southern part of the State--
Las Vegas--there are about 3 million people now. People are traveling 
all over Nevada, and we don't have--even though it is a very large 
State--much unspoiled land, but this is something that has not been 
spoiled. There are no roads through it, no railroads, no power lines. 
This is beautiful, and I am so glad the President did this.
  As renowned journalist Steve Sebelius wrote in his Sunday column in 
the Las Vegas Review-Journal, ``Preserving the land from development 
was the right thing to do. History will bear that out, long after the 
wails of the disaffected have ceased to echo through the desert canyons 
of Nevada's newest monument.''
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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