[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 157 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7643-H7645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONFIRMING STATE LAND GRANTS FOR EDUCATION ACT

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2582) to authorize the State of Utah to 
select certain lands that are available for disposal under the Pony 
Express Resource

[[Page H7644]]

Management Plan to be used for the support and benefit of State 
institutions, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2582

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Confirming State Land Grants 
     for Education Act''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.

       (a) In General.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     State of Utah may select any lands in T6S and T7S, R1W, Salt 
     Lake Base and Meridian, that are owned by the United States, 
     under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land 
     Management, and identified as available for disposal by land 
     exchange in the Record of Decision for the Pony Express 
     Resource Management Plan and Rangeland Program Summary for 
     Utah County (January 1990), as amended by the Pony Express 
     Plan Amendment (November 1997), in fulfillment of the land 
     grants made in sections 6, 8, and 12 of the Act of July 16, 
     1894 (28 Stat. 107) as generally depicted on the map entitled 
     ``Proposed Utah County Quantity Grants'' and dated June 27, 
     2017, to further the purposes of the State of Utah School and 
     Institutional Trust Lands Administration, without further 
     land use planning action by the Bureau of Land Management.
       (b) Application.--The criteria listed in Decision 3 of the 
     Lands Program of the resource management plan described in 
     subsection (a) shall not apply to any land selected under 
     subsection (a).
       (c) Effect on Limitation.--Nothing in this Act affects the 
     limitation established under section 2815(d) of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 
     106-65).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
McEachin) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2582, introduced by the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. 
Love), seeks to resolve an ongoing standoff between the State of Utah 
and the Bureau of Land Management over statehood-era land grants to 
promote responsible land management and enable the United States to 
fulfill its commitments to provide land for the support of Utah's 
higher education system.
  Since 1998, the Bureau of Land Management has cited an administrative 
technicality to favor land exchanges over State selections of land, 
which has held up the State of Utah's selection of roughly 500 acres of 
Bureau of Land Management land classified for disposal.
  The land in question has been selected by the State for the benefit 
of Utah State University, and this bill makes it clear that State 
selections are equally acceptable as land exchanges and would confirm 
that the Bureau of Land Management may process the State's current 
selection as well as future State selections in the immediate area.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2582 authorizes the Bureau of Land Management to 
process the State of Utah's land claims without amending existing 
planning documents.
  The Utah State Enabling Act of 1894 authorized the State of Utah to 
select certain lands to support schools and other public purposes. 
Approximately 2,000 acres of authorized grants are unfilled.
  In 1998, the State started the application to acquire 440 acres of 
land in Utah County, Utah, to support Utah State University. BLM 
eventually rejected the application because the lands are identified 
for disposal by exchange, which only allows BLM to convey the land 
under certain conditions.
  This bill allows the agency to process these specific claims without 
updating the underlying planning documents, something that would take a 
significant amount of time and money. BLM testified in support of this 
legislation but requested an amendment to clarify that the lands will 
be used for Utah State University and the addition of a legislative 
map.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. 
Love), the State of Utah, and the Republican Committee staff for 
working with us to address these concerns. Thanks to their 
consideration, we were able to amend this bill in markup to address 
these concerns.
  There are many fights over public lands in this country, but this 
does not have to be one of them. Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and 
urge its adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she 
may consume to the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love).
  Mrs. LOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from both sides of the 
aisle for supporting this legislation.
  More than 120 years ago, the Utah Enabling Act, which enabled my 
State--now the greatest State in the country--to be admitted into the 
Union, was approved. This granted Utah the right to select acreage to 
support various public institutions, including public schools and 
universities. Now, 123 years later, much of the acreage made available 
for State selection remains outstanding.
  The BLM's Pony Express Resource Management Plan governs management 
practices for public lands in Utah's Tooele, Utah, and Salt Lake 
Counties. It has identified thousands of acres within the plan's area 
as available for disposal. The State can presently obtain these lands 
via land exchange. However, the resource management plan does not 
explicitly state that these lands can be obtained using the unfulfilled 
land credits granted by the Utah Enabling Act.

                              {time}  1730

  My bill, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act, would 
simply amend the Pony Express RMP to allow the State of Utah to use 
outstanding land grant credits to obtain lands within the limited area 
of RMP that already has been identified available for disposal.
  This solution would satisfy both the State and Federal Government and 
help to keep the promises made to the State of Utah for more than 120 
years. More importantly, it would ultimately raise funds for the 
benefit of Utah students by allowing Utah's School and Institutional 
Trust Lands Administration, SITLA, to manage these lands for the 
benefit of students. As Utah finds more ways to fund public schools and 
public education, this bill helps provide much-needed resources.
  Notably, the passage of H.R. 2582 would not convey any land on its 
own. Existing conveyance processes would still apply.
  Additionally, my bill does not dictate land use policies once the 
land is conveyed. As a former mayor, I respect the State and local 
officials and processes, and I certainly have no desire to supersede 
them. My bill is merely meant to facilitate the process that enables 
conveyance through the use of available selection credits. It was voted 
out of committee by unanimous consent, and I urge this body to show 
similar support today.
  Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the gentlewoman from 
Utah that the only reason that she can suggest that Utah is the 
greatest State in the Nation is because Virginia is a Commonwealth.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, being from the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2582, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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