[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PUBLIC LANDS BILL

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I appreciate that and thank the Senator.
  Look, we are at the end of the year. Oftentimes in this body, things 
happen at the end of the year that we are not too proud of, but we have 
an opportunity to do something we could be very, very proud of, and 
that is, pass the public lands bill.
  This public lands bill would permanently reauthorize the Land and 
Water Conservation Fund. This is the most effective conservation tool 
we have in this country right now. Whether it is establishing a park in 
one of your cities or towns or setting land aside so we can get better 
access to our public lands, this is a critically important fund that I 
hope we can get done as part of this lands package that is moving 
forward and hopefully will move forward before this Congress ends.
  LWCF--the Land and Water Conservation Fund--has invested over half a 
billion dollars in Montana alone.
  There is another component of this bill that I am particularly fond 
of. It is a bill that will protect Yellowstone Park and the headwaters 
of the Yellowstone River. It is called the Yellowstone Gateway 
Protection Act. It is a simple bill. It is a bipartisan bill. It is a 
bill that will help support the hundreds of small businesses in 
Paradise Valley. And it is called Paradise Valley for a good reason--
because it is paradise, and we need to keep it a paradise by preventing 
large-scale mining in that region.
  I am just asking Congress to act. I am asking my fellow Members, my 
fellow Senators to add some commonsense to the negotiations that are 
moving on here and pass this lands bill because it is critically 
important for our kids and our grandkids.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

                          ____________________