[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2490-2491]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              PRINCIPLED STEWARDSHIP OF THE AMERICAN WEST

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, over the past week while I was home in 
Wyoming traveling around our State, I had a chance to talk with 
students about their hopes for the future, and I talked with many small 
business owners about their efforts in trying to create jobs.
  The people of Wyoming work hard and take seriously the Western values 
of family and community. They are committed--they are committed--to 
preserving the West's role in providing natural resources that improve 
the lives of millions of people all across America.
  This commitment is shared by the Senate Western Caucus--a caucus 
which I chair in the Senate--as well as is shared by the Congressional 
Western Caucus under the leadership of Wyoming Congressman Cynthia 
Lummis.
  Recently, we released a joint report titled ``Principled Stewardship 
of the American West.'' This new report has details about specific 
things we should be doing right here in Congress, specific things 
Washington should let the people in the West do for themselves. The 
whole report is available on my Web site, Barrasso.senate.gov.
  Now I want to talk about four specific principles that guide the work 
of the Western Caucus that are contained in this very report. These 
principles are based on the idea that the people who live on the land 
are the best stewards of the land. Our main goal is to empower the 
residents, the workers, and the leaders in the West and local leaders 
throughout the country to make the decisions that best serve their 
families and their communities. These principles stand in stark 
contrast to the failed approach Washington has taken for far too long.
  The first principle in our report has to do with energy. The members 
of the Western Caucus are united. We will promote access to our 
Nation's abundant, affordable, secure, diverse, and reliable energy and 
mineral resources. That means increasing energy security for the United 
States. We can do that by producing more energy responsibly right here 
at home. It also means opening access to international markets so we 
can help the energy security of our allies as well.
  The second principle we talk about in the report ``Principled 
Stewardship of the American West'' focuses on environmental stewardship 
in the West. We take very seriously our commitment to ensuring the 
health of the land, the wildlife, and the environment. Thousands of 
people are working across the West to protect our communities. These 
are people who live in the West, not bureaucrats in Washington, DC. 
Nobody is better qualified than the people who actually walk the land 
and breathe the air they are trying to protect.
  Our report encourages locally led conservation partnerships to build 
on the work being done by people who rely on the health and the safety 
of the land. This means making sure regulators base their decisions on 
science, not on personal ideology, and that their work is done out in 
the open. On this front I will be introducing legislation to stop the 
Environmental Protection Agency's takeover of the waters of the United 
States.
  The third principle in this report focuses on agriculture and 
forestry. As an environmental stewardship, the Western Caucus believes 
the States are better equipped than Washington to develop good farm 
policies. Crops, breeds of livestock, soil types, and the growing 
seasons vary greatly across this country. These factors come together 
in the West very differently from what might be seen in the Northeast 
or in the South. A bureaucrat in Washington simply cannot write 
regulations that cover every part of the country with any hope of 
success. Western States must be allowed to make these decisions for 
themselves to help the farming and ranching way of life continue to 
thrive in America.
  One task we can do at the national level is to promote active 
management of our forests to ensure that our forests remain healthy. As 
many as 82 million acres of our National Forest System need treatment 
to deal with the threats of fire, insects, and invasive species. When 
forests deteriorate, they are more vulnerable to wildfire. Fires cause 
erosion and threaten water quality. When forests get overgrown and 
unhealthy, they stifle habitats critical for deer, elk, wild turkeys, 
and other animals. The members of the Western Caucus know how important 
it is to responsibly manage our national forests, and we will push for 
legislation to make sure that continues to happen.
  Finally, the report focuses on a Western approach to judicial and 
regulatory reform. This includes stopping the lawsuit abuse that 
special interest groups have used to set public policy without the 
public actually being involved. It includes protecting private property 
owners from excessive Washington regulations.
  Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. 
Forest Service have a history of interfering with the use of private 
property. These agencies have fined and bullied landowners throughout 
the West. Too often the goal of the bureaucrats is to protect their own 
turf, not to protect the land or to serve the people. Honest, hard-
working taxpayers get crushed beneath the resources of a Federal legal 
system that operates without oversight. The Western Caucus favors 
conservation through local cooperation and partnership, not through 
intimidation and an attitude that ``Washington knows best.''
  This report's four principles and the ideas it discusses are based on 
what members in the Western Caucus hear back home. These are the topics 
I hear from people as I travel around Wyoming. These principles promote 
responsible energy, food and timber production, while preserving what 
makes the West a unique place in America.
  Last year more than 10 million people from around the world visited 
Wyoming. They are drawn by its beauty and natural splendor. The people 
of Wyoming and all Western States know

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they have a responsibility to manage and protect the land and waters in 
a way that allows all of us to enjoy them. The goal of the Senate and 
Congressional Western Caucus is to preserve and protect everything that 
is special about the West so that families who have lived there for 
generations can continue to live there for generations in the future.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.

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