[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11654]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1715
            UNCLE SAM OWNS OVER 27 PERCENT OF AMERICAN LAND

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government is hoarding 
American land. The bureaucrats own about 640 million acres of it. That 
is 27 percent of America, larger than all of Western Europe.
  The government cannot afford this massive estate. Notice this map. 
All the red area is what the Federal Government owns. Over half the 
West is owned by the Federal Government.
  Day by day, unused and unmaintained land sits idle. Instead of Uncle 
Sam hoarding this land, the government should consider selling the land 
to Americans. To be clear, I am not talking about selling off national 
parks, monuments, forests, or protected areas--just unused land and 
unmaintained land the government doesn't take care of.
  The revenue from the sales could go toward reducing the debt or 
improving transportation. Plus, the sale of land would help State and 
local governments because new property owners will be paying taxes on 
the land.
  It is time for the Federal Government to let Americans own more of 
America. Does Uncle Sam really need all of this land?
  And that is just the way it is.

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