MAJORITY WHIPLINE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019

Floor Schedule and Procedure: 

Under a Rule (3 bills):

H.R. 1373 – Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act (Rep. Grijalva – Natural Resources)

This bill would permanently prohibit new mining claims on approximately 1 million acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. This permanent protection would preserve the sole source of drinking water for many tribal communities, protect the Colorado River watershed from mining impacts, and safeguard a national treasure on which local economies depend.

Click here for a fact sheet on H.R. 1373 from the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:

Lesko Amendment
Specifies the Act shall not become effective until the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, finds that the withdrawal will not adversely affect jobs available to Native Americans, other minorities, and women.

Gosar Amendment #2
Excludes lands in the 4th Congressional District of Arizona from the permanent mineral withdrawal under the Act.

Gosar Amendment #3
Delays permanent mineral withdrawal under the Act until the Secretary of the Interior completes a mineral survey of proposed withdrawal area (including uranium, rare earth elements, geothermal resources and oil and natural gas) and determines there are no mineral resources, geothermal resources, or critical minerals present other than uranium.

H.R. 2181 – Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019 (Rep. Lujan – Natural Resources)

This bill would withdraw lands within a longstanding 10-mile buffer zone around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CHCU). This withdrawal would protect an ancestral site for puebloan and tribal communities and would prevent damage to previously undiscovered cultural resources. CHCU, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a hub of trade and culture for thousands of Ancestral Puebloans from 850-1250 A.D.

Click here for a fact sheet on H.R. 2181 from the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:

Lujan Amendment
Amends a finding to further clarify that this legislation only impacts federal lands and federal minerals and has no impact on valid existing rights, including the development rights of any Indian Tribe or member of an Indian Tribe. 

Gosar Amendment #2
Allows conveyance or exchange of federal land within the Withdrawal Area to or with the State of New Mexico.

Gosar Amendment #3
Delays permanent mineral withdrawal until Secretary of the Interior determines that the withdrawal won’t impact the ability to develop or the economic value of mineral rights held by Native Americans in the withdrawal area or the great Chaco region.

Arrington Amendment
Purports to allow new oil and gas development to continue in areas protected by the bill.

Begin Consideration of H.R. 823 – Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act (Rep. Neguse – Natural Resources)

The bill unites and improves upon earlier proposals to protect roughly 400,000 acres of public lands for the benefit of the people of the United States and for future generations. Of the roughly 400,000 acres protected, over half of the acreage is federal mineral withdrawals, about 73,000 acres are new wilderness areas, and nearly 80,000 acres are designated as recreation, wildlife conservation, and special management areas. Overall, the CORE Act will provide permanent protections for Colorado’s clean air, clean water, wildlife, and public lands while helping to bolster the state’s rapidly growing outdoor recreation economy.

Click here for a fact sheet on H.R. 823 from the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:

Curtis Amendment
States that this bill shall not apply to any lands or waters within the Third Congressional District of Colorado.

Brown Amendment
Adds veteran outreach and engagement activities in the management plan for the Camp Hale Historic Landscape.

Tipton Amendment #3
Adds duplicative language regarding the Curecanti National Recreation Area to restate that nothing in this Act constitutes an express or implied Federal reservation of any water or water rights.

Tipton Amendment #4
Ensures grazing permitted at the time of enactment may continue in Thompson Divide.

Tipton Amendment #5
Would prevent 1,645 acres from being transferred from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service.

Crow Amendment
Reaffirms the critical importance of the Colorado High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (“HAATS”), which the National Guard Bureau has confirmed would not be adversely affected by this bill.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”

Barack Obama