Revolutionary War And War Of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act - Motion To Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, earlier this year, the Senate passed S. 22, which is the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, a collection of over 160 bills primarily from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. After a week of debate, the Senate passed S. 22 by a vote of 73 to 21. That vote occurred on January 15.

Unfortunately, the House of Representatives has not yet passed S. 22. In an effort to facilitate consideration of this package of bills in the other body, it is my hope that we will be able to attach the omnibus lands package to another bill that has already passed the House of Representatives and send it back where, hopefully, it can be quickly approved.

As the first step of this process this afternoon, the Senate will vote on whether to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 146, which is the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act. If cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed to that bill, and once we are on that bill, it is my intention to offer a substitute amendment that will essentially substitute the text of S. 22 as passed by the Senate.

In addition to making a few technical corrections to the previously passed bill text, the amendment incorporates one change that was not in the underlying Senate bill when it was previously passed.

Following Senate passage of S. 22, I understand that some Members in the House of Representatives expressed concern that the portion of the bill pertaining to Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Trails and National Heritage Areas might somehow be construed to limit access for authorized hunting, fishing, and trapping activities. While I am confident the Senate bill in no way restricts those activities, in an attempt to make this completely clear, the substitute amendment I will propose to offer, if we are able to do that, adds a provision in title V which covers Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Trails language designations. The new language states that:

Nothing in this title shall be construed as affecting access for recreational activities otherwise allowed by law or regulation, including hunting, fishing, or trapping.

Furthermore:

Nothing in this title shall be construed as affecting the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of the several States to manage, control or regulate fish and resident wildlife under State law or regulations, including the regulation of hunting, fishing, and trapping.

The amendment adds similar language in title VIII, which is the title designating National Heritage Areas. I would like to thank Senator Murkowski, who is the ranking member on the Energy Committee with me in this Congress, and also Senator Crapo, for their assistance with this provision.

With this clarification, I believe all interested parties now agree that the bill is clear that access for recreational hunting, fishing, and trapping is not affected by the river, trail, or heritage area designations.

As we noted before, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act is collectively one of the most significant conservation bills to be considered by the Senate in this past decade. It will result in the addition of over 2 million new acres of the National Wilderness Preservation System. It will designate three new units to the National Park System, and it enlarges the boundaries of several existing parks. It creates a new national monument and three new national conservation areas. It adds over 1,000 new miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and over 2,800 miles of new trails that will be part of the National Trails System. It establishes in law the Bureau of Land Management's National Landscape Conservation System that protects over 1.2 million acres of the Wyoming Range.

In addition, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act authorizes numerous land exchanges and conveyances to help local communities throughout the West. It includes the Forest Landscape Restoration Act, which will help undertake collaborative landscape-scale restoration projects to help reduce both future fire risk and fire-associated costs. It incorporates over 30 bills which will help address critical water resource needs at both the national and local level. It authorizes several studies to help communities better understand their local water supplies and the best way to meet future water needs, and it includes several authorizations for local and regional water projects that enhance water use efficiencies, address water infrastructure needs, and help provide sustainable water supplies to rural communities.

Finally, the bill will ratify three important water settlements--settlements in California, Nevada, and New Mexico. These settlements will resolve literally decades of litigation between the affected States, Indian tribes, agricultural and municipal water users, and environmental interests.

The previous vote on S. 22 was 73 Senators voting to pass the bill--evidence of the strong bipartisan support for this package. Invoking cloture this afternoon on the motion to proceed to H.R. 146 is the first step necessary to move the Omnibus Public Land Management Act toward enactment into law.

In closing, I would like to, of course, thank our majority leader, Senator Reid, for his continued commitment to pass this bill. I urge my colleagues to support invoking cloture on the motion to proceed when we have that vote at 5:30 today.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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