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Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I rise today also in support of the
Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015. I am honored to be here today with
Senator Murkowski. Idahoans and Alaskans have a lot in common when it
comes to outdoor sporting activities, including hunting and fishing.
Senator Crapo and I were honored to host Senator Murkowski in Idaho.
Although we don't have the acres Alaska has, we certainly have that
diverse environment for hunting and fishing in many different areas of
the State that support and will continue to support both fishing and
game.
This bill is cosponsored by a bipartisan team of Senators who are
committed to advancing the agenda of sportsmen and sportswomen.
Senators Murkowski and Heinrich, along with the leaders of the
Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus--myself and Senator Manchin as the co-
chairmen and Senator Fischer and Senator Heitkamp as the co-vice
chairmen--make up the largest bipartisan caucus in Congress, and we
have diligently labored to craft this bipartisan legislation that is
supported by a broad coalition of sportsmen's groups. Indeed, we have
worked on it substantially more since the first of the year. Last year
we labored over it at great length and were not able to get it across
the finish line, but we are cautiously optimistic this year that we
have hit that right spot where we actually can get this across the
finish line this year.
One provision of this package will encourage States to create and
maintain public shooting ranges. This will promote gun safety by
providing a venue to teach young adults about firearms. These public
ranges can also serve as a place to hold hunter education classes and
can be used as facilities to train police forces.
This bill will also allow any legal gun owner to carry a firearm on
land administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This provision
will require the Army Corps to conform their regulations to align with
local laws related to firearms. I wish to thank my colleague from
Idaho, Senator Mike Crapo, for his hard work and leadership on this
particular issue. I know the sportsmen of Idaho and across the country
are pleased to know that this legislation will allow firearms on Army
Corps land and that it is included in this bipartisan sportsmen's
package.
This bill will also reauthorize the Federal Land Transaction
Facilitation Act, a program that enables the Bureau of Land Management
to sell public land for community development and other projects. This
land-for-land approach creates jobs and generates funding for the BLM
to acquire critical inholdings from willing sellers.
I am also proud to include a provision supported by my colleague from
Wyoming, Senator Mike Enzi, to allow archery equipment to be
transported and possessed in national parks. Archery is one of the
fastest growing sports in America. It should not be illegal to carry a
bow in a national park.
I am happy to work with my colleagues to include this important
provision in this Sportsmen's Act. Whether you hunt or fish to put food
on the table or for sport or to pass down a tradition to your family or
for game-management purposes, there is something in this bill for you.
With more than half a million sportsmen and sportswomen in the State
of Idaho, this legislation will ensure they can continue to access
their favorite hunting or fishing sport. In fact, the number of people
who hunt each year in Idaho would fill Boise State Broncos stadium more
than 6\1/2\ times. Most of you are familiar with that stadium since it
is the only stadium in America that has blue turf, and most everyone
has seen that.
For those of us who hunt and fish, it is difficult to put into words
why this legislation is so important. I ask everyone I talk to about
these issues to encourage and teach youngsters about hunting and
fishing. In Idaho this last year 14,000 kids purchased a junior fishing
license, and approximately 14,000 purchased a junior hunting license.
These numbers could be higher, and they should be higher. It is
important to teach and mentor these future generations--those coming
behind us--about hunting and fishing and to hand down this culture to
them. Hunting and fishing give us a great reason to be in the great
outdoors, a great reason to hand down traditions, and a great reason to
support the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015.
I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work with
this bipartisan coalition we put together, to cosponsor and to work
with us to pass this legislation.
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