Appropriations Committee Passes Gosar-Stewart Amendment Blocking Proposed Grand Canyon Watershed and Sedona Monuments

Press Release

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House Appropriations Committee passed the Gosar-Stewart amendment that blocks the proposed Grand Canyon Watershed and Sedona Monuments while also prohibiting the president from designating new national monuments under the Antiquities Act in other counties where there is significant local opposition, and attached the amendment to the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2017:

"Local communities deserve to have their voice heard before an authoritarian swipe of the pen bars them from even more land. A unilateral declaration of the nearly two million acres in the Grand Canyon Watershed as a new National Monument would kill jobs, undermine 4FRI and seize private water rights. Additionally, this overreach will erode the extensive cooperation and success that federal and state land management agencies in Arizona have achieved to date. The Antiquities Act has been significantly abused by this rogue president and today the House Appropriations Committee took bold action to prevent future executive land grabs throughout the country."

Congressman Chris Stewart (R-UT-02) released the following statement after the amendment passed: "With the passage of this amendment, we are one step closer to preventing any president from creating new national monuments in Utah and in other areas where there is strong opposition. I am a strong supporter of preserving our national treasures, but when dealing with such huge areas of land -- like has been proposed with Bears Ears -- I believe we must have local and congressional input. Using the Antiquities Act as a political weapon is bad policy and furthers the distrust that exists between Americans and the Federal government."

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