Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Madam Chairwoman, I rise today in support of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act.

I would first like to thank my colleagues and friends from the Colorado delegation, Congressman Joe Neguse, and Senator Michael Bennet, for their dedicated, hard work on this important bill.

Colorado is home to 4 national parks, 41 State parks, 960 wildlife species, and 6,000 miles of rivers. From hiking, to camping and skiing with my family, including my two children, who I am proud to say are fifth-generation Coloradans, I know that among the most important aspects of the Colorado way of life are the beautiful places where we live, work, and play.

But we must act quickly to ensure that Colorado's many national treasures are protected for our children, our grandchildren, and the generations to come.

The CORE Act will help us accomplish this by providing permanent protections for over 400,000 acres of Colorado's public lands. It unites and builds on many prior efforts by protecting four iconic landscapes in one single, all-encompassing conservation bill for all of Colorado.

As an Army veteran, I am also thrilled to highlight the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, whose members trained at historic Camp Hale and fought valiantly in World War II. At the peak of the war, Camp Hale housed as many as 14,000 soldiers. They were trained in skiing, snowshoeing, mountain climbing, cold-weather survival skills, and winter combat to prepare themselves for the Alpine warfare that awaited them in northern Italy.

In 1945, they broke through German mountain defenses, drawing forces away from other theaters and playing a critical role in winning World War II.

Many of them came back afterward to help build Colorado's outdoor recreation industry that we now know, love, and cherish today.

By passing this bill, we honor the 10th Mountain Division's legacy and the sacrifices of those soldiers by designating over 28,000 acres of land that constitutes Camp Hale as the Nation's first-ever National Historic Landscape.

This measure ensures that people of all ages can recreate on the Camp Hale lands, walk in the footsteps of those soldiers who trained there, and protect the site for future generations so that history and legacy will live on.

I am honored to work with my delegation colleagues on this effort. The CORE Act is a once-in-a-generation protection of lands to hand to our kids and grandkids so that they can continue to love Colorado as much as we do.

I urge all Members to vote in favor of this bill.
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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today to highlight the Colorado Army National Guard's High- Altitude Aviation Training Site, or HAATS, a program that all members of the Colorado delegation value deeply and support.

HAATS offers a hands-on experience for helicopter pilots in the science of flying at high altitudes where air pressure is significantly lower, and engines run hotter. Learning these skills is critical to successfully execute military operations and rescue missions in mountain terrain.

Each year HAATS trains over 400 air crews from all branches and components, including the National Guard, the Army, Army Reserves, and allies around the globe.

As a combat veteran, I served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, two of which were in Afghanistan where the terrain is rugged, unforgiving, and high altitude. The pilots with whom I served received HAATS training. Their skill, composure under pressure, and dedication is worthy of our praise.

With this amendment we honor the HAATS mission and recognize how crucial that mission is to our national security and the readiness of our Armed Forces.

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the comments of my friend from Colorado. This is certainly an example of the Colorado delegation working together, talking and collaborating, trying to figure out the best path forward for our State and the interests of all of our districts.

This is an issue, as I talked about earlier, that is very personal to me. I served in Afghanistan, and like I mentioned earlier, the pilots with whom I served received this critical training. My life and the life of my soldiers relied on this training being conducted and the important mission that HAATS performs every year for all of our services.

But I also learned something else in the Army that--and you don't have to take my word for it--one of the best ways to get information, the best way to figure out what the soldiers and the troops need, is you talk to the folks on the ground, you talk to the folks on the front line.

Mr. Chair, I applaud the work of Senator Bennet and my very good friend and colleague Congressman Joe Neguse for doing just that, reaching out to our military commanders.

I want to read, very briefly, a letter that was sent to them by Major General Michael Loh, who not only is a pilot but is the commander of the Colorado National Guard. He said:

I am writing to express the support of the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs for the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act through the diligent efforts of staff within the department, the offices of the bill's sponsors, and the Department of Defense, who have mitigated prior concerns related to military overflight of the potential wilderness areas identified in the bill.

That is our commander. That is our top commander of the Colorado National Guard that manages this facility, the pilots, and the training that occurs, saying: Thank you. You did your work. The delegation reached out. You have mitigated our concerns. Move forward.

What else do we need other than that word of our commanders? Joe Neguse and Michael Bennet worked very hard to make sure they were addressing the concerns, and we should take their word for it, not ours.

Mr. Chair, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), my friend.

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chair, in closing, I would like to stress again the importance of honoring HAATS and its critical mission.

In July, I was pleased to join 416 of my colleagues, including Mr. Tipton, in voting for an amendment that has language that we can all get behind.

Again, I reiterate the fact that you don't have to take anyone's word for it sitting here having this debate tonight. The commanders on the ground, the people managing this facility, managing the pilots, in fact, the pilot himself with the responsibility to make sure that this mission has to go forward, have blessed this effort and said that their concerns are mitigated and that they are happy to support this effort.

So we, I think, owe it to our generals, to our soldiers, and to our troops to defer to their better judgment on this because they know this better than we do.

Mr. Chair, I am very happy to support this amendment, and I urge all others to support it.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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