Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. National Defense

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of my amendment to add the first six titles of the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act and, also, Congresswoman Leger Fernandez's bill to protect the Cerro de la Olla in her State to this year's NDAA bill.

Taken together, this amendment will preserve more than 1.6 million acres of public land across Colorado, California, Washington, and New Mexico and will add more than 1,000 miles of river to the national wild and scenic rivers system.

Preserving these pristine, untouched wilderness lands is about more than just protecting our environment. It is about protecting our economy, our way of life, and ensuring our Nation's top military pilots have the space they need to train.

Among the areas that would be protected under this measure are some of our Nation's most important military training grounds, including the high altitude aviation training sites in Colorado where some of our Nation's most elite helicopter pilots train to take on some of the harshest environments anywhere on this planet.

The areas to be protected under this amendment also play a key role in combating the climate crisis which the Pentagon itself has deemed a preeminent threat to our national security.

The designations in this bill were not drawn from a hat. They are the product of decades of work, and that is why this amendment has widespread support from every single area where that is included in this bill. That is why this Chamber has taken steps to pass it not once, not twice, but four times now in just the past 2 years alone including as a part of last the 2 years' NDAA bills.

Taking on the fight against the climate crisis and ensuring our Nation's military pilots have the space they need to train for some of the world's most difficult environments is something all of us should be behind.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, let me just clear up a few of the pieces of misinformation that have come out about this bill tonight. The first one is that the HAT, the high-altitude training I talked about which is used by the military, is not supported by pilots.

Actually, the Colorado National Guard has issued a statement of support of this legislation because we do protect those training areas, and it is very important--it has been important ever since Afghanistan--to do that.

The second thing I want to talk about is that all of the economic studies have shown that more wilderness actually creates more jobs. So for people who are in rural communities in remote areas, when there is wilderness around them, the growing and new economy in the West is for more jobs in recreation and other industries.

Last but not least, the portion of this bill that is in my State of Colorado, the Colorado Wilderness Act, which is my bill, is about 660,000 acres. Those acres are almost all currently wilderness study areas. All the wilderness study areas are currently managed by the BLM as if they are wilderness.

These claims that are being made that there are going to be new fires, that there are going to be new problems, that is simply not true. We are taking something that has been a reality in those areas for 40 years and simply making it permanent so that our children and our grandchildren can enjoy those wonderful areas, so that we can stimulate the recreation economy, and so that we can protect those lands for preservation and for helping to address the climate issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source