Stop the Obama Land Grab

1996 may seem like a long time ago, but as I travel the state of Utah, I discover that the anger over former President Bill Clinton’s 1.9 million acre land grab is still white hot.

That was when, with the stroke of a pen, President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which locked up the largest source of clean burning coal in the world. The president’s irresponsible action deprived Utah’s schoolchildren of billions of dollars in funding because the coal deposits were located on school trust lands.

I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Utah’s congressional delegation had heard rumblings that the president was considering this outrageous action, but just days earlier, the administration assured us that no action was imminent. Then, soon after, President Clinton announced the creation of the monument at a press conference in Arizona. He had neither the decency nor the courage to face the people of Utah directly as he stole their livelihood out from under them without ever receiving input from residents and officials of our state.

This week, I discovered the Obama administration is possibly attempting to repeat history. I am outraged that President Obama is considering rolling over Utah with new monuments that would potentially lock up lands and resources, and increase the power of the federal government. Governor Herbert has received direct assurances from the Obama’s Interior Secretary that no action is imminent, but this time, we’re not taking any chances.

I have introduced legislation in the Senate that would exempt Utah from the Antiquities Act, which was the executive power used President Clinton back in 1996 to shut out Utahns and Congress and unilaterally designate a national monument. My bill would protect Utah from a president who is more interested in placating a environmentalists than he is in listening and respecting the wishes of the people of Utah.

Let the President know where you stand. Please sign the petition on my website to add your voice to the growing number of Utahns who refuse to stand idly by and let the president defy the wishes of the public when it comes to their public lands. You can also sign up to run as a Bennett delegate at your upcoming caucus meetings so I can continue this fight on your behalf.

We have to stop President Obama and keep Utah’s public lands out of the hands of a bloated federal government. We can’t wait to engage in this battle – the fight is now.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Campaign Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.