SAVING VAST LANDSCAPES
One of REP’s legislative priorities for 2008 is to have Congress statutorily recognize the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), which incorporates the best of the vast lands and waters managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The NLCS currently exists only by virtue of an administrative memo signed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Any future administration could do away with it just by signing another memo.
The National Landscape Conservation System Act was introduced in both the House and the Senate in 2007. It passed out of committee in both chambers, and on April 9 passed the full House with fifty Republicans voting in support. (See “Proud to Praise ’Em!”)
For a bill that essentially preserves the status quo and has the support of the Bush Administration, it certainly took a lot of effort to get it to this point. Opponents Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Steve Pearce (R-NM) tried every trick in the book to block it.
One of their ploys almost worked. After all the amendments had been voted on—and with these guys actually winning a few—Cannon filed a motion to send the bill back to committee with instructions to clarify that the bill does not infringe on people’s right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Never mind that the bill had nothing whatsoever to do with the right to bear arms. The amendment was a ruse to manufacture an issue hard for members to oppose, especially in an election year. Returning it to committee would have killed the bill due to the nearly impossible time constraints for reporting it back.
The trick scared nineteen Democrats and all but three Republicans into supporting the motion, which failed by only four votes. The three Republicans who stood strong were the bill’s lead GOP sponsor, Mary Bono Mack (CA), and her allies, Dave Reichert (WA) and Wayne Gilchrest (MD). Everybody else took the bait.
The last hurdles are to secure passage in the Senate and ensure that two bad amendments in the House version are not in the final law.
Other national groups working hard with REP on this bill include the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited, American Hiking Society, National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Wilderness Society and Environment America.
The primary opposition group is the radical American Land Rights Association... even though all the lands in question are already owned by the American people.
AGAINST THE WIND
Likewise, REP has joined with a diverse coalition fighting an expansion of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to include wind-damage insurance. A Democrat-sponsored proposal to add wind coverage to NFIP (H.R. 3121) has already passed the House. Senate action is imminent.
REP opposes this because:
- It encourages more building and rebuilding in unsafe and environ-mentally fragile areas.
- It sends the wrong message to communities regarding the environmental impact and danger of living in hazard-prone coastal areas, which may be increasingly vulnerable given the potential impacts of climate change.
- It costs taxpayers billions and unfairly requires taxpayers who live inland to subsidize those who, knowing the hazards, choose to build on risky oceanfront properties.
- It will overwhelm the NFIP, which already has an $18 billion deficit and is struggling to resolve flood claims, manage fraud arising from Hurricane Katrina payouts, and prevent insolvency.
Instead, we believe that taxpayer-funded incentives should discourage risky behavior and focus on actions that will actually reduce future storm damage, such as providing incentives to people who take steps to strengthen or relocate their homes, and raising standards so structures will better withstand natural disasters.
The broad—and rather curious— coalition includes the Association of State Floodplain Managers, Reinsurance Association of America, Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
REP’s media interviews and written comments about this issue have been featured in dozens of media outlets across the nation.
D-DAY ON CLIMATE
Early June is when Senate leaders plan to bring the Warner-Lieberman climate bill—America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191)—to the floor for a vote. It will need sixty votes because Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) will certainly filibuster the bill. If it fails to get sixty votes, we can kiss goodbye Congressional action to address climate change for at least another year.
Fence-sitting senators include:
- Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Robert Byrd (D-WV)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Bob Corker (R-TN)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Judd Gregg (R-NH)
- Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
- Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
- Carl Levin (D-MI)
- Mel Martinez (R-FL)
- Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Mark Pryor (D-AR)
- Gordon Smith (R-OR)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
- Ted Stevens (R-AK)
- John Sununu (R-NH)
- Jim Webb (R-VA)
We will notify REP members via email as this vote approaches. But please contact your senators now
and urge them to support S. 2191.
You can easily do this by going to www.rep.org and clicking on the REP Action Center button.
