Franks: Administration Must Not Bypass Congress to Seize Control of State Lands
February 24, 2010 - Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) today released the following statement regarding a recently-publicized internal document from the Department of the Interior that lists fourteen areas in the Western United States, including a site in Arizona, that could potentially be designated as national monuments:
"As recently as the Clinton Administration, we have witnessed what can happen when the 1906 Antiquities Act is abused. In 1996, President Clinton used the act to bypass Congress and designate a huge tract of land in Utah as a national monument, thereby putting the land under federal purview and essentially wresting control of the land from the state. He did all of this without consulting any of the citizens, localities, or leaders in the affected regions.
"The revelation that the Department of the Interior is circulating memos regarding the possibility of taking over yet more state land, potentially including a huge region of Arizona, raises red flags that the Obama Administration might be looking to follow in the footsteps of the Clinton Administration by completely bypassing the legislative process and seizing control of state lands without so much as seeking feedback from the locals affected by the decision."
