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[Page S1149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
S. 47
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, finally, following the President's call
for unity and bipartisanship in his State of the Union Address earlier
this week, I am glad to see the Senate responding to that call and
taking up legislation that we are currently on that has received broad
bipartisan support in the Senate just today.
Near the end of the last Congress, the Senate and the House reached
an agreement on a package of more than 100 individual lands bills that
received broad bipartisan support. Unfortunately, we ran out of time
and weren't able to get it done, but next week, we will have the
opportunity to vote on this important piece of legislation and send
this bipartisan bill to the President's desk and demonstrate, once
again, to the American people--lest anybody be in doubt--that we are
capable of working together in a bipartisan way in advancing the
interests of the American people.
Throughout my time in the Senate, I have been an advocate for
America's outdoor sporting traditions and commonsense wildlife
conservation policies. Enhancing and expanding sportsmen's access to
Federal lands has been on Congress's to-do list for years, and this
legislation will help make that a reality.
This package includes a series of bipartisan provisions negotiated
over years, which will provide increased opportunities for sportsmen
and sportswomen to utilize Federal lands for hunting and fishing. Those
changes are coupled with additional ones for conserving and enhancing
wildlife habitats to ensure we are protecting these lands for
generations to come.
This legislation also authorizes dozens of land swaps--exchanges--and
conveyances, which will deliver big changes to communities across the
country, including in my State.
For example, the Lake Fannin recreation area was once a thriving
tourist attraction for Texas, but, through the years, it has become
dilapidated due to the inability of the Forest Service to properly do
maintenance.
The county has now developed a comprehensive plan to manage that land
for recreation, and this bill will restore local control to more than
2,000 acres in Fannin County, TX.
This legislation will also protect property owners along the Red
River--the border between Texas and Oklahoma--who have faced
uncertainty following a flawed Bureau of Land Management survey under
the previous administration. This legislation will assure these
landowners that the Federal Government has no rightful claim and will
make no claim to their property.
Again, I look forward to debating this legislation in the coming
days, and I hope we can pass this bill, which will allow for the
responsible development and conservation of land across our country.
I see no Senators seeking the floor, so I yield the floor.
____________________
