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National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert

NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on H.R. 146, the vehicle for the “Omnibus Public Land Management Act.”

Despite a frenzied binge of spending amounting to $1.2 trillion in the last few weeks alone, this bill would heap more than $6 billion of brand new expenditures onto the pile, including $900 million in freshly minted entitlements.

The bill includes myriad restrictions on precisely the kind of domestic energy exploration that Americans cried out for last summer. Its provisions would lead to the lock-up of more than 300 million barrels of recoverable oil and 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Wyoming alone. This constitutes mismanagement, not management, of public lands. So does the bill’s proposal to establish more National Heritage Areas, which have come under fire in the past for poor fiscal stewardship. Finally, the legislation is packed with absurd pork projects, such as a botanical garden in Hawaii. Congress should be lightening rather than adding to the crushing burdens of government.

A “NO” vote on H.R. 146, the vehicle for the omnibus lands bill, will be significantly weighted in our annual Rating of Congress.

If you have any questions, please contact
NTU Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan at (703) 683-5700
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