Constituents in Washington’s third district must be scratching their heads after reading a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler that both misleads them about and defends anti-public lands legislation in Congress, following the launch of a new PUBLIC (Protecting the USA’s Beautiful Lands in Congress) Lands Campaign by Western Values Project Action that seeks to hold the Congresswoman accountable on the issue of public lands and national monuments.
This week, Western Values Project Action released a poll showing that by a nearly two-to-one margin (62 percent oppose with only 32 percent support), Rep. Herrera Beutler’s constituents oppose President Trump’s executive orders to cut roughly two million acres from two Utah national monuments. The polling follows a print advertisement that asked the Congresswomen to commit to protecting public lands last week.
In response, Rep. Herrera Beutler’s office released a statement attacking Western Values Project Action, defending her anti-public lands record, and misleading the public about anti-public lands legislation currently making its way through Congress.
“It is insulting to her constituents that Rep. Herrera Beutler thinks that she can repeat falsehoods and mistruths in responding to the largest reduction of public land protections in history. It’s clear that folks in her district are seeing right through her beltway talking points,” said Chris Saeger, executive director of Western Values Project Action. “Herrera Beutler has a choice: she can continue to dance around the issue and run from her anti-public lands, anti-public access record or tell people where she stands on these two bills.”
Specifically, Rep. Herrera Beutler falsely claimed that “she’s always worked to protect public lands,” when in fact, she’s taken multiple votes to block the president from designating public lands with national monuments, weaken the president’s authority to designate public land protections, cut funding for public lands access programs and enable the transfer of public lands to private ownership.
She also claimed that two anti-public lands bills currently under consideration in Congress – H.R. 4532 and H.R. 3990 – do nothing to scale back national monuments or threaten access to public lands. To the contrary, H.R. 4532 would codify President Trump’s over 85 percent reduction of Bears Ears National Monument and H.R. 3990would eviscerate the Antiquities Act, a move that would allow current and future presidents to eliminate protections of designated national monuments without congressional approval.
“Last week, the Representative falsely claimed that no bill in Congress would put protections for public lands at risk. This week, she repeated untruthful talking points instead of reading the legislation and doing what’s right for her district,” said Saeger.
Listen to her response to the campaign at a tele-town hall meeting here.
REPRESENTATIVE JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER’S ANTI-PUBLIC LANDS RECORD HURTS WASHINGTON’S 3RD:
After Western Values Project Action launched a radio and television ad campaign calling on Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to stop attacks on public lands related to national monument protections and the Antiquities Act, Herrera Beutler said that she would “oppose in the strongest terms any attempt to, as the ad campaign states, ‘gut protections for monuments and parks.'” [Katy Sword, “TV ad pits Herrera Beutler against voters,” The Columbian, 12/14/17]
Herrera Beutler then went on a local conservative radio show to attack Western Values Project Action, saying the ad was “doublespeak and disingenuous, to be generous.” She defended President Trump’s reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, saying Trump was “really listening to the Utah members and voters when he did what he did. It’s still public land.” [“LISTEN: Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler – Under Attack for Her Stance On National Monuments,” The Lars Larson Show, 12/21/17 (02:25)]
PROTECTING PUBLIC LANDS:
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted to stop the president from using the Antiquities Act to designate new national monuments.
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in February 2011, voted for an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Appropriations bill to block “the president from using the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate national monuments.” The amendment failed 209 to 213, with 209 Republicans and five Democrats voting for it, and 34 Republicans and 179 Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 139, CQ, 02/19/11, and Darren Goode, “EPA fight heads to Senate,” Politico, 02/19/11]
In July 2016, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted against an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill “to scratch a rider” on the underlying bill that would stop the president “from turning more federal lands into new national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act.” The amendment failed 202 to 225, with 19 Republicans and 183 Democrats voting for the amendment, and 223 Republicans and two Democrats voting against it. Environmental groups “denounced the national monuments provision” of the underlying bill. [House Roll Call Vote 437, CQ, 07/13/16, and “APPROPRIATIONS: Democrats fail to block Interior-EPA energy, monument riders,” Energy & Environment, 07/13/16]
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for an amendment to block the presidential declaration of new national monuments in certain counties of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in July 2015, voted for an amendment offered by Cresent Hardy to the Fiscal Year 2016 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, to “forbid federal money from being spent on presidential proclamations creating monuments in counties in California, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado as well as Nevada.” Democratic lawmakers said that the amendment would “‘undermine conservation'” and environmental organizations referred to the amendment as “‘one more step toward the Cliven Bundy agenda'” that would “‘gut'” the Antiquities Act. The amendment passed 222-206, with 221 Republicans and one Democrat voting for it, and 21 Republicans and 185 Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 409, CQ, 07/08/15, “APPROPRIATIONS: Interior-EPA bill nears final vote, picks up national monument amendment,” Energy & Environment, 07/09/15, Steve Tetreault, “Nevada expected to get new national monument Friday,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 07/09/15, Brian Maffly, “U.S. House proposes blocking national monument designation in 3 Utah counties,” Salt Lake Tribune, 07/09/15]
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted to modify the Antiquities Act by adding “new requirements… to require presidential designations to undergo reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)” and to “limit presidential designations to one per state in a four-year term.”
In March 2014, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for the “Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of a National Monument Act,” a bill to “add new requirements under the Antiquities Act to require presidential designations to undergo reviews under” NEPA and to “limit presidential designations to one per state in a four-year term.” Environmental groups called the legislation “‘ill-conceived,'” and warned that it “would hamper a president’s ability to move swiftly to protect natural wonders and historic sites.” The bill passed 222 to 201, with 219 Republicans and three Democrats voting for it and 10 Republicans and 191 Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 147, CQ, 03/26/14, Richard Simon, “House leads push to limit Obama’s right to designate protected sites,” Orlando Sentinel, 03/31/14, Phil Taylor, “NATIONAL MONUMENTS: House approves GOP bill rolling back presidential powers,” Energy & Environment, 03/27/14, HR 1459, CQ, 113th Congress, and Pete Kasperowicz, “House votes to curb White House authority on national monuments,” The Hill, 03/26/14]
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for an amendment to “require the president to gain approval of a state’s governor and legislature before designating a national monument.”
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in April 2012, voted for an amendment to H.R. 4089, The Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, to “require the president to gain approval of a state’s governor and legislature before designating a national monument,” which would “handcuff the president’s ability to designate new national monuments.” The amendment passed 223 to 198 with 216 Republicans and 7 Democrats voting for it and 21 Republicans and 177 Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 162, CQ, 04/17/12, and Phil Taylor, “PUBLIC LANDS: House passes bill promoting sportsmen, blocking new monuments,” E&E, 04/18/12]
TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LANDS:
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in 2015, voted against an amendment to block “transfers of public land to private ownership.” The amendment “would have prohibited the Department of Interior from large-scale disposal of federal lands.”
In July 2015, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted against an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill introduced by Jared Polis to block “transfers of public land to private ownership.” The amendment “would have prohibited the Department of Interior from large-scale disposal of federal lands.” The amendment failed 192 to 237, with eight Republicans and 184 Democrats voting for it and 235 Republicans and two Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 403, CQ, 07/08/15, “APPROPRIATIONS: House votes to halt EPA’s crackdown on ozone pollution,” Energy & Environment, 07/08/15, and Tom Kuglin, “Zinke votes to prohibit federal land sales or transfer,” Daily Inter Lake, 07/09/15]
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in 2016 and 2017, voted against amendments to block “transferring federal land to private parties.”
In July 2016, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted against an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill to prohibit pursuing “transferring federal land to private parties.” Democratic lawmaker Jared Polis, who introduced the amendment, described the amendment as “a choice… to vote on whether we want to keep our public lands public or not.” The amendment failed 188 to 239, with 182 Democrats and 6 Republicans voting for it, and 237 Republicans and 2 Democrats voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 473, CQ, 07/14/16, “Both sides claim victories in Interior-EPA debate,” Energy & Environment, 07/14/16, and “DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2017,” Congressional Record, 07/13/16]
Jaime Herrera Beutler, in September 2017, voted against an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations bill to block “‘extra-legal’ ways to transfer [federal] public lands to private owners against existing law.” Democratic lawmaker Jared Polis, who introduced the amendment, described voting for the amendment as a way to “support the protection of our public lands” and as a way to fight the “real attempts that are made…to transfer our most precious public lands to private ownership.” The amendment failed 198 to 212, with 13 Republicans and 185 Democrats voting for it, and 211 Republicans and one Democrat voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 491, CQ, 09/13/17, “APPROPRIATIONS: House OKs amendments against methane rule, carbon metric,” Energy & Environment, 09/13/17, and “DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018,” Congressional Record, 09/08/17]
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted to prohibit the Congressional Budget Office from taking into account the federal revenue lost from activities such as “energy production, logging, recreation or other uses” when it calculates the cost of a piece of land transfer legislation. Proponents said the provision was a way to make it easier for “non-controversial land transfers between governmental entities” to take place, while environmental groups argued that the provision hid “the cost of stealing away our public lands,” and “ripp[ed] off American taxpayers in the process.”
In January 2017, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for a provision in a House rules package that would “make it easier for members of the new Congress” to transfer federal control of public lands to “state or local government agencies.” The provision “changed the way Congress calculates the cost of transferring federal lands to the states and other entities” by prohibiting the Congressional Budget Office “from taking into account lost federal revenue from energy production, logging, recreation or other uses” when it decides whether land transfer legislation is “revenue-neutral or would contribute to the federal deficit.” Currently, if lawmakers want to transfer federal land to “a state, local government or tribe,” they have to account for how much the loss of revenue created by recreational and other activities will cost the federal government. A spokesperson for the House Natural Resources Committee defended the provision by saying that these “current budget practices” make it “very difficult” for “non-controversial land transfers between governmental entities” to take place. However, environmental groups called the move a “wholesale giveaway” of public lands, and argued that the provision hid “the cost of stealing away our public lands,” and “ripp[ed] off American taxpayers in the process.” The rules package passed 234-193, with 234 Republicans and no Democrats voting for it, and 190 Democrats and three Republicans voting against it. [Timothy Cama, “House GOP moves to ease federal land transfers,” The Hill, 01/03/17, Juliet Eilperin, “House GOP rules change will make it easier to sell off federal land,” Washington Post, 01/03/17, Center for Western Priorities, Press Release, 01/03/17, “H. Res. 5,” United States House of Representatives, 115th Congress, and House Roll Call Vote 6, CQ, 01/03/17]
ACCESS:
Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for an amendment to “strip $35 million” from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
In February 2011, Jaime Herrera Beutler voted for an amendment introduced by Cynthia Lummis to the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Appropriations bill to “strip $35 million in Land and Water Conservation Fund money.” The Land and Water Conservation Fund “empowers federal agencies to acquire land for preservation,” and has been described by Democratic lawmakers as a government program that “‘really benefits all Americans, does not use taxpayer dollars, and receives the overwhelming support of the Nation.'”
The amendment failed 213 to 216, with 207 Republicans and six Democrats voting for it, and 32 Republicans and 184 Republicans voting against it. [House Roll Call Vote 61, CQ, 02/16/11, Elana Schor, “CONTINUING RESOLUTION: Land conservation money survives, but some EPA water funds cut,” Energy & Environment, 02/17/11, and “FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011,” Congressional Record, 02/16/11]
Jaime Herrera Beutler “doesn’t support permanent reauthorization for” the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
In 2015, Jaime Herrera Beutler said that she “doesn’t support permanent reauthorization for the [Land and Water Conservation] fund,” but “she is in favor of ensuring the fund remains intact. Herrera Beutler said she will continue to push for its use on ‘projects that are supported by the local community and maintain the forest management and recreational roles of the land,’ she said.” [Eric Florip and Lauren Dake, “Sun sets on land, water fund,” The Columbian, 10/02/15]