Speeches

Before we break for the Fourth of July recess, I thought it would be important to get the Senate on record condemning the rising tide of mob violence we see across the country, and the increasingly prevalent mob-mentality that is fueling it. The violence struck home for me this week when a constituent of mine was shot after an armed mob surrounded his truck in Provo, Utah.

Madam president, I come to the floor today wanting to discuss a case called June Medical Services v. Russo. This was a decision announced by the Supreme Court yesterday. This is a decision that hasn’t gotten enough attention as many cases that have come before the Supreme Court. It is, nonetheless, a significant decision. It is a decision that I believe is deeply flawed and betrays many of the legal and constitutional principles that the Supreme Court reports to apply and is supposed to be bound by as it decides cases and controversies properly brought before its jurisdiction.

Reserving the right to object, there is a single thread that runs through the Supreme Court’s decision in the Bostock case earlier this week and all the way through the legislation now under discussion on the Senate floor.

It is telling that the bill we’re considering this week, called the Great American Outdoors Act, was written behind closed doors and is now being hermetically sealed, walled off from amendments by the American people’s elected representatives. Forget the theatrics in Seattle – this bill is the real “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” In its current form, it enables the federal government to purchase new lands in perpetuity – without accountability, oversight, or any measures to make sure it can actually care for the land that it owns… perpetuating, and worsening, our already problematic federal lands policy.

To most Americans, the so-called Great American Outdoors Act is a mistake – expensive, short-sighted, and wrong. To those of us who live in the American west, it’s a disaster. Despite its rosy claims, this legislation combines two bills that will only tighten the federal stranglehold on our lands and drive us deeper into debt…. to the detriment of our economy, our environment, and the livelihoods and freedom of the American people.

It is with a heavy but hopeful heart that I rise today, to talk about the death of two Americans last week. One tragedy is tearing our communities apart; the other may show us a path back toward unity. We all know about the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last Monday. There is no excuse for what the police did to Mr. Floyd. His killers are being brought to justice.