Speeches

Protecting Religious Freedom

Jun 18, 2020

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.

The Great American Outdoors Act Process is Broken

Jun 11, 2020

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.

Floor Remarks Against Permanent Land Acquisition

Jun 9, 2020

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.

Two Deaths, One Path to Unity

Jun 8, 2020

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.