The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“House of Representatives” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Daily Digest section on pages D168-D170 on Feb. 26.
The Department oversees more than 500 million acres of land. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the department has contributed to a growing water crisis and holds many lands which could be better managed.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
House of Representatives
Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 54 public bills, H.R. 1391-
1444; and 12 resolutions, H.J. Res. 28; H. Con. Res. 20-21; and H. Res. 167-175 were introduced.
Pages H855-59
Additional Cosponsors:
Pages H860-61
Report Filed: A report was filed today as follows:
H. Res. 166, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1319) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 5 (H. Rept. 117-8).
Page H855
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein she appointed Representative Cuellar to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
Page H735
Recess: The House recessed at 10:23 a.m. and reconvened at 10:33 a.m.
Page H757
Colorado Wilderness Act of 2021: The House passed H.R. 803, to designate certain lands in the State of Colorado as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, by a yea-and-nay vote of 227 yeas to 200 nays, Roll No. 45. Consideration began yesterday, February 25th.
Pages H737-57, H757-61
Rejected the Westerman motion to recommit the bill to the Committee on Natural Resources by a yea-and-nay vote of 204 yeas to 221 nays, Roll No. 44.
Pages H760-61
Agreed to:
Neguse en bloc amendment No. 1 consisting of the following amendments printed in part B of H. Rept. 117-6: Barragan (No. 1) that adds the Outdoors for All Act to the bill, which codifies the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program; the ORLP program provides grants for outdoor recreational opportunities in urban and low-income cities across the nation; Brown (No. 2) that encourages the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure servicemembers and veterans have access to these public lands for outdoor recreation and wellness programs; DeFazio (No. 4) that adds the Southwestern Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act of 2021 to the bill, which withdraws certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geo-thermal leasing laws; DeSaulnier (No. 5) that adds the Rosie the Riveter National Historic Site Expansion Act to the bill, which marks a local historic site at the Nystrom Elementary School, as part of the Rosie the Riveter/ World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California; Garamendi (No. 6) that makes a minor boundary adjustment of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area to include approximately 62 acres of adjacent publicly owned land encompassing: the decommissioned United States Army Reserve Center (now owned by the City of Rio Vista, CA); U.S. Coast Guard Station Rio Vista; Beach Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant (City of Rio Vista); and Sandy Beach County Park (Solano County, CA); Keating (No. 10) that extends the life of the Cape Cod National Sea-shore Advisory Commission, which Advises the Superintendent of the Seashore about the communities needs, until 2028; Lieu (No. 12) that adds the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act to the bill, which directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the coastline and adjacent areas to the Santa Monica Bay from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance Beach, including the areas in and around Ballona Creek and Baldwin Hills and the San Pedro section of Los Angeles, excluding the Port of Los Angeles north of Crescent Avenue; McEachin (No. 13) that adds the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act to the bill, which requires a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating areas within Virginia and North Carolina as a National Heritage Area; McKinley (No. 14) that adds the National Heritage Area Act of 2021 to the bill, which establishes a system of national heritage areas (NHAs) and brings uniformity to the way NHAs are designated, managed, and assessed and provides Congress the ability to conduct oversight of the program; O'Halleran (No. 18) that adds the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Boundary Modification Act of 2021, which modifies the boundary of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument by transferring approximately 11.21 acres to the Park Service and approximately 3.5 acres to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; allows the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain lands from willing sellers, donors, or through exchange and enter into cooperative agreements with the State of Arizona for the cooperative management of certain lands; O'Halleran (No. 19) that adds the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Boundary Adjustment Act to the bill, which transfers approximately 97.7 acres from the Forest Service to the Sunset Crater National Monument; these lands include an NPS visitor, an NPS administrative facility, and a portion of the key access road to the Monument; Panetta (No. 20) that stipulates that nothing in this Act may be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture under section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act to manage for fire, insects, and diseases in wilderness areas designated; Pingree (No. 21) that includes the York River in Maine in the National Park Service's Wild and Scenic River System; Plaskett (No. 22) that adds the St. Croix National Heritage Area Act to the bill, which designates a National Heritage Area for the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, pursuant to a congressionally-directed feasibility study completed by the National Park Service in September, 2010, and consistent with the procedures traditionally laid out for such heritage area site designations as last enacted in the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act; Pocan (No. 23) that makes Wisconsin's Ice Age National Scenic Trail a unit of the National Park System administered by the Secretary of the Interior; Spanberger (No. 24) that adds specified additional lands in the George Washington National Forest (a part of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky) to the Rough Mountain Wilderness and the Rich Hole Wilderness; and Tlaib (No. 28) that incorporates the Environmental Justice in Recreational Permitting Act into the bill, which requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to complete an interagency report on the use of special recreation permits by recreation service providers serving environmental justice communities (by a yea-and-nay vote of 229 yeas to 198 nays, Roll No. 41); and
Pages H737-48, H757-58
Curtis amendment (No. 3 printed in part B of H. Rept. 117-6) that requires a study to determine if any land withdrawn by this legislation contains geothermal resources, or minerals needed for battery storage, renewable energy technology, or electric vehicles (by a yea-and-nay vote of 221 yeas to 205 nays, Roll No. 42).
Pages H748-50, H758-59
Rejected:
Neguse en bloc amendment No. 2 consisting of the following amendments printed in part B of H. Rept. 117-6: Gosar (No. 7) that sought to exclude lands in the 4th Congressional District of Arizona from the permanent mineral withdrawal under this Act; Gosar (No. 8) that sought to delay the permanent mineral withdrawal under the Act until the Secretary of the Interior completes a mineral survey of proposed withdrawal area (including uranium, rare earth elements, geothermal resources and oil and natural gas) and determines there are no mineral resources, geo-thermal resources, or critical minerals present other than uranium; Herrell (No. 9) that sought to strike all ``Potential Wilderness'' designations in the bill; Lamborn (No. 11) that sought to ensure that nothing in the bill would affect the establishment, access, operation, or maintenance of transmission right-of-ways; Moore (UT)
(No. 15) that sought to state that no wilderness or potential wilderness designation under this Act shall be effective in any county where the county has not formally approved such designation; Newhouse
(No. 16) that sought to state that this Act shall not take effect until the Secretary of the Interior certifies that no renewable energy jobs have been loss as a result of this Act; Newhouse (No. 17) that sought to state that nothing in this Act shall prohibit development of new renewable hydro-electric energy and associated transmission lines and rights of way within the wild and scenic designations, wilderness designations, or wilderness study area designations under this Act; Stauber (No. 25) that sought to require approval of local counties before mineral withdrawal can take place; Stauber (No. 26) that sought to state that this Act shall not apply to any lands or waters in Colorado's Third and Fifth Congressional Districts or any lands, waters, or minerals in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District; Stauber (No. 27) that sought to state that this Act shall not apply to any lands or waters in Colorado's Third Congressional District; and Westerman (No. 29) that sought to allow the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior to exempt any wilderness or potential wilderness designated under this Act that does not meet the definition of wilderness under the Wilderness Act (by a yea-and-nay vote of 197 yeas to 226 nays, Roll No. 43).
Pages H750-57, H759-60
H. Res. 147, the rule providing for consideration of the bills (H.R. 803) and (H.R. 5) was agreed to Wednesday, February 24th.
Recess: The House recessed at 2:47 p.m. and reconvened at 8:35 p.m.
Pages H761-62
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: The House passed H.R. 1319, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 5, by a yea-and-nay vote of 219 yeas to 212 nays, Roll No. 49.
Pages H773-H853
Rejected the Hinson motion to recommit the bill to the Committee on the Budget by a yea-and-nay vote of 205 yeas to 218 nays, Roll No. 48.
Pages H852-53
Pursuant to the Rule, the amendment printed in H. Rept. 117-8 shall be considered as adopted.
Page H773
H. Res. 166, the rule providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1319) was agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 219 yeas to 210 nays, Roll No. 47, after the previous question was ordered by a yea-and-nay vote of 217 yeas to 205 nays, Roll No. 46.
Pages H762-73
Agreed that in the engrossment of the bill, the clerk be authorized to make technical corrections and conforming changes.
Page H853
United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly--Appointment: The Chair announced the Speaker's appointment of the following Members on the part of the House to the United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: Representatives Connolly, Sanchez, Larsen (WA), Meeks, Brendan F. Boyle (PA), Vela, Titus, and Turner.
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Migratory Bird Conservation Commission--Appointment: The Chair announced the Speaker's appointment of the following Members on the part of the House to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission: Representatives Thompson (CA) and Wittman.
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Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China--
Appointment: The Chair announced the Speaker's appointment of the following Members on the part of the House to the Congressional-
Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China: Representatives Suozzi, Malinowski, Wexton, Tlaib, Mast, Hartzler, and Steel.
Page H854
United States Holocaust Memorial Council--Appointment: The Chair announced the Speaker's appointment of the following Members on the part of the House to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council: Representatives Deutch, Schneider, Lawrence, Zeldin, and Kustoff.
Page H854
Quorum Calls--Votes: Nine yea-and-nay votes developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H757-58, H758-59, H759-60, H760-61, H761, H772-73, H773, H852-53, and H853.
Adjournment: The House met at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 2:07 a.m.
