Concurrent Resolution on the Budget, Fiscal Year 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, Senator Sullivan and I have come
together to move forward on this amendment. It provides a spending-
neutral reserve fund for the sale, transfer or exchange of Federal
lands to State and local governments.

I want to make sure that folks understand. This is not selling any
land by itself. Only subsequent legislation can do that. It would
require us to come back, just as we do now, with exchanges,
conveyances, and sales, to move the legislation through.

What we have done is we have made sure that all lands that are
included within national parks, national preserves, and national
monuments are excluded so there can be no effort to purchase or
exchange there.

Our amendment will allow us to craft balanced, bipartisan legislation
to empower States, improve conservation systems, and promote economic
growth.

That is exactly what we did last year, when we moved through the NDAA
with support from 80 Senators for that package.

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