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Mike Lee on Environment
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Utah suffers from federal control of 70% of Utah land
Roughly 70% of the land in Utah is owned by the federal government, and therefore cannot be taxed or otherwise regulated by the State. Utah's economy--as well as the State's public education system--suffers as a result.
Much of this suffering is unnecessary. Consistent with Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution, Congress should enact legislation providing that, except where Congress acquires land "by the consent of the
State legislature," federal land within a State is subject to taxation and land-use regulation by the host State. In this and other areas of the law, Congress should not be content to rely on Supreme Court precedent that cannot fairly be reconciled with
the text of the Constitution. If Congress doesn't want federal land to be taxed, it should either (1) acquire such land with the consent of the host State's legislature, or (2) sell the land and use the revenue to pay down the national debt.
Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, leeforsenate.com, "Issues"
, Oct 28, 2011
Rated 20% by HSLF, indicating an anti-animal welfare voting record.
Lee scores 20% by the Humane Society on animal rights issues
112th Mid-Term Humane Scorecard: The Humane Society Legislative Fund has posted the final version of the 2011 Humane Scorecard, where you can track the performance of your federal lawmakers on key animal protection issues during last year. We rated legislators based on their voting behavior on measures such as agribusiness subsidies, lethal predator control, and the Endangered Species Act; their cosponsorship of priority bills on puppy mills, horse slaughter, animal fighting, and chimps in research; their support for funding the enforcement of animal welfare laws; and their leadership on animal protection.
All of the priority bills whose cosponsorships we're counting enjoy strong bipartisan support; in the House, each of the four now has more than 150 cosponsors.
The Humane Scorecard is not a perfect measuring tool, but creating some reasonable yardstick and allowing citizens to hold lawmakers accountable is central to our work. When the Humane Scorecard comes out each year, it helps clarify how the animal protection movement is doing geographically, by party affiliation, and in other categories. It helps us chart our course for animals by seeing where we have been effective, and where we need to improve.
Source: HSLF website 12-HumaneS on Jan 13, 2012
Page last updated: Apr 23, 2013
