Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on five bills focused on streamlining regulations and addressing federal estate management. Subcommittee Chairman Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) issued the following statement in response:

“The bills before the Federal Lands Subcommittee today will reduce the federal footprint, cut bureaucratic red tape, and help close the digital divide. House Republicans remain committed to commonsense legislation that decreases the size of the federal estate to empower those who know how best to manage their lands – local communities.”

Background 

Poor management of the vast federal estate leads to depressed local economies, lack of access to public lands, and increasingly degraded landscapes – from wildfires, overgrowth, and failing infrastructure. Likewise, duplicative and unnecessary federal regulations continue to hamper projects to provide broadband to rural communities. 

Today's hearing was necessary to discuss new innovative and creative legislative ideas to better manage the federal estate and remove impediments blocking efforts to close the digital divide. From rural, Western towns to tropical territories, there is a clear and overwhelming need to control the size of the federal estate to address skyrocketing deferred maintenance and concerns from local stakeholders.

Committee Republicans are committed to empowering local communities and jumpstarting rural economies through solutions that will reduce the federal footprint and cut red tape implemented by unelected D.C. bureaucrats.