Newly elected Rep. John Curtis says President Trump’s decision to dramatically slash the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments just highlights how broken the process of protecting public lands is.
“On the one hand, you have President Obama making a decision that many will agree with, and there’s no doubt many people will disagree with President Trump’s decision,” says Curtis. “I’d like to see us come up with a far more stable way to protect the area. There is a role for Congress to determine how we move forward in managing the area once President Trump makes his decision.”
It appears more and more likely the Senate will pass their tax reform measure this week, setting up a conference between the House and Senate to reconcile the two tax packages before final passage. Curtis says there’s a commitment in Congress to make sure whatever package Congress ultimately approves is the right one.
“This is an important move on the part of Congress and one that will last for decades. There’s a very strong commitment to get this right,” says Curtis.
One of the main criticisms of the Senate version of the tax package is it favors wealthier Americans and corporations over less affluent taxpayers. Curtis says he’s confident that will not be the case when the final product is unveiled.
“It’s a good process for the House to throw something out and the Senate throws something out, and you refine it and get closer and closer to the right answer,” says Curtis. “If you’re looking at what the House initially passed and said there are problems with that, I would say you’re right. We’re going through a process that I think will get to a better bill at the end of the day. No doubt it’s going to have some things that people like and some things people don’t like.”
While tax reform is the main focus in Washington, Congress is facing a December 8 deadline to fund the government to avoid a shutdown. Curtis says while that’s frustrating, he is optimistic that Congress will be able to pass a funding measure.
“There’s a feeling in the air that we’ll get this figured out and we’re not going to shut down the government. There’s a strong desire on the part of the Republicans I’ve met and talked with to get this moving forward in a way that is responsible and makes improvements long-term but doesn’t shut the government down.”
