Utah National Guard Readiness Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Once again, I appreciate the kind words of the gentlelady from Guam. I also appreciate the help and assistance of the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Rahall, and of the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Grijalva, in moving this bill forward.

This is another bill that was discussed in the last session and was passed over there. Part of it was actually incorporated into the one by the Senate. The other part was not. This needs to finish off the process. It has the support of the entire Utah delegation, which happens to be bipartisan this time. It was suggested by the Adjutant General of the Utah National Guard as well as by the Governor of the State of Utah. It deals with long-term growing pains of the Utah National Guard facilities, their Camp Williams headquarters in Utah.

As we discussed, part of the issue is that the State of Utah has outgrown the amount of land it owns within the camp for which there can be buildings. What we are asking in this land transfer is to make sure that the land would always stay where it is. It would be for military purposes, but land that belongs to the Bureau of Land Management would be transferred to the State for the building of facilities at the Utah National Guard, specifically for Utah National Guard purposes. It has to have that kind of purpose with it. This land transfer would allow the Utah National Guard to fulfill its military mission in land that is presently part of the camp, but technically not under the ownership of the State of Utah, for the sole purpose of building military infrastructure.

With that, I appreciate the kind words that have been said, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Actually, for the gentlewoman from Guam, I have no other speakers on this one. Do you have any other speakers?

Then I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 603) to require the conveyance of certain public land within the boundaries of Camp Williams, Utah, to support the training and readiness of the Utah National Guard.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 603 was introduced by the ranking member on the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee, Representative Rob Bishop. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management to the State of Utah for use by the Utah National Guard. The land would revert to the United States should it ever cease being used by the Guard. This legislation was approved by the House during the 110th Congress but was not considered in the other body.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend our colleague Representative Bishop for his leadership in this matter and for

his willingness to work with the committee to resolve issues raised during the earlier consideration of this legislation. We have no objection to the passage of H.R. 603.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support H.R. 603, and I yield back the balance of my time.