By Wendy McElroy
Posted: Mon. July 28, 2014
The Improved National Monument Designation Process Act
(H.R. 1459) passed the House on March 26 by a vote of 222 to 201. It is
currently before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. S.
2608’s purpose is “to provide for congressional approval of national monuments”
and of restrictions on their use. It would limit President Obama’s ability to
designate national monuments at his own discretion through executive orders.
The presidential authority to make such designations
comes from the Antiquities Act of 1906. The act allows the president to
unilaterally impose tighter restrictions on the use of federally owned public
land as a means to protect national treasures. The restriction is often based
on environmental concerns and it encounters stiff resistance on the state
level, especially when it disrupts commercial interests like fishing, drilling,
mining or timber……. The House accuses the
Antiquities Act of being unconstitutionally broad and in conflict with the
property clause of the Constitution. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 reads,
"Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and
Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United
States." ....To Read More......
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