Copyright 2000 The Denver Post Corporation
The
Denver Post
July 21, 2000 Friday 2D EDITION
SECTION: DENVER & THE WEST; Pg. B-06
LENGTH: 534 words
HEADLINE:
Campbell lambastes land-buy bill as 'socialism' Measure would provide purchase
of property for variety of public uses
BYLINE: By Mike
Soraghan, Denver Post Washington Bureau,
BODY:
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell on Thursday came
out against a bill targeting billions of dollars for open space,
hiking trails and soccer fields. He says Congress should have more
say over how the money is spent.
'This bill reeks of socialism,'
Campbell said Thursday in announcing his decision. 'It cedes the
constitutional authority of the legislative branch to midlevel
bureaucrats.'
The Conservation and Reinvestment Act
(CARA) bill would take nearly $ 3 billion a year from offshore
oil-drilling revenues and put it toward buying public land.
Supporters say it would send more than $ 57 million to Colorado. It
would also put millions more dollars into increasing 'payments
in-lieu of taxes' to local governments with federal land in their
boundaries.
Campbell is a key vote on the bill because he sits on
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that must approve
it before it can get to the Senate floor.
Campbell's decision
was quickly denounced by the coalition of environmentalists, local
governments and sporting-goods manufacturers pushing hard for the
program.
They say Campbell is ignoring Coloradans' love of open
space and recreation.
'This is a vote against the health of
outdoor businesses and the public's desire for more open space,' said
Frank Hugelmeyer, executive director of the Boulder-based Outdoor
Recreation Coalition of America.
The bill has been supported
by several other Colorado Republicans, including Gov. Bill Owens and
U.S. Reps. Tom Tancredo of Littleton, Scott McInnis of Grand Junction
and Joel Hefley of Colorado Springs.
Asked if Campbell means
those Republicans are supporting legislation that 'reeks of
socialism,' Campbell spokesman Chris Changery said, 'He's not saying
anything about anybody else who voted for it.'
Opponents call
CARA 'green pork,' and property rights groups call it a federal land
grab.
As an opponent, Campbell joins with fellow members of
the Appropriations Committee, considered by supporters to be the
major obstacle to passing the bill. U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.,
is undecided on the bill but does not sit on the committee.
Campbell had been officially undecided on the bill
until Thursday's vote in committee, when an amendment was rejected
that would have given Congress more say over how the money was
spent. After that, he issued a statement saying he would not support
it in its current form.
He complained that the bill would
create a new entitlement program for federal lands and noted that
other trust-fund programs go back to Congress every five years, while
CARA would not return for 15 years.
The bill, Campbell said,
would lead to higher costs to manage federal lands, higher property
taxes as more land is taken off tax rolls, and more dependence on
foreign oil because drilling would be restricted on the new federal
land.
Supporters of the bill say that Congress - and
specifically congressional appropriators - has for years failed to
use the oil drilling money for recreation, which is where it was
originally supposed to go.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO:
Campbell
LOAD-DATE: July 21, 2000
