S.22 just missed getting passed by only 2 votes - 282 to 144!

This was a monster that was going to lock out the driving public from long established roads. It will no doubt be back soon in another form (or President Pelosi will frantically try to not let it die and try a re-vote) - but this is good news! For anyone that read S.22 and saw just how nasty some clauses in this bill was - we just dodged a howitzer shell...

The news articles going out say the house has given up - they could not change the vote and are letting it die.

The list of who voted what is at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll117.xml


CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS
LEGISLATIVE DAY OF MARCH 11, 2009
111TH CONGRESS - FIRST SESSION

S. 22:
to designate certain land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes

10:30 A.M. -
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 22.
Considered under suspension of the rules.

10:51 A.M. -
WORDS TAKEN DOWN - During the course of debate, exception was taken to certain words used and a demand was made to have words taken down. Mr. Culberson asked unanimous consent to withdraw the words. Without objection the words were withdrawn. The House resumed debate on S. 22.

11:24 A.M. -
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

11:25 A.M. -
Mr. Davis (TN) moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution.

12:31 P.M. -
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - The Chair announced that the unfinished business was the question of adoption of motions to suspend the rules which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.

12:32 P.M. -
Considered as unfinished business.

12:39 P.M. -
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 282 - 144 (Roll no. 117).
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll117.xml
S 22 2/3 YEA-AND-NAY 11-Mar-2009 12:38 PM
QUESTION: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
BILL TITLE: Omnibus Public Land Managment Act

Democratic Yeas-248 Nays-003 PRES-0 NV-3
Republican Yeas-034 Nays-141 PRES-0 NV-3
TOTALS Yeas-282 Nays-144 PRES-0 NV-6


http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/11/11greenwire-house-rejects-omnibus-resources-bill-10085.html

March 11, 2009
House rejects public lands omnibus
By ERIC BONTRAGER, Greenwire
The House rejected an amended omnibus package of more than 160 public lands, water and resources bills despite a last-minute change designed to ease concerns about the bill.

By a vote of 282-144, the House failed to pass S. 22 (pdf) under a suspension of the rules, which barred any amendments from being added to the bill but also required a two-thirds majority for passage.

The bill would have designated more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states and established three new national park units, a new national monument, three new national conservation areas, more than 1,000 miles of national wild and scenic rivers and four new national trails. It also would have enlarged the boundaries of more than a dozen existing national park units and established 10 new national heritage areas.

It also would have authorized numerous land exchanges and conveyances to help local Western communities address water resource and supply issues, and included provisions to improve land management.

"This is the most important piece of conservation legislation we will likely consider this year and possibly in this entire Congress," House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) said on the House floor before the bill's rejection.

The House Democratic leadership had held off bringing the bill to the floor since the Senate passed the package in January while they attempted to gather enough support for the bill to pass it under suspension.

Any changes to the bill would have required sending it back to the Senate, where it would again have faced objections by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), before it could go to the White House.

Ultimately, Democrats chose to bring the bill to the floor under suspension but amended it to include language by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) designed to ensure that the omnibus would not close off lands that are already open to hunting and fishing.

Rahall said the inclusion of the provision helped clear up many of the concerns some groups, including the National Rifle Association, had with the omnibus bill.

But some House Republicans said bringing the bill under a suspension of the rules circumvents the House's authority, given that nearly 100 of the bills in the 1,200-page package have never passed or have had a hearing in the House.

"This is an extreme abuse of considering bills under a suspension of the rules," said Natural Resources ranking member Doc Hastings (R-Wash.). "Any notion that this is just a package of bills already passed by the House is absolutely false."

Reporter Noelle Straub contributed.

PUBLIC LANDS: Omnibus clears Senate, heads for House vote next week (03/19/2009)

Eric Bontrager and Noelle Straub, E&E reporters

The House will take up the public lands, water and natural resources omnibus bill next week, potentially sending the measure to President Obama for his signature.

Today, the Senate passed the bill for the second time this year, 77-20, as part of a complicated maneuver to prevent House Republicans from offering contentious amendments.

House National Parks Subcommittee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said he expects the House will move quickly to approve the omnibus. "It will happen next week," he said. "I'm hearing Thursday from the leadership, so it'll probably be Tuesday."

The bill will come up under a rule, a House Democratic aide said.

Assuming the House passes the omnibus, Grijalva said he would like to begin work on a new another lands package, including new wilderness designations, for consideration later this year or early next year.

Before today's vote, senators accepted one amendment but rejected two others that Democrats allowed Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to offer as part of a deal in exchange for allowing the bill to proceed. Yesterday they rejected three others.

Coburn, who placed "holds" on many of the bills in the omnibus for months last year, said the bill contains earmarks, limits energy development on public lands, and is an example of "hyper-parochialism" under which senators put items they wanted for their home states over the long-term good of the country.

The Coburn amendment that was accepted by voice vote would clarify the bill to allow the "casual collection" of rocks in parks that may contain a fossil, preventing criminal prosecution of visitors who unintentionally take a fossil. It would keep penalties for those who knowingly take or sell fossils from parks.

One of the amendments defeated today would have struck certain sections that Coburn deems frivolous, such as the $3.5 million to celebrate the 450th anniversary of St. Augustine, Fla., in 2015, and a salmon restoration project in California. Coburn said the California provision would amount to the government spending hundreds of millions of dollars to protect 500 fish. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said his amendment would have destroyed a widely supported, court-approved settlement of an 18-year legal battle. The Senate voted 70-27 to table, or kill, the amendment.

The other amendment would have required federal agencies to issue an annual report detailing the total amount of land they own and the cost to taxpayers of the ownership of the land. It was tabled, 58-39.

Last week, the House fell two votes shy of passing the bill under suspension of the rules, a maneuver that shields legislation from amendment or a motion to recommit but requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Senate leaders then devised a strategy to use a bill that had already passed the House -- H.R. 146, a proposal to protect Revolutionary War battlefields -- and strip its contents, replacing it with the omnibus lands bill. Because the House already passed H.R. 146, the chamber will only need to vote to concur with the Senate amendment.

The omnibus would designate more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states and would establish three new national park units, a new national monument, three new national conservation areas, more than 1,000 miles of national wild and scenic rivers and four new national trails. It would enlarge the boundaries of more than a dozen existing national park units and establish 10 new national heritage areas.

It would also authorize numerous land exchanges and conveyances to help local Western communities address water resource and supply issues, and includes provisions to improve land management.

The revised omnibus bill will also include language from Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) meant to ensure that the omnibus would not close off lands that are already open to hunting and fishing.

Conservation groups praised the Senate passage.

The Wilderness Society's Paul Spitler said the Senate move "clears the most significant hurdle to protecting some of the country's most cherished landscapes."

"These wonderful landscapes are under tremendous pressure, and their value to local communities and to all Americans who treasure our natural heritage will remain long after the country has recovered from the economic crisis," Spitler said in a statement, although he expressed concern over a provision allowing construction of a road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

"Today, Congress has helped ensure that we will have a wild legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "This bill helps guarantee that future generations will be able to hike in pristine forests from California to West Virginia. They'll be able to fish America's untouched rivers, watch antelope migrate through Wyoming, and take their families camping in the stunning Rocky Mountains."