0bama kills more jobs: KINGMAN – Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson and members of the U.S. Senate and Congressional Caucuses found common ground Tuesday during a hearing in Washington, D.C.
“The common ground we found is that the federal government is putting land off limits for our efforts toward economic recovery,” Johnson said.
The Caucuses met Tuesday, Feb. 28, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Dirkson Senate Office Building.
“I was on a panel of diverse individuals from the western states that included an attorney from the Pacific Legal Foundation, the mayor of Brigham City, Utah, a couple from Idaho who have had a really rough time with the Obama Administration, and a gentleman representing the National Cattlemen Beef Association and the Kansas Livestock Association,” Johnson said. “I believe this was the first time both the Senate Western Caucus and the Congressional Western Caucus have held a joint meeting. It was great to have them working together on these important issues.
“They were all very positive,” he said. “It seemed that every senator and congressman had a unique situation in his or her state where it looked like citizens’ rights to build homes, use their land or make a living were being taken away.”
Johnson, who is chairman of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors, is
also Co-Chairman of the Arizona-Utah Local Economic Coalition, comprised of counties
on both sides of the state border that are impacted by U.S. Department of Interior’s recent
withdrawal of close to 1 million acres of uranium-rich land from mining. He cited a 2009
study on the “Economic Impact of Uranium Mining on Coconino and Mohave Counties,
Arizona” stating that over a 40-year period, mining would lead to “1,078 new jobs in the
area; $40 million annually from payroll; $29.4 billion in output; $2 billion in federal and
state corporate income taxes; $168 million in state severance taxes; and $9.5 million in
mining claims payments and fees to local governments.”
The physical impact of mining efforts on the more than 1 million acres now off
limits would be “negligible and remediation of expended mining land is currently
mandated.”
In a lighter moment, Johnson explained that Mohave County has been on the
“receiving end of a detrimental use of power by the Obama Administration’s biggest job
killer Czar, the Sala-Zar.”
He brought out a “visual aid,” in cartoon form, to help explain the situation.
“The carpetbagger cowboy on the right here depicts Interior Secretary Ken
Salazar who has just killed off my county’s efforts to garner investments and jobs while
assisting the quest of America’s energy independence. While the handsome miner on the
left mourns the death of his faithful burro, and any future for the mining industry, the
mighty hunter Salazar glories in his recent string of kills. You will notice the great hunter
is also carrying his recently bagged Canadian Keystone Goose. The Keystone XL oil
pipeline project would have created thousands of real jobs during construction and would
have brought a half million barrels of oil per day from our close northern ally to
American refineries….The current administration is killing all hopes of eventual energy
independence from the world’s totalitarian oil producing countries.”
Johnson was asked about other problems from federal restrictions in his area.
“We discussed the impacts to the Lake Havasu area from restrictive federal
regulations, as well,” he said. “Another topic was the economic impact from the closing
of trails on federal lands….and the listing of the desert tortoise to the Endangered Species
Act, which hasn’t done anything to help the tortoise population. They are removing
mining, ranching and vehicle usage in many areas, yet the tortoise hasn’t come back. But
all of these things are killing the economy.”
The Caucus members are frustrated that every state is having the same problems,
he said. “The states are trying to be self sufficient, create jobs and environmentally utilize
natural resources to improve citizens’ lives. They want to be able to manage forests and
resources properly and create jobs and wealth for their populations. They don’t want
handouts.”
Johnson was asked during the hearing what it means to Mohave County residents
to get jobs.
“Miners, ranchers and industrial employees are the salt of the earth,” he said.
“They have kids in scouting programs and Little League. They buy cars and gas locally.
They shop at the local market and attend community movie theaters and churches. It’s a
lot different than, say, Silicon Valley jobs where those folks can buy German luxury cars
and keep offshore savings accounts.”
Johnson thanked Congressmen Paul Gosar, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, David
Schweikert, Ben Quayle and Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl as well as all 64
members of the two caucuses for their understanding and hard work toward economic recovery and energy independence.
“We need to revoke the Salazar withdrawal of Mohave County’s mining lands,” he said. “That kind of turnaround will bring about jobs growth, economic recovery and independence for America’s long-term energy needs.”
