Click here to watch Ranking Member Barrasso’s remarks.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senator floor about the Democrats’ prioritizing the confirmation of a nominee who collaborated with eco-terrorists to lead the Bureau of Land Management while America is currently facing a long list of Democrat-created crises. 

Barrasso is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR). 

Senator Barrasso’s remarks: 

“I come to the floor today and having heard the senator from Washington – the senior senator from Washington, a Democrat leader – talk about something in this Senate chamber and she called it outrageous. 

“Let me tell you what I find outrageous. Outrageous, is the fact that people all across this country are facing crisis after crisis all caused by the Democrats who are in charge of the House, the Senate, and the White House. 

“On this day, the final day of the fiscal year, we are spending time on a nominee who is completely unfit for the job for which she has been nominated – that is outrageous.

“But it’s been one outrageous thing after another that I hear about at home in Wyoming each weekend. 

“In August, it was the chaotic abandoning of Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of 13 American heroes and hundreds more individuals who lost their lives were Afghani citizens. 

“One of those brave soldiers, Rylee McCollum, a marine aged just 20, was from Wyoming. 

“President Biden’s activities in Afghanistan – they were outrageous.  

“Because of his hasty retreat, the administration has enraged our allies around the world and emboldened our enemies at the same time – that is outrageous. 

“Do you know what’s happening at our southern border? Our weak immigration policies have resulted in millions of illegal immigrants flooding into our country – that is outrageous. 

“Across the West, a lack of fire-mitigation and tree thinning has contributed to raging forest fires. 

“These fires threaten lives, communities, and economies.  

“Here in Congress, Democrats continue to create chaos. 

“Runaway, partisan spending has resulted in the biting pain of inflation and spiking costs for families all across the country when they go to the grocery store to buy food or go to the gas station and fill up – that is outrageous. 

“So with all these crises occurring across the nation and the world, what is Leader Schumer and the Senate Democrats’ choosing today as one of their top priorities for the nation? 

“It’s confirming a nominee who has a history of having collaborated with eco-terrorists. 

“We talk about the threat of terrorism around the world and the threat of terrorism at home. Yet the Democrat leader is bringing to the floor today a nominee of president of the United States and apparently endorsed and agreed to by all of the Democrats who has a history of eco-terrorism and has been involved in such. 

“It’s confirming a nominee who collaborated with eco-terrorists, lied to the U.S. Senate, wrote in favor of population control as a problem related to the climate, and promoted the idea that homes built in the forest should be left to burn – this is outrageous. 

“President Biden has nominated Tracy Stone-Manning to serve as the director of the Bureau of Land Management. Across the West, it is known as the BLM. 

“Ms. Stone-Manning lied to the Senate, this year, about her past association with an eco-terrorist cell that hammered hundreds and hundreds of metal spikes – about 500 pounds of metal spikes – into trees in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest. 

“If these metal spikes are struck by a logger’s saw, the injuries for the logger can be fatal. And it’s not just loggers who use saws, it’s firefighters as well going in to help fight fires. The same impact would occur to them. 

“Ms. Stone-Manning anonymously sent a threatening letter to the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of the eco-terrorists of which she was one of the ringleaders and then spent years covering up their crimes as well as her own. 

“The lead investigator on the case sent a letter to our committee – the Energy and Natural Resources Committee – stating that Ms. Stone-Manning was investigated and she refused to cooperate as a result of the crime. 

“She had years to come forward, years to reveal their crimes. She never did. 

“It wasn’t until after she was caught and she was promised immunity and she received that immunity – it was only then – that she agreed to testify. 

“Earlier this year, Ms. Stone-Manning lied to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about her involvement as an eco-terrorist and in the eco-terrorism. 

“When asked if she had ever done anything to support tree spiking in any forest, she replied ‘no.’ 

“This is blatantly false. 

“Ms. Stone-Manning’s troubling record goes beyond lying and collaborating with eco-terrorists. 

“She has written articles and a graduate thesis supporting the idea of human population control. 

“And one year ago, she tweeted an article her husband had written calling for homes built in the forest – allowing them to burn during fires. 

“She called that article a ‘clarion call.’ Now this is for the person nominated to be the head of the Bureau of Land Management. That is not part of the responsibilities and is the exact opposite of what we should expect from the head of the Bureau of Land Management. 

“Tracy Stone-Manning is a dangerous choice to be put in charge of America’s public lands, and each and every senator who votes to confirm her will be held personally responsible for that vote. 

“Her nomination has been publically opposed by the last two BLM directors, by outdoor organizations, by sportsmen’s groups, pro-life organizations, by loggers, by the Western States Sherriff’s Association, the list goes on and on. Might I mention that one of those last two BLM directors was President Obama’s BLM director who said she was unfit for the position to which President Biden has nominated her. 

“She is the wrong choice for this job. She should never be confirmed. 

“But that is exactly what Senate Democrats want to do today and that is outrageous. 

“At a time when America faces mounting crises, Senate Democrats, each and every one, are determined to confirm a nominee who collaborated with eco-terrorists, lied to the US Senate, and continues to hold very dangerous views. 

“I emphatically oppose her nomination. 

“Every Republican in the Senate opposes her nomination. 

“And I urge courageous Democrats to stand up and do the same.”

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