An Arizona Republican lawmaker criticized Democrats for refusing to attend an emergency joint committee meeting in Kingman in opposition to creating a new national monument near the Grand Canyon.
According to State Representative John Gillette (R-Kingman), Democrats need to be voted out of the state legislature after refusing to attend Monday’s emergency meeting to oppose the “Biden Land Grab” and allow for public comments.
On Monday evening, Republican lawmakers held an emergency joint committee meeting where they formally voted to oppose President Joe Biden’s designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
According to the lawmakers, the meeting gave Mohave County residents another opportunity to voice their concerns about the monument designation.
Arizona Democrats declined to attend the special joint committee hearing, accusing the Republicans of “distracting” individuals from Biden’s environmental efforts and saying there is no need for additional public comment.
“This special meeting calls for public testimony, but the community most directly impacted by this designation has already spoken,” State Representative Stahl Hamilton (D-Tucson) said.
According to Gillette (pictured above), the Democrats’ refusal to attend the hearing and allow for additional public comments is a reason for their removal.
“Arizona Democrats refuse to show up for public input on the Biden Land Grab. As Biden is planning to designate 1.1 million acres of Arizona people’s land to build wind and solar via executive order 14008. Democrats call public comments a sham. We must vote them out!” Gillette said following their refusal.
The Arizona Sun Times reached out to Gillette for additional comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
According to the Biden administration, the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument protects thousands of sites that are sacred to the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Paiute, Navajo, Yavapai-Apache, Zuni and Colorado River Indian Tribes. Its name comes from the Havasupai words baaj nwaavjo for “where Indigenous peoples roam,” and the Hopi words i’tah kukveny for “our ancestral footprints.”
The emergency meeting consisted of members of the state’s Senate and House committees on Natural Resources, Energy and Water, the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Water, and the House Committee on Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Republican lawmakers said that the proposed monument is nothing more than a federal land grab.
According to lawmakers, over 80 percent of the land in Arizona is already federally controlled, and the new national monument would further decrease the already limited amount of private land in the state and adversely impact Mohave County.
Lawmakers were concerned that reducing the country’s uranium supply might affect national security.
“This has nothing to do with the environment, this doesn’t have anything to do with cultural lands or anything like that. Those are excuses that they’re using to make sure we are beholden to other nations,” State Representative Cory McGarr (R-Tucson) said.
U.S. Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) also opposed the proposal and said it would have “devastating effects” on Mohave County.
“The Biden Administration will stop at nothing to inject Joe Biden’s radical eco-agenda into every aspect of American life,” he said in a statement.
During an Arizona trip on Tuesday, Biden officially designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
