Utah Senator Mitt Romney recently talked to KPCW about some of the issues that impact Utah and the West including immigration, wildfires and water use.
Senator Romney said it is way past time that leaders in Washington deal with immigration reform.
He said there will be a bipartisan effort to forge a solution, but he doesn’t know how successful it might be.
“And my party has traditionally welcomed legal immigration. And there have been various points of view about illegal immigration and how to prevent it, or to reduce it. But legal immigration, as well as dealing with refugees from other places of the world, has been part of our heritage, particularly in our state. Our state has been a leader in welcoming people who are suffering. And it’s one of the things I think that distinguishes us in a very positive way.”
On another item, he said the Defense Reauthorization Bill has an important impact for Utah’s military bases.
“As you know, Hill Air Force Base is a critical element. We have a fighter wing there. But there are a number of elements that are in the National Defense Authorization Act my team and I have been fighting for. One is, of course, the additional F-35s, but also protection for the Dugway Proving Ground in Tooele County. I’m also insistent that there be an evaluation of our force level in Germany. I don’t think we should be pulling our troops out of Germany. And there have been some elements with regards to hiring talented individuals to work at Hill that is also in this bill.”
Since we talked to Romney, President Trump has vetoed the bill, setting up a possible override vote in Congress in the next few days.
Romney said they also must tackle the new reality of major wildfires, which is being affected, he said, by climate change. The Senator proposes creating a Wildland Fire Commission, emulating Australia, which set up a body of scientists, experts and other thinkers to look at the issue.
“What I expect you’re gonna see is a proposal to dramatically increase funding for heavy-lift aircraft that can drop flame retardant on fires. No. 2, a much more immediate alarm system to identify wildfires before they become massive conflagrations. And No. 3, an ability to move federal resources to a fire earlier than we do now. Because, as you probably know, in some of our more rural communities, for the first several days, fighting the fire is done by volunteer fire departments, small volunteer fire departments. I mean, we have counties with less than 5000 people in them.”
Finally, the Senator and Democratic House Rep. Ben McAdams are trying to help the Navajo Nation with issues of clean water and its Covid response through the Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act.
“In this act, the Navajo Nation agrees to give certain water rights that it has, to the Colorado, back to the state of Utah and the country. And in exchange, we provide about $200 million to build infrastructure to take water to people’s homes in the Navajo Nation. About half the people of the Navajo Nation have no running water.”
Romney said the proposal got a unanimous vote in the Senate, but now has to navigate the House.
“And Ben McAdams has pushed Speaker Pelosi, and others in leadership in the House, to support this bill. It has not yet been voted on in the House. I think the reason for that is, there are other House members that say, “Well, how bout other tribes. We want money for our tribe.” And that’s often what happens in Washington. And as a result it’s been bogged down in the House. And we can only hope that the Democratic leadership of the House will recognize that the Navajo Nation, which has suffered so severely from Covid 19, should certainly have the rights to running water. This is a bill which is very much in the interest of the Navajo Nation, and the state of Utah.”
