KPCW’s third and final report on District 3 Representative John Curtis highlights legislation he has sponsored in his first year in Washington. Wasatch County is part of District 3. Curtis is on the Natural Resources Committee, the Small Business Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Carolyn Murray has this.
According to the Library of Congress, John Curtis has sponsored 12 bills since taking office in NOvember of 2017. To kick off the 116th Congress, he introduced HR 26, with six Republican co-sponsors, the No Work, No Pay Act of 2019. It prohibits members of the House and the Senate from collecting their pay checks during a government shutdown. It has not passed the House as of this reporting. Curtis supports the 5 billion-dollar wall funding.
He and Democrat, Colleen Hanabusa co-sponsored HR 5727, the Emory County Public Land Management Act. It passed through the Natural Resources Committee in September.
The competing land use interests of grazing, extraction, recreation and sacred lands is one that Utah politicians and local leaders grapple with on a regular basis. Curtis said the Winner Take All Mentality is not viable for solving the big land management issues Utahns face.
“In Emory County, we’ve been able to bring all those diverse groups together that you’ve listed. And, we’ve done it in a non-traditional way...you know the traditional way is winner takes it all...the environmental groups come in and they win everything or get everything...ranchers come in and they win everything, and they get everything. And, in Emory County, we’ve been able to get all those groups to come with a win– win philosophy. And, that is the answer to your question about how things should be approached in the district. I believe we are going to be successful with our legislation and we’ll have a real positive template on how to move these difficult issues forward.”
Tribal leaders have criticized him for his sponsorship of HR 4532, the 130-thousand-acre Shash Jaa National Monument bill. The area was a carve out of the original 1.4 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument. The bill codifies the President’s Executive order shrinking the original Obama monument designation.
This week, Curtis co-sponsored a bi-partisan bill that would aid small businesses in accessing the government procurement centers to help apply for government grants. Most federally funded R and D is performed by large businesses in Utah. It accounts for 11 million dollars and this bill is targeted to enhance those opportunities for businesses under 500 employees, which Curtis said are 99 percent of businesses in the state.
He’s not ready to say if he would support the interim Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt. Curtis would like to see Rob Bishop selected as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.
“I think I need to see, first of all, who the President puts forward and study his qualifications before I could answer that question. I’d love to see Rob bishop there but I don’t think I’ll get that opportunity. I think he is one of the most well qualified people in America to lead that department. You know, I think as you’ve mentioned, he’s led some really strong, good bi-partisan efforts. He understands the issues at a level that few people do. And, it would be fantastic if the President would consider him.”
The Library of Congress has a current listing of all the bills Representative Curtis has sponsored during his time in the US Congress.
