Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. letter to R. A., January 28, 1997

(Consress of ttje ®niteb States ftouse of iRcprcscntattbes OTaefjington, ЭС 20515-2002 January 28, 1997 Dear Thank you for conveying to me your concerns about several issues pending before Congress. Allow me to address each issue separately. With respect to your desire to limit the federal Bureau of Land Management’s authority to seize state lands, I agree with you. I believe that the residents of a state should maintain final authority over how lands are utilized. Should a state legislature decide to protect two million additional acres of wilderness lands from public development, then I believe that it is appropriate. Should the same state legislature decide to allow the commercial development of such areas, I believe that it is appropriate as well. In both cases the citizens of the state themselves, working through their elected representatives, are the decision-makers. Too often, the federal government has usurped authority which rightly belonging to the states. I have been, and will continue to remain supportive of initiatives in Congress to give state and local authorities greater say over how their lands are utilized. With respect to welfare reform, I supported the sweeping welfare reform bill enacted by Congress last year. As you know, President Clinton has indicated a willingness to “fix” the new welfare law using the line-item veto. I am concerned by the President’s comments. The old welfare system hurts children and perpetuates misery. The new law will break the cycle of hopelessness once and for all. I will oppose any attempt to roll back the clock on welfare reform. With respect to the stricter emissions testing standards being proposed in Maryland, I am concerned by the added cost which the proposed dynamometer test in Maryland will impose on the consumer. Since 1 990, the number of areas falling into the non-attainment category — localities failing to meet EPA’s healthy air standards — has fallen from 90 to 75 percent. During this period, population and the number of automobiles on the road experienced a sizable increase. This tells me that the current system is sufficient. Once again, thanks for contacting me. Let me know if I may be of assistance to you in the future. Sincerely, Member of Congress