Rehberg Games – Big Government Belly Flop

Day 9: August 9, 2012

Montana values soaked by Rehberg’s controversial border police bill

Day 9 of the Rehberg Games highlights one of Congressman Dennis Rehberg’s greatest flops: Unprecedented authority by the federal government to make top-down decisions about Montana’s public lands with no local input. Despite Montana’s overwhelming opposition to Rehberg’s proposal, he’s still going all in—even if it means Montana values get soaked by the splash.

DIVING BOARD BOUNCE: Rep. Rehberg said the government needs to leave Montanans alone.

“We want freedom and we want to be left alone,” Rehberg told legislative candidates earlier this year. “And that’s what…I, stand for: Get government out of our way.’” [Lee State Bureau, 1/12/12]

DIVE: But Rehberg cosponsored, pushed and voted for H.R. 1505, a wildly unpopular measure that authorizes unprecedented federal overreach of Montana’s public lands.

According to the Great Falls Tribune, Rehberg’s bill, would give the Department of Homeland Security “unprecedented authority over federal lands within 100 miles” of the border. It would let DHS “waive 36 major federal environmental protection laws in order to facilitate border patrol activities on public lands.” [Great Falls Tribune, 9/19/11]

SPLASH: Rehberg’s belly flop splashes all over Montana values, putting unelected bureaucrats in charge of Montana’s public land–without input from the public. Just like Rehberg’s longtime support for the Patriot Act, H.R. 1505 is an irresponsible bill that highlights the Congressman’s wrong priorities.

The extent of H.R. 1505

THE REPLAY:

###