Reps. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) have cosponsored a bill that would prevent President Obama and any future president from unilaterally designating offshore areas as national monuments and restricting the public's ability to fish there. H.R. 330, the Marine Access and State Transparency Act, would require the approval of Congress and the Legislature of each state within 100 nautical miles of the monument before designation could take effect.
The bill is a response to increasing speculation that President Obama may follow the example of his predecessor, George W. Bush, and unilaterally designate large swaths of the coastal states as national monuments. In 2006, President Bush short-circuited the established process of public consultation and input to designated 84 million acres off the coast of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The new monument, which is larger than 46 of our 50 states, was then closed to fishing.
“No president should be allowed to just lock up millions of acres of fishing grounds by fiat, with no public input whatsoever,” said Jones. “Frankly, it’s unAmerican, and it must be stopped.”
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