During consideration of an energy policy bill (S. 2012), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced an amendment specifying that national monuments declared by the president after the enactment of this amendment would expire after three years, except when the monuments are approved by federal and state law.
The Senate rejected Lee’s amendment on February 2, 2016 by a vote of 47 to 48 (Roll Call 10). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because U.S. presidents, including Obama, have established these national monuments through executive orders, thereby placing huge tracts of land off-limits to development, without the approval of either Congress or the states where the land is located.
