Monument plans? The Public right to know

The people of the Marianas and other Americans with National Monuments in their backyards have a right to know what the new administration is planning to do in these areas. So, along with 25 House colleagues, I cosponsored a Resolution of Inquiry, H.Res. 555, that the administration release a final report on its review of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and Monuments around the nation, as well as all supporting documents.

There were more than 2.5 million public comments submitted, mine included, and the public deserves a look. The resolution follows on my questioning of Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, at a recent Natural Resources Committee hearing, about the Monument Review process and a similar lack of transparency by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council in its decision-making (subject of a news article here).