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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

House passes memorials to Congress on amending U.S. Constitution, nixing Island Park monument

After some debate and on divided votes, the House this morning approved two non-binding memorials to Congress, HJM 1 from Rep. Thomas Dayley, R-Boise, urging Congress to submit a Constitutional Amendment called the “regulation freedom amendment” to the states for ratification; and HJM 2, from Rep. Paul Romrell, R-St. Anthony, urging against naming Island Park a national monument.

Here’s what HJM 1 urges be added to the U.S. Constitution: “Whenever one quarter of the members of the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate transmits to the President their written declaration of opposition to a proposed federal regulation, it shall require a majority vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate to adopt that regulation.”

That memorial passed the House on a 54-16 vote.

The Island Park one, HJM 2, notes that in an advisory vote in November, 93 percent of residents of Fremont County opposed any new national monument there. That memorial directs that the message be sent to the president and the Secretary of the Interior as well as to Congress.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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