By Steve Pearce Whenever I'm traveling through Doña Ana County, I can look up at the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks and feel proud to come from a state that is home to some of our nation's most beautiful treasures. I share this feeling with my fellow New Mexicans, and there's a desire within us all to make sure the Organs stay preserved for generations to come. Back in 2013, before President Obama created the current footprint, I introduced a bill to establish the Organs as a national monument. My bill would have made the Organs, and surrounding natural treasures, a national monument forever protected in the National Landscape Conservation System. The roughly 60,000-acre footprint I suggested was a balance between conserving the Organs without compromising New Mexico's economy and the culture of ranching, recreation and multiple uses. Economies surrounding the monument are supported by local businesses, the Convention Center, a top-rated farmers market, annual festivals, sporting tournaments, and diverse museums -- all of which draw people to visit the area. To attempt to calculate or establish a range of economic impact the monument alone contributes to the community is misleading. In fact, there is no metric that allows for an accurate or even broad accounting of revenue created by the monument. Recent attempts to define the increased economic benefit were only able to place it anywhere between $4 million and $11 million. These numbers come from an analysis by the Las Cruces Sun-News, which used visitation numbers from the Bureau of Land Management for three sites within the monument -- Dripping Springs Natural Area, Aguirre Spring Campground and the Soledad Canyon Area. Increased visitation to these sites, along with the estimated tourism dollars, have been used time and again as a way to fight for the current 500,000-acre footprint. However, all three of these sites would remain protected under the smaller footprint proposed in my bill. My efforts to protect the Organs without harming the local economy or diminishing the historical multiple uses of the larger area have led some to believe that I support selling off these lands for private uses -- let me be clear, that is not the case. The current designation equates to a total of 600,000 acres of land because it includes the 500,000-acre footprint, which is all federal land, and land-locks roughly 100,000 acres of state and private lands within it. I've spoken with ranchers who live and work in parts of the monument who find it difficult to stay in business while complying with the designation's regulations. A responsible review of the designation will loosen the bureaucratic grip that Washington has over thousands of acres and help put our lands back where they belong -- in the hands of New Mexicans. A significant cross-section of the community has historically opposed any monument designation. Roughly 800 businesses and ranchers were in favor of a compromise to protect our lands while eliminating uncertainty, access issues and added layers of bureaucracy that come with the 500,000-acre footprint. Even more, downsizing can bring back annual events -- like the Chili Challenge -- that, according to local sources, brought in nearly $5 million to the local economy. As New Mexicans, we are protective over our resources and embrace the landscape that we call home. For my entire adult life, I've loved the Organs. By keeping the designation but reducing the size, the beauty of the Organs will be preserved forever, the county can continue to benefit from the economic gains associated with the monument, and everyone from ranchers to hikers can continue to access and utilize the area without impediment.

By: Reps. John Rutherford (R-FLA.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Michael Bost (R-Ill.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), and Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) Would you trust a doctor who had their license revoked, had a history of sexual misconduct, and had on numerous occasions engaged in unethical, unprofessional behavior? Obviously not. Why, then, would we ever put someone like that in a position to care for the men and women who served our country? In December, we were shocked to learn that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had hired medical providers who have been accused of all of the above offenses. These reports clearly indicate that the VA's hiring of many of these providers was not only appalling, but also violated federal law. That is why we led a bipartisan letter of 30 members to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ask how these hires were cleared and what actions have been taken to prevent this from happening again. In response to that letter, then-Secretary David Shulkin said that the VA was conducting a review of all 165,000 active licensed providers at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), starting with a more thorough review of a subset of 77,000. Both reviews were expected to be completed by March 2018, but now we are learning that they have been pushed back even further to June. To date, nine providers have been fired. No disciplinary actions have been taken against the professional standards boards that cleared these hires. This is simply not good enough. Every day that the VA continues this review is another day we risk the health of the heroes who have served our country. The VA needs to prevent this from happening in the first place, not just carry out a five-month long review. Congress and the VA need to concentrate on making the department an environment that will attract the best workers so veterans get the best care possible. We see the great work many are doing in VA facilities across the country, and we owe it to those employees and our veterans to strengthen the hiring and retention processes. This includes scholarships, loan repayment, and other factors providers consider when making the decision of where to work. We, as representatives, need to hold VA leadership accountable for their actions. These problems should never have arisen in the first place, and we will continue to shine a light on these issues until the VA learns to step up and fix their own immense problems. We will continue to work with our colleagues in the Congress to ensure our brave veterans are receiving the timely access to quality care from qualified providers that they deserve, and it is our sincere hope that the VA will do the same.