In response to President Trump’s visit to Utah to sell his plan to drastically shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement:

“President Trump’s decision to shrink these national monuments and open them up to oil, gas and mining companies is an appalling overreach of his authority. Trump would rather sell off our public lands to the highest bidder than preserve our greatest natural resources. Even worse, opening up these lands to corporate exploitation will desecrate some of the most important cultural sites considered sacred by many Native American tribes in the region, betraying our government’s commitments to those Native communities. Democrats are committed to standing up against the Trump administration’s efforts to auction off our public lands to special interests and corporate polluters. And we’ll fight tooth and nail to protect our most sacred natural parks, lands, and monuments for future generations.”