will now have to amend the proposed legislation to include Agriculture too:
Utah lawmaker moves to disarm BLM, IRS, says âTheyâre not paramilitary unitsâ
Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, concerned about the armed agents that surrounded Nevada rancher Cliven Bundyâs property, is mulling a measure to cut funding for any âparamilitary unitsâ that work for the Bureau of Land Management, the Internal Revenue Service and other federal regulatory agencies.
âThere are lots of people who are really concerned when the BLM shows up with its own SWAT team,â he said, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. âTheyâre regulatory agencies. Theyâre not paramilitary units, and I think that concerns a lot of us.â
His mulled amendment to an appropriations bill comes in context of recent BLM actions against Mr. Bundy: The federal agents armed themselves and surrounded his property, tasered his son, closed down road access to the ranch and even shot a couple of his prize bulls. The reasons? Mr. Bundy hadnât paid his grazing fees to the federal government, but rather fought the matter in court.
Militia from all over the nation came to the ranch to support Mr. Bundy in his standoff with the BLM â and for that, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid labeled them âdomestic terrorists,â various media reported.
The BLM finally backed off and left â but not before a shocked nation expressed outrage at the governmentâs armed stance against a man who, at the root, was guilty of not paying a bill.
Mr. Stewart said itâs high time the government end its practice of arming its own special units for various agencies, like the BLM and the IRS.
âThey should do what anyone else would do,â he told the Salt Lake Tribune. âCall the local sheriff, who has the capability to intervene in situations like that.â
The Interior Department, for its part, said the BLM and National Park Service had armed agents at Mr. Bundyâs ranch to guarantee the safety of the public and of their workers.
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