John Barrasso (R-WY)
American Voices in Federal Lands Act
A Republican bill with 7 Republican cosponsors · See all 7 cosponsors
Last activity — Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 701.
Cleared committee, waiting for its first floor vote
A committee approved it and it is on the calendar of the chamber it started in.
This is further than most bills get, and still no promise of a vote: the calendar is a queue, and the majority leadership decides what is called. A bill can sit here until the Congress ends.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- On Calendar
What this bill would do
The bill is titled the American Voices in Federal Lands Act. It amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. The bill clarifies how the public is involved in rulemaking for certain public lands. It defines who qualifies as a citizen of the United States for the purpose of public involvement. The bill allows the Secretary to only consider public comments received from United States citizens when promulgating regulations for public lands managed by the Bureau. It also requires the use of the best available technology to deter attempts at public involvement by non-citizens.
Yes
- Scored +1
Does this give the federal government more power?
The bill clarifies and potentially expands the Secretary's discretion in managing public land rulemaking processes.
The opposite· 3 of 7
- Scored -2
Would immigrants be better off under this?
The bill explicitly limits the consideration of public comments to citizens of the United States, which excludes non-citizen residents.
- Scored -2
Would people with disabilities be better off under this?
Mandating CAPTCHA processes can create significant accessibility barriers for individuals with certain visual or cognitive disabilities.
- Scored -2
Does this better protect air, water and wildlife?
By narrowing the scope of public involvement to only US citizens, it may reduce the ability of international environmental groups to influence land management.
How the text last changed
Reported to Senate (11/12/2026), compared with Introduced in Senate. Each change is on the Text tab.
The newer version of the bill changes several provisions regarding public involvement under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. It modifies the definition of a "citizen of the United States" to specify natural persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, as well as certain juridical persons established under state, territorial, or District of Columbia law and domiciled in the United States. It also removes the requirement to use a Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) and replaces it with a process using the best available technology to deter involvement by non-citizens. Finally, the newer version adds a provision stating that public comments submitted by mail are not affected.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Section 2(a), amending Section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976: This provision defines a citizen of the United States specifically for public involvement, which explicitly includes natural persons born in or naturalized in the United States, as well as certain domestic juridical persons. This ensures that the definition of who participates is clearly established.
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Section 2(b), amending Section 310(d)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976: This provision allows the Secretary to take into consideration only public comments received from citizens of the United States when promulgating applicable regulations. This ensures that the voices considered for Bureau-managed public lands come exclusively from defined United States citizens.
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Section 2(b), amending Section 310(d)(2) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976: This provision requires the establishment and implementation of a process using the best available technology to deter attempts at public involvement by individuals or entities other than United States citizens. This protects the public involvement process from ineligible participants.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Section 2(a), amending Section 103(q)(2) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976: This provision states that the citizenship of a legal representative or other agent representing an otherwise ineligible natural or juridical person shall not be considered as a factor to cure that ineligibility. This places a restriction on representation for those who do not meet the direct definition of a United States citizen.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would immigrants be better off under this? — The bill explicitly limits the consideration of public comments to citizens of the United States, which excludes non-citizen residents. Would people with disabilities be better off under this? — Mandating CAPTCHA processes can create significant accessibility barriers for individuals with certain visual or cognitive disabilities. Would Native Americans be better off under this? — Restricting public comment to US citizens and requiring CAPTCHA may disproportionately affect tribal sovereignty or traditional engagement methods.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Does this better protect air, water and wildlife? — By narrowing the scope of public involvement to only US citizens, it may reduce the ability of international environmental groups to influence land management. Does this better protect public land such as parks and forests? — The bill restricts the scope of public comment to US citizens and mandates automated verification, which could limit transparency and public oversight of federal lands.
- Governance And Ideology
- Does this give the federal government more power? — The bill clarifies and potentially expands the Secretary's discretion in managing public land rulemaking processes. Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see? — Limiting the pool of potential commenters and emphasizing automated human verification may reduce the transparency of the public involvement process. Does this protect the individual right to speak freely? — The bill's provisions could be seen as creating barriers to digital public expression regarding federal land management.
A committee approved it and sent it to the floor
What changed from Introduced in Senate
The newer version of the bill changes several provisions regarding public involvement under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. It modifies the definition of a "citizen of the United States" to specify natural persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, as well as certain juridical persons established under state, territorial, or District of Columbia law and domiciled in the United States. It also removes the requirement to use a Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) and replaces it with a process using the best available technology to deter involvement by non-citizens. Finally, the newer version adds a provision stating that public comments submitted by mail are not affected.
Each change
- Section 2(a): Changed the definition title and added a detailed definition specifying who qualifies as a "citizen of the United States," including natural persons meeting specific birth or naturalization criteria and juridical persons established and domiciled in the United States, and specified that the citizenship of a legal representative or agent does not cure the ineligibility of an otherwise ineligible person.
- Section 2(b): Changed the requirement from establishing a process commonly known as a Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) to instead using the best available technology to deter attempts at public involvement by individuals or entities other than United States citizens.
- Section 2(c): Added a provision stating that nothing in the section affects public comments submitted by mail.
Written by an AI model from a comparison of this version’s text with the one before it, not by a person. .
- 11/12/2026
- Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
- Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 701.
- 12/17/2025
- Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- 12/2/2025
- Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 119-237.
- 7/23/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/21/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/14/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/10/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S4317-4318)
- 4 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in Senate
Mike CrapoRepublican · Idaho
John CurtisRepublican · Utah
Steve DainesRepublican · Montana
Cynthia LummisRepublican · Wyoming
James RischRepublican · Idaho
Dan SullivanRepublican · Alaska
Tim SheehyRepublican · Montana