I had the great pleasure last summer to be out in south central New Mexico and visit the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

The communities the environmental justice movement aims to include in the decision-making process, however, are the very ones being harmed by the Biden administration and its policies.

If we are serious about achieving more diverse and inclusive environmental policies, we must ensure that the communities impacted by those decisions are given a seat at the table.

As I said earlier, talk is cheap, and the Biden administration, they have a Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships.

At the end of 2021, inflation reached a 40-year high, increasing costs for American families.

But why do you think the Biden administration refused to engage you in this decision-making process?

It seems to me that the Biden administration has made just a unilateral decision without your input.

the Biden administration is pursuing a 20-year ban on oil and gas development around Chaco Canyon.

Actions mean more than just words. And, I think, from our witness testimony today and our Members' questions, we will see that the actions of my colleagues across the aisle are actually disenfranchising people rather than helping people.

It seems like if we produce that energy domestically, maybe part of it off of the Navajo Nation, that that would benefit families there.

I would argue that, rather than the abstract, our focus should be on how environmental policies impact communities across the nation.

Today, I think about when my four children were young. They are stair-stepped 2 years apart. They used to have competitions in the backyard. They would race from the patio to the elm tree and back. And I would stagger the starting time…

I do not believe Trump is the one to lead our party and our country again.

Democrats have put things put for -- put forward ideas, they put forward legislation, but in the Senate, particularly it has been blocked by Republicans who have been unwilling to let some of these bills come to the floor for debate.

The bills you’re talking about in Arizona... affect Arizona voters, period.

the sky is not falling. Polls go up and down.

I appreciate the comments of the Senator from Oregon. And I want to commend him for principled consistency on this question. He did not sign that letter. In fact, one of the earliest conversations I had with any Democratic Senator in 2015…

the Senator from Oklahoma was directly addressed, and I believe he would like to engage in a brief colloquy. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oklahoma.