Don Young: “I always admired my friend from California, who doesn't know squat about the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. That is the truth.…”

“I always admired my friend from California, who doesn't know squat about the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. That is the truth. He may have camped out in it, but he didn't camp out in the area which we would like to drill for oil, which this Congress set aside for that purpose. By the way, we did pass opening ANWR 11 times. This Congress did it. And it got stopped in the Senate every time but one. Bill Clinton, bless his heart, vetoed it. We have 18 billion barrels of oil--that is a minimum estimate--74 miles away from an existing pipeline on the coastal plain. You say, well, we don't need the oil now. I heard that in 1960. We didn't need the oil, but it went all the way up to $4.50 for gasoline at the pump. This is a reserve set aside by Scoop Jackson--a Democrat--myself, and Ted Stevens so it would be potentially there for development when Congress acts. You want to include this as a wilderness area in the bill on the behalf and behest of a group of people that really don't understand this. You say Alaska supports your amendment? In that case, I won't be back here next year. Don't applaud. Don't keep that in mind. I have been running, now, longer than anybody in this House except for one other man. Apparently, Alaska does support this ANWR provision. It is Federal oil. It is not our oil. We have infrastructure in place right now that can be used to move that oil if and when it is needed.…”