we are being asked to believe the irreconcilable argument that drilling now would cause the area to lose its character.

It is a loss for the people at Kaktovik. We gave Kaktovik approximately 93,000 acres of land for their social and economic well-being.

If you can't drill there safely, you can't drill anywhere in America safely.

At a time of high unemployment, high energy prices, and an urgent need to address our national debt, there is no question that this Nation needs the oil and gas that can be produced from ANWR.

Seventy-six percent of Alaskans support it, and everybody that I know of on that coast, other than a small group of people, say it is the right thing to do because they know it can be done.

millions more would do well to find jobs.

Responsible development of ANWR's Coastal Plain is a matter of self-determination of our people.

the simple delivery on a decades old promise could render literally hundreds of billions in Federal revenue without so much as raising a tax or cutting a single program.

We have created this myth that we are going into the Brooks Range. We are not.

I will tell you if you ever want to see an exercise in futility, it is this hearing.

Twenty percent. It was up as high as 35 percent at one time, but the pipeline is way down now.

If you can't drill safely in the footprint on ANWR that is being proposed, you can't drill safely anywhere in America.

we are witnessing a gross misappropriation of resources.

I would be very happy if we could just allow the Kaktovik people to develop their own lands in the 1002 area.

I am very happy that this Committee is proposing to open the Coastal Plain of ANWR for oil and gas exploration and development and limit the activity to only 2,000 acres, which is less than .01 percent of the size of ANWR.

Let us just drill the oil. Let us drill the natural gas. Let us reach those resources.

We would not favor development on the Coastal Plain unless we were confident that development can occur without jeopardizing our way of life.

This is not the pristine area people talk about. This is an area that has been explored before by other people.

Eighty percent of those people support it. You have one or two that don't, and that is who everybody listens to.

Mr. Hall needs that job. Mr. Sharp has to put his people to work.

We last year spent $333 billion sending dollars overseas. That is dollars from the working class man.

This is long overdue. This Committee has passed this bill 11 times, and it has died in the Senate.

I thank the good lady.

It is time that this Congress acts, solves our problem and gets the show on the road.

The river is 2,800 miles long. This is one little tiny section. This is a river that's 5 miles wide and 2,800 miles long. It's the third largest river in the United States of America that carries transportation.