Political Quotes

“This is a million and a half acres of the 1002 area. We have here in white the ownership by the residents of Kaktovik. This is 92,000 acres. As you can see, you have no way out. This is all Federal land. In the selection of their Native lands when they had the original village up here, a location that has been there for many centuries, under the land claims legislation, the provision was they could not develop these lands until Congress had made a determination specifically on what to do with this area. Only Congress has the authority to open it up. These residents sit here in an enclave with private land they cannot develop. They cannot even drill for natural gas to heat their homes. That is an injustice. That would be corrected, among many other things, by this legislation that we propose in opening up ANWR. I thank the Chair for the time allotted me and allowing me to extend my remarks. I tell everybody that I look forward to a very spirited debate with enough time so we can get into the meat of this issue. I encourage my colleagues who say, 'I am sorry, I can't support it,' to start giving us reasons why, other than just the rhetoric associated with it. I yield the floor.”