Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2181, the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019. This unnecessary bill would permanently ban oil and gas development on about 316,000 acres of land in New Mexico. It would also incur $3 million in increased spending costs with no built-in mechanism to pay for it. H.R. 2181's proposed landgrab would surround Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The park itself is already under Federal protections, including a prohibition on mineral development. This bill would add 10 extra miles of protected area around the perimeter of the park. This arbitrary addition could have long-term negative repercussions to the State of New Mexico. H.R. 2181 would also impact the very Navajo Nation members it claims to protect. Many of them own lands and mineral rights in the area that have been passed down for generations, but this bill would make it virtually impossible for them to develop the energy resources to which they are rightfully entitled. The complex puzzle of interlocking Federal, State, Tribal, and private land in the disputed area would result in significant hurdles for the Navajo Nation, creating a de facto extraction ban. In June of this year, a Navajo Nation representative who owns some of these mineral resources came to Capitol Hill to testify in front of the Natural Resources Committee on behalf of 131 Navajo Nation members about how detrimental H.R. 2181 would be to their land.…”