Bruce Westerman

This committee is committed to territorial self-determination and improving the livelihoods of all Americans on the islands.

I want to thank them for working tirelessly to bring the issues important to their districts to this committee.

I appreciate all the help that you all provided to us in coming up with the new COFA agreement.

But the relative amount of rise right now compared to 400 feet of rise and fall is hard to fathom.

So, given that Lease Sale 261 was held on December 20, 2023, under the Inflation Reduction Act, your agency can offer offshore wind leases only until December 2024 without another oil and gas sale.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify during the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Hearing.

So, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to explain some basic economics in a free-market capital system that gets manipulated by cartels and countries that join together to set oil prices when we don't have enough production.

This monumental mis-step that is nearly 2 years late marks an unprecedented shift in offshore policies.

With fewer opportunities to lease in U.S. waters, investment will flow overseas and hostile nations will have greater influence over global energy markets.

This is not just a break from tradition; it is a radical pivot by Secretary Haaland and Director Klein with catastrophic repercussions for our energy future.

The Biden administration's agenda of limiting oil and gas lease sales at all cost sets a deeply troubling precedent for American offshore access.

BOEM's plan assumes a 400 percent increase in transmission capacity over the next 30 years.

It seems clear that the Park Service is failing to keep the three legs of the stool in balance.

I was stunned to find out that the Park Service is inflating its backlog by 35 percent, or roughly $3.7 billion, with absolutely no justification.

It seems clear that the Park Service never really understood the real scope of the problem.

It is clear that we need to face the reality that the Park Service is falling short of this goal.

I believe everybody in this room shares a common goal. We all want to improve our parks and leave them in better condition than how we found them.

I am also deeply concerned with findings that the National Park Service is not adequately monitoring completed deferred maintenance projects, particularly projects that immediately affect the health, life, and safety of members of the…

The bottom line is, I asked for a report just in the Little Rock and Tulsa Districts over a 2-year timeframe. These two provisions cost $18 million.

It is just raising that limit to be able to do purchases without competitively bidding.

I think this is her last WRDA, so, we need to make it a good one.

We can do lots of good for the environment while we are building up our capacity to mine in space.

Even if we are not worried about mining it for 50 years, we will have just signed off the future because we didn't deal with it today.

It is just mind boggling that we are actually having to have a hearing to talk about pushing back on the administration that is trying to tear out green energy from the Pacific Northwest.

The Biden administration's ongoing efforts to dismantle critical parts of our infrastructure.