CBP must consult extensively with local communities by preparing a full EIS complete with public meetings and ample opportunities for the public and elected officials to understand the impacts.

I think it is time that we listened.

When will you stop destroying sacred sites?

Would you agree that Tongass National Forest in Alaska, 16 million acres of temperate rainforest, is exactly the kind of forest we should be protecting right now for its climate mitigation potential?

The Federal Government owes our government, and the governments of the local communities and states around us, more respect.

DHS currently is giving little more than lip service to consultation.

The fact is that while the Federal agencies pay lip service to tribal consultation, there is precious little way for tribal governments to enforce current consultation policies.

It is OK for this Administration to try to undo NEPA. It is OK for this Administration to try to undo ESA.

The fact that the Federal Government has continued to blast this area with human bone fragments of several tribes in the 21st century is, quite frankly, barbarous.

We urge Congress to exert its authority to protect our sacred sites.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and getting some answers to why this Administration continues to treat tribes as second-class citizens.

What would normally be considered a war crime for destroying cultural sites in another country is now considered status quo of this President and his administration and this needs to stop.