Jared Huffman: “This amendment, I am sorry to say, is another delay tactic in order to buy this administration more time to jam through…”

“This amendment, I am sorry to say, is another delay tactic in order to buy this administration more time to jam through a lease sale. We know that former Assistant Secretary Joe Balash said earlier this year that the leased sale will happen in 2019 and that the administration is running over all opposition in order to make that happen, ignoring concerns of wildlife biologists about impacts from seismic testing and oil development itself. Now, I said ``former Assistant Secretary'' when I referred to Mr. Balash, because he left the Department of the Interior. Just days ago, he was a top official--remember--pushing for drilling in the Arctic Refuge, and he left to take a job with an oil company that stands to profit from the Trump administration's oil giveaway bonanza. You can't make this stuff up, folks. Anyone who thought Teapot Dome was the high watermark of corruption at the Department of the Interior I hope is paying attention to the incredible craven levels of corruption that we are seeing today. These are the folks who this amendment would entrust with the authority to call the shots on whether drilling should proceed. Unfortunately, this is not a serious proposal. I urge my colleagues to oppose it, and I reserve the balance of my time.”