Jared Huffman: “Unfortunately, this amendment is a stall tactic to delay the bill's protections for the Arctic refuge from taking effect…”

“Unfortunately, this amendment is a stall tactic to delay the bill's protections for the Arctic refuge from taking effect until the Secretary of the Interior--a walking conflict of interest who became the subject of investigations into ethical violations just 4 days into his job--has conducted a ``consultation'' process and received formal action from one village, the village of Kaktovik. I wish that same concern for Native American community consultation had existed before the Republican tax bill was amended to insert this drilling mandate without any consultation with Native American Tribes, certainly not the Gwich'in people who may technically live a little further away from the drilling area, but we are talking about people who for millennia have depended on the Porcupine caribou herd that absolutely depends on this pristine beating heart of America's Arctic refuge. {time} 1030 So again, we are cherry-picking, I am afraid, which voices matter, which voices get to be listened to, and certainly putting this Secretary of the Interior in charge of that process would be a cruel joke. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.”