Jared Huffman: “This is, unfortunately, another delay tactic intended to enable this administration to rush through oil lease sales in…”

“This is, unfortunately, another delay tactic intended to enable this administration to rush through oil lease sales in the Arctic refuge. And now I am afraid my friends across the aisle are really stretching. This argument that oil development is good for caribou is something we have heard before. It has been debunked every single time we hear it. But, if you really want to see the craven nature of this proposal, focus on the fact that the person who would make the decision, who would strike that balance between oil drilling and caribou protection, is none other than the Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, an oil and gas lobbyist who temporarily left the payroll of the oil and gas industry for a little time in public service and has never stopped representing their interests. And we all know that, a year and a half from now, he will be right back on Big Oil's payroll. So this is not a serious argument. This is a delay tactic. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”