Joe Lieberman: “The Secretaries point out the value of the land in question here, the Arctic Refuge. They quote the Secretary of the…”

“The Secretaries point out the value of the land in question here, the Arctic Refuge. They quote the Secretary of the Interior under President Eisenhower. It was Eisenhower who originally created this refuge. That letter states that the area was: biologically irreplaceable land that should be put aside for the purpose of preserving the unique wildlife wilderness and recreational values. As the signatories' letter points out, the 40 years since Secretary Seaton's comments have only strengthened the case that this is a unique wildlife and recreational area of our country and deserves to be preserved. I ask my colleagues to please vote against cloture on the amendment, the Lott amendment to the railroad retirement bill. In summary, drilling in the refuge pales in comparison to more environmentally sound and strategic energy alternatives. Drilling in the refuge will do nothing to provide energy independence, providing a mere 6-month supply of oil that will not come on line for a decade. Drilling will do almost nothing to stimulate our economy, providing some short-term jobs when we can provide a much greater, longer term stimulus for our economy by undertaking projects such as the natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay and increasing our investment in new and emerging technologies. Finally, our values teach us that not every available natural resource should be exploited.”