Haley Stevens: “I hope the good Lord will help me hold my temper, and I think that will be the case. The Senator from Illinois said some…”

“I hope the good Lord will help me hold my temper, and I think that will be the case. The Senator from Illinois said some things that were not true. I have not promised him one single thing. As a matter of fact, I asked for his apology once; I wouldn't accept it now. I wish to tell the Senator that I first went to the North Slope--and there are people from the North Slope right up in the gallery--I went to the North Slope first in 1953 as a young U.S. attorney. I have been going there ever since. My best friends in Alaska are up there. My first wife used to go up there and go on whaling trips and spend days with them. We know this Arctic. You don't know the Arctic at all. They will tell you, as I will tell you, that it is 2,000 acres of Arctic. Is that worth this fight? Did I bring this fight on? It was the minority in the House that refused to vote for the rule that we passed on the reconciliation bill. This provision was in the reconciliation bill. The majority voted for it. Every other time it has been brought up, except once, the minority has filibustered keeping the commitment made to me by two Democratic Senators in 1980, Senator Jackson and Senator Tsongas. They wrote the amendment; I didn't. They wrote the amendment that kept this area open for oil and gas leases. I tell the Senator from Illinois that I was the one who drew the order that was issued creating an Arctic wildlife range in 1958 in which oil and gas leasing was specifically permitted.…”