Steven Holt: “I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. This is really important. The country needs this money. The country owns this…”

“I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. This is really important. The country needs this money. The country owns this land. The country deserves these royalties. And whether we have not collected these royalties because of a mistake or because of a cozy relationship with the oil companies and the other party, for whatever reason these weren't collected, they should be collected. Royalty relief? No, it's not relief. This is what is supposed to be paid. And I think about all of the things that it should be going for. Portions of the royalties are owed to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This is what we spoke about yesterday, our Nation's most successful open space preservation program that is supposed to take money from the depletion of resources--these oil resources--and apply it to preservation of parks, recreation, and open space. That's just one of the things that should be done with this money that is owed to the American taxpayers.”