Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6011, the Right-of-Way Application Transparency and Accountability Act. There is a rapidly growing demand for renewable energy across the country, and our Federal public lands have significant potential to support that growth. In fact, we are well on our way to developing 25 gigawatts of clean energy on public lands by 2025, the goal set in the Energy Act of 2020. Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is processing 74 utility- scale onshore clean energy projects, including solar, wind, geothermal, and transmission lines, all of which are vital to the clean energy transition. In order for solar, wind, and transmission to use our public lands, however, these renewable projects are required to secure a right-of-way any time a project will use or disturb public lands. Also, the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act have tremendous amount of potential on our public lands, as well as on Tribal lands. However, for example, when a Tribe, such as the Navajo Nation in my district, needs to repair a bridge, they must also secure a right-of-way. This can be an incredibly cumbersome process, especially when dealing with the checkerboard pattern of many Tribal areas that intersect with BLM land, Forest Service land, private land, allottee land, and land held in trust.…”