Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2011. For far too long, bureaucratic red tape has prevented Indian tribes from pursuing economic development opportunities on tribal trust lands, including energy development. For years, Indian tribes have expressed concerns about how Federal laws and regulations governing the management of trust resources, including energy resources, create significant delays and uncertainty in development proposals. This bill represents an effort to deal with some of those concerns, and for the Record I would like to highlight some of its provisions. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included an Indian Energy title--Title V--that, in significant part, attempts to deal with these delays and uncertainties that are inherent in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' energy leasing process, by providing Indian tribes with an alternative way to develop their energy resources. However, more than 6 years after the enactment of that act, it appears that no tribe has yet availed itself of the new energy development process authorized in the 2005 Act. This bill includes a number of amendments to the alternative process established back in 2005, all of which are intended to facilitate the use of that section--to make the process easier for Indian tribes to follow and more predictable--be clearing away some of the red tape and other impediments.…”