Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose H.J. Res. 131. The Congressional Review Act resolution here would overturn BLM's Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision.

My Republican colleagues are, once again, pursuing policies that expand our Nation's carbon pollution and expose our communities to future disasters. Not only would this legislation grant access to one of the most ecologically sensitive and, yes, incredibly difficult regions to drill but it would reverse significant strides that Democrats have made to protect lands that Tribal Nations have occupied since time immemorial.

This misguided bill would lock in oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area known to the Gwich'in people as the sacred place where life begins. The Coastal Plain is the heart of the Porcupine caribou's calving grounds. It hosts nearly 200 migratory bird species annually, connecting the rest of the United States and also the world to this cradle of our natural heritage.

Equally vital, the 9,000-strong Gwich'in Nation, whose subsistence and culture depend on the caribou herd, reside along the herd's migratory route, making any disruption not only a threat to biodiversity but also an assault on indigenous livelihoods and traditions.

Let me read a quote from the Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, Kristen Moreland. She says: ``It is unthinkable that our congressional decisionmakers continue to push to exploit the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge for oil and gas drilling.''

She continues: ``We rely on the caribou, not only spiritually and culturally, but for our survival and subsistence. This action from D.C. is an insult to the Gwich'in people and ignores those realities.''

Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic also oppose this proposal. They said:

Many Alaska Native communities are already facing negative

health impacts from oil and gas development on their lands

and are struggling to provide for their families due to

impacts on the local fish and wildlife populations.

Mr. Speaker, these words remind us that the climate crisis is here, it is real, and it is exacerbated by this administration's relentless push toward fossil fuels.

In the Arctic, temperatures are rising four times faster than the global average.

It is the indigenous communities in northern Alaska and in the refuge that are disproportionately feeling the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Melting permafrost and changing species migration patterns are threatening food security, cultural traditions, and their ways of life.

Mr. Speaker, you will hear my Republican colleagues argue that increased oil and gas development in the Arctic will be good for America's bottom line, but that is patently false. Let me take you back to 2017 when Republicans cut a backroom deal to help pay for Trump's billionaire tax cuts the first time around by drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

Two Arctic Refuge lease sales were included, in part, to offset the cost of those tax giveaways for the wealthy. Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration promised that these lease sales would bring in $1.8 billion in revenue for the Federal Government and the State of Alaska.

Well, when the first lease sale finally took place in 2021, guess what happened, Mr. Speaker?

It generated less than $15 million, that is around 2 percent, of what the CBO had estimated. In 2022, two of those lessees actually asked BLM to cancel and refund their leases.

Separately, in 2021, two development companies actually paid $10 million to walk away from their legacy leases in the Arctic Refuge. That is about the only revenue we have been able to generate in this spectacularly difficult place to drill.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group focused on deficit reduction, recently said that drilling in the refuge has never be a credible revenue offset, and it isn't now. They even found that new leasing in the area would only raise, at most, $30 million. That is a drop in the bucket, Mr. Speaker, when you consider my Republican colleagues' big, ugly bill will cost American taxpayers $3.4 trillion.

This resolution is the latest attack from my Republican colleagues to undercut our public lands, to prop up fossil fuel polluters, and the expensive energy sources that they peddle and leave people out of the decisionmaking process, all while driving up energy prices for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in the longstanding, bipartisan support for protecting the Arctic Refuge by opposing H.J. Res. 131, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, I strongly oppose this resolution. It would open up ecologically sensitive, culturally important, and incredibly remote regions of the Arctic to oil and gas drilling.

Drilling proponents have grossly overstated how much oil industry interest there is in drilling in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic refuge. The Arctic is an extremely remote and harsh environment requiring specialized equipment and infrastructure, making it one of the costliest places to drill in the entire world.

There have been multiple lease sales held in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which I want to emphasize is a wildlife refuge, and still no legitimate oil and gas company currently holds a lease there.

Even during President Trump's first term, no oil and gas company kept their leases. In fact, a recent report from Taxpayers for Common Sense outlined the lack of economic viability for any oil and gas development there, citing astronomically high costs in this remote region.

Let me be clear. House Republicans' actions today will do absolutely nothing to lower your energy bills, but it will allow for the sell-off of some of our most special and sacred public lands. That is why I oppose H.J. Res. 131 and all the CRA resolutions on the floor today.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 879, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 131) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ``Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.J. Res. 131.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 131 which would repeal a Biden administration-era Record of Decision, ROD, restricting oil and gas production on 1.16 million acres within the 10-02 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, also known as ANWR.

The 10-02 area of ANWR was specifically set aside by Congress for its oil and gas potential and is estimated to hold anywhere between 4.25 and 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Prior to the passage of the Working Families Tax Cut law, which requires four lease sales to be held over a 10-year period, Congress had previously mandated energy leasing in the area, an action that has the support of local North Slope communities and Native Villages.

Last Congress, we held a bipartisan legislative hearing on H.R. 6285, ``Alaska's Right to Produce Act,'' where we heard from Tribal representatives, including Inupiat leadership from the Native Village of Kaktovik, the only indigenous Tribal community within ANWR.

In that hearing, Doreen Leavitt, Director of Natural Resources for the Inupiat community of the Arctic Slope said:

The North Slope Inupiat live in one of the most remote

areas of the country, with none of their communities

connected by a permanent road system to each other or to

municipalities in the State, making private and

public investment very costly. It is up to their people to

seek out opportunities and partners to strengthen their

regional economy.

Instead of working with Arctic Slope communities to create economic opportunities, the Biden-era ROD further limited the economic prospects available to those in the region, reducing investment and cutting off essential new infrastructure that would support resource development.

During President Trump's first administration, consistent with Federal law and local voices, the Department of the Interior finalized plans to make all 1.56 million acres of the Coastal Plain available to oil and gas leasing.

Lamentably, in 2024, the Biden administration disregarded local Tribal voices and reversed course, implementing a new Record of Decision that chose the most restrictive alternative, making available the minimal amount of acreage for energy leasing.

The Biden administration also included energy-prohibitive stipulations in the ROD designed to undermine energy lease sales in the 10-02 area. These provisions were horrifically successful, as the last lease sale held received no bids.

The Biden administration's anti-energy decisions limit economic opportunities for local Alaskans and Alaska Natives living within ANWR.

Congress must move to repeal the Biden administration-era ROD that runs counter to congressional intent and unfairly reduces economic opportunities in the region.

I thank Representative Begich for his work on H.J. Res. 131 so we can restore common sense to the management of ANWR's vast resources and, again, unleash American energy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Begich), who is the lead sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I thank my colleagues for supporting this critical legislation and engaging in this meaningful discussion.

Before I close, I want to highlight another statement from Director Leavitt, which she offered during a Natural Resources Committee hearing last Congress. Mr. Stauber, in his testimony, talked about how the locals in the area just wished someone would listen to them. Director Leavitt said this: ``Had the administration acted according to the Indian Reorganization Act or its own orders, its leadership and staff would have made allowance for the fact that the ICAS [the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope], alongside many other North Slope Tribes and entities like the Native Village of Kaktovik, Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and more, have a long history of supporting responsible resource development projects in ANWR. The Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, of which ICAS is a member, has a standing resolution supporting the responsible exploration and

development of the 10-02 area of ANWR.''

H.J. Res. 131 responds to the wishes of the local people who call ANWR home and unleashes the region's bountiful natural resources for the benefit of U.S. energy security and the economic well-being of local communities.

I again urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as the sole Representative of Alaska in the United States House, I rise today in strong support of H.J. Res. 131, a resolution to overturn the Biden administration's 2024 Record of Decision, an action that severely restricted energy development on the coastal plain of Alaska's North Slope.

For Alaskans, this issue is foundational--economically, strategically, and culturally.

The 10-02 area of ANWR, the coastal plain, is the most studied piece of land in Alaska and one of the most resource-rich energy basins in North America. Congress set this area aside specifically because of its oil and gas potential, and Congress has twice mandated that it be leased for energy development.

Yet in December 2024, in the final days of the outgoing administration, the Department of the Interior issued a new Record of Decision that made only 400,000 acres available, a mere 25 percent of the legally designated coastal plain, effectively shutting down 1.16 million acres that Congress expressly told the Department to lease.

That Record of Decision ignored Congress. It ignored the statutory mandate in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and it ignored the voices of the people who actually live on Alaska's North Slope.

Thanks to a request from Alaska's delegation, the Government Accountability Office issued a legal opinion on August 25 confirming that this 2024 Record of Decision is a rule under the Congressional Review Act. That opinion, printed in the Congressional Record in September, triggered the CRA window that allows Congress to act today.

Congress must act because Alaskans have spoken clearly, and they have spoken loudly.

The North Slope Inupiat leadership, including the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the North Slope Borough, and the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, have consistently supported responsible development in the 10-02 area of our North Slope. For decades, they have supported balanced development because they know how vital it is to sustain their communities, maintain their way of life, and fund essential public services.

Oil and gas development on the North Slope provides 95 percent of local tax revenue, which pays for schools, clinics, utilities, public safety, and infrastructure in some of the most remote and high-cost communities in America. Without development, those services disappear.

Mr. Speaker, the law is clear. The science is clear, and the economic reality is undeniable. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the coastal plain contains 10.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil, a resource that can strengthen America's energy security at a time when geopolitical instability is rising and global energy demand is surging.

President Trump recognized this on day one, issuing executive order 14153, Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential, directing the Secretary of the Interior to restore the lawful 2020 framework.

The Bureau of Land Management is already implementing that directive, working to reinstate the 2020 Record of Decision and moving forward with the four statutorily required lease sales mandated by the American working families tax cut.

However, unless we disapprove of the 2024 ROD today, regulatory whiplash will continue, investment will remain frozen, and local communities will shoulder the burden of Federal indecision.

H.J. Res. 131 ends that uncertainty. It restores the legally compliant 2020 Record of Decision. It restores the full acreage Congress authorized for leasing, and it restores, importantly, the voice of the North Slope residents in Alaska.

Mr. Speaker, Alaska has the energy the world needs. America has the workforce to develop that energy responsibly, and Alaska's communities, from Utqiagvik to Kaktovik, have been asking for consistency, partnership, and respect from their Federal Government.

Today we can answer that call, and I urge my colleague to vote ``yes,'' and support Alaska, support American energy security.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the CRA resolution introduced by my good friend and colleague Representative Begich. This resolution overturns the Biden administration's actions to prevent the great people of Alaska from accessing and responsibly developing their abundant oil and gas resources on the North Slope.

Yet again, these actions were just another part of the Democrat and President Biden's anywhere but America, any worker but American agenda.

This was put out by the Biden administration, Mr. Speaker, on December 8, mere weeks before the transition to the Trump administration.

Last Congress I was proud to introduce the Alaska's Right to Produce Act which reversed many of these same anti-American energy policies of the Biden administration and passed the House with bipartisan support.

Alaska is blessed with a tremendous wealth of natural resources. In fact, when Alaska was admitted to the Union, there was a specific condition laid out that the new State would develop these abundant natural resources for the benefit of all Alaskans and all Americans.

The Biden administration took step after step to block the Alaskan people from developing these resources. The Biden administration levied more sanctions on the State of Alaska than they did on Iran. Congress time and time again has passed laws to encourage and even require oil and gas leasing and development in the 10-02 area of ANWR. The Biden administration's Record of Decision runs completely counter to the laws that Congress has enacted, and they played games to discourage development like only offering unfavorable acreage in their lease sale.

These policies run counter to the wishes of the Alaska Natives across the North Slope of Alaska. I had the honor of leading a bipartisan delegation of my colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee to the North Slope last year to visit with these Alaska Natives and see the responsible oil and gas operations firsthand.

These individuals depend on revenues from oil and gas development for their everyday lives. In fact, Alaska Natives who are enrolled shareholders of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation collect nearly $30,000 a year thanks to responsible oil and gas development on the North Slope.

The Biden administration failed to properly consult with the people of the North Slope when they decided to lock up ANWR and the NPR-A. Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland refused request after request to meet and hear from them. This was told to us in a meeting in the Natural Resources Committee.

The CRA resolution will correct this by giving Alaska and the Alaska Natives of the North Slope the opportunity to responsibly develop the 10-02 area of ANWR, which was set aside by Congress for this direct purpose.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for introducing this important CRA resolution on behalf of all Alaskans, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this resolution. I look forward to this passing this House.