| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
Tens of thousands of pages have been released by Jamie Comer and 13 subpoenas has all been put out. | |
| So now the House just voted to have greater transparency. | ||
| Time will tell what that means in terms of what the court does and how they deal with grand jury secrecy and what they do to continue to redact and protect victims' names under existing laws and how the courts treat that. | ||
| That's going to be a process, as the gentleman likely knows, right? | ||
| This is going to be determined as to what gets released and how. | ||
| But here we have the gentlelady sitting in the oversight committee texting with a known convicted felon, a convicted pedophile that was very public and known, had served jail time, and is engaging not just in texts that were trivial, but texts involving advice about her questioning of Michael Cohen, all designed to figure out how to get Michael Cohen to be able to somehow go after Trump or Trump's advisors or people around the president. | ||
| That, to me, is what we talk about with censure, which is contemplated, of course, in our rules and in the structure. | ||
| The gentleman talked about the Constitution. | ||
| We're not removing her. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We're simply saying censure. | |
| And we're saying that it is a censurable conduct to say that this individual sitting on a committee taking advice from a known convicted pedophile, convicted felon, that that is conduct unbecoming of a member of the United States Congress and engaging in real time, taking advice from someone that we've been listening to being lectured to is someone deserving of all of the scorn of the entire world, and he is. | ||
| That's why we're here. | ||
| If my colleagues didn't think this was a concern, they would have simply made a motion to table. | ||
| But my colleagues decided to refer it to committee because they know this is a problem. | ||
| They know this is not the kind of conduct you want in a member of this body. | ||
| So I think that the gentleman from South Carolina is right to have brought this forward. | ||
| I think that the body should hear this debate and tonight that we should vote tonight to censure and refer to the Ethics Committee for further consideration. | ||
| And with that, I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen from South Carolina. | |
| A reserve. | ||
| Gentleman of Reserves, gentlemen from Maryland is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to my friend from Texas for those remarks. | ||
| I'm afraid all of them dance around the central issue, which is the good congressman knows how due process works in America. | ||
| There are facts that are adduced first. | ||
| There's an opportunity to be heard on both sides. | ||
| There's due process, there's consideration. | ||
| Then there's judgment. | ||
| You flipped the whole thing on its head. | ||
| You've said we're going to judge her guilty before anybody has an opportunity even to hear what the charges are, much less answer the charges, much less do any kind of analysis. | ||
| I'm sorry to hear that the text exchange that seems to be at the heart of people's consternation here took place during the distinguished gentleman's questioning, but that is not a federal offense, nor is it an ethical violation in the House of Representatives. | ||
| You don't get to have the undivided attention of all of your colleagues. | ||
| The gentleman says that he thinks that our position is that any association with Jeffrey Epstein is a dispositive moment of judgment for people. | ||
| That's not the position we've advanced. | ||
| We've taken the position with the survivors that we want to end the cover-up of what happened and then let the chips fall where they may. | ||
| If there are people who were actually engaged in crime, as Ghelaine Maxwell was, as Epstein was, then they should be charged with every element of due process. | ||
| If they happen to be a waiter or a waitress who works at an event, they're not guilty of anything. | ||
| That's what due process is. | ||
| We're able to sift through and figure it out. | ||
| But your rush to judgment isn't even giving anybody a chance to know what the charges are here. | ||
| It's the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. | ||
| I'm going to yield now to Delegate Plaskett herself, the distinguished representative from... | ||
| Oh, I'm sorry. | ||
| First, we've got Representative Crockett from Texas for two minutes. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| This is a distraction to take away from the fact that the Guardians of Pedophiles is literally trying to protect pedophiles. | ||
| The president is a convicted felon and an accused sex offender. | ||
| Stacey Plaskett hasn't been accused of either. | ||
| So what are we actually here talking about? | ||
| Trump and Epstein were besties. | ||
| We've all seen the pictures of them. | ||
| We saw the birthday book. | ||
| So why are y'all more interested in talking about Stacey Plaskett than Trump's relationship with the man? | ||
| When did y'all become so moral? | ||
| Because I can remember when y'all wouldn't sign the discharge petition. | ||
| All of a sudden, everybody wanted to vote for this, but you wouldn't sign the discharge petition. | ||
| Until we decide that we are going to go after the actual rapists and pedophiles, miss me with your moral high ground. | ||
| Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly. | ||
| Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldon, George Bush, Wynn Redd, McCain Palin, Rick Lazio. | ||
| I just want to be clear. | ||
| If this is the standard that we're going to make, just know we're going to expose it all. | ||
| And just know that the FEC filings, they are available for everybody to review. | ||
| This is absolutely ridiculous. | ||
| You decide that you want to punish a sitting member of Congress because you are concerned about her text messages. | ||
| Well, maybe you should be more concerned about those sex tapes that we still haven't gotten access to. | ||
| Maybe you should be more concerned with the fact that the president, his name is mentioned in the files way more than Stacey Plaskett's name. | ||
| Listen, I'm not saying that anything is right or wrong, but listen, if you're trying to figure out what's going on with somebody that's a criminal, then you maybe need to talk to their associates. | ||
| That's exactly why maybe she was getting text messages. | ||
| I'm not saying she was or wasn't. | ||
| But considering the fact that they were talking to another associate of the president's and maybe she needed intel, you'd have to go talk to somebody that maybe knows what he's up to. | ||
| Time has expired. | ||
| We reserve. | ||
| Gentleman from Maryland reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from South Carolina is recognized. | ||
| Speaker, I recognize my good friend from Arizona, Mr. Biggs. | ||
|
unidentified
|
How much time is the gentleman recognized? | |
| How much time? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Time you've allotted the gentleman from Arizona. | |
| How much time do we have left? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman has 17 minutes remaining. | |
| As much time as the gentleman may consume. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Norman. | ||
| Thank you for raising this issue. | ||
| To me, this is an interesting issue because I'm hearing the argument is coming at us and it says, well, you know, there's no due process. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, debate is a part of DuPar's process. | |
| That's part of what, that's part of due process, is to have this debate. | ||
| You get to stand up, get to defend, and get to raise your issues. | ||
| And you chose to take it back to committee, which, as Mr. Roy said, kind of indicates that maybe you know that there's something that's that's not great about this. | ||
| So I'm looking at this and here's here's at least one of the exchanges that that seems to have taken place. | ||
| And maybe we'll hear some comment about it. | ||
| That'd be good. | ||
| You can make some comment about it, but in this exchange, Mr. Epstein sent a text message to the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands. | ||
| And this is the quote. | ||
| He brings up Rona, keeper of the secrets. | ||
| And who's he referring to? | ||
| Rona Graff. | ||
| That's a Trump assistant. | ||
| And Plaskett responds, Rona, question mark? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Quick. | |
| I'm up next. | ||
| Is that an acronym? | ||
| So she wants to know what Mr. Epstein wants her to talk about. | ||
| Don't you find that interesting? | ||
| I find that really intriguing, especially since we know what Mr. Epstein was. | ||
| And Epstein responds, that's his assistant. | ||
| Don't really say much more than that. | ||
| And then Plaskett starts questioning Mr. Cohen and asks about Graf. | ||
| So not only was she texting, having this communication with Mr. Epstein, she's asking Mr. Cohen what Mr. Epstein wants her to ask. | ||
| Another text says from Epstein, good work. | ||
| That's after she wraps it up. | ||
| All of this seems to be very interesting. | ||
| And I'm sorry, I don't breathe the rarefied air of the Intelligence Committee. | ||
| I don't. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm just a regular guy and a member of the House. | |
| That's all. | ||
| So I don't know about that rarefied air. | ||
| And I guess I'm part of the sewage that Mr. Him said. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah. | |
| Yeah. | ||
| Thanks for agreeing with me, Ms. Plaskett. | ||
| So she's got us down. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Unless you're in the intelligence committee, you're crap. | |
| That's what the Intel Committee says. | ||
| But here's the deal. | ||
| When you're sitting there in a sitting committee and you're having communications with a convicted sex offender and you're taking their advice on how to ask questions, maybe you've got a problem. | ||
| Maybe your problem is that you've brought disrepute on the House. | ||
| And this isn't from the articles. | ||
| This is from the 10,000 pages or so released last week from the Oversight Committee that they received from the Epstein Estate. | ||
| This isn't fishing around. | ||
| This is coming from real evidence. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So I sit here and I listen. | |
| Oh, you know, she's the finest member that ever walked the planet, man. | ||
| That's what you heard. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But the bottom line is this. | |
| She's sitting there seeking advice and counsel on how to ask questions from Jeffrey Epstein, who this entire body, save one, just condemned. | ||
| And we want all the evidence. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And it's a shame to be here, but for one thing. | |
| You made the choice. | ||
| And so, Mr. Chairman, I'm encouraging everyone in this body to support Mr. Norman's resolution. | ||
| And I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Chairman Yields. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Chairman of South Carolina Reserves, the members are reminded to direct their commentary to the chair. | |
| Before I recognize the gentleman from Maryland, please remind yourself as well as the members to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. | ||
| Does the gentleman seek recognition? | ||
| Yes, they do. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| I want to remark that yet one more member says we should go ahead and censure her and then we should do a complete investigation. | ||
| I think any fifth grader in America knows that's the exact opposite of what due process means in America. | ||
| We don't punish people before we have an investigation and the opportunity to be heard. | ||
| I yield six minutes now to the distinguished gentlelady from Virgin Islands, Representative Plaskett. | ||
| Thank you so much to Mr. Raskin, to my former professor in law school, and I want to address the body. | ||
| I first want to give you all a sense of what was happening that day. | ||
| Everyone knows at that hearing in February, the entire country was watching as Michael Cohen decided he was going to finally give up information about what was happening in the Trump world, the Trump enterprise. | ||
| And at the beginning of that hearing, the ranking member Jim Jordan had the disrespect to Elijah Cummings, may he rest in peace and his name be a memory, after not allowing Mr. Jordan to shut the committee hearing down. | ||
| And I turned to Mr. Jordan and told him to have respect for the chair and to basically shut up. | ||
| And that moment went viral. | ||
| And I began to get innumerable texts from friends, from foes, from constituents about what was happening in that hearing. | ||
| And I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who at the time was my constituent, who was not public knowledge at that time that he was under federal investigation, and who was sharing information with me. | ||
| Now, I heard recently from someone that I was seeking advice from him. | ||
| Let me tell you something. | ||
| I don't need to get advice on how to question anybody from any individual. | ||
| I have been a lawyer for 30 years. | ||
| I have been a narcotics prosecutor in New York City. | ||
| I have had the honor of being a political appointee at the Justice Department after September 11th as a Republican appointee in the Bush administration. | ||
| I know how to question individuals. | ||
| I know how to seek information. | ||
| I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, from other individuals, because I want the truth, not because I need them to tell me what to say. | ||
| And if you look at the transcript, you will see that I questioned Michael Cohen for five minutes. | ||
| The Washington Post only shows you 30 seconds and takes from it one individual's name that I got from Jeffrey Epstein and didn't know who the individual was, and put that individual with a host of other individuals that I felt the committee should subpoena. | ||
| They've never been subpoenaed. | ||
| They've never been questioned. | ||
| Because at the end of the day, I know that in the Trump administration and with my colleagues over there, it's not about sexual assault. | ||
| It's not about support of victims. | ||
| It's about money. | ||
| It is about money. | ||
| I have consistently stood against sexual violence and the exploitation of women and children in previous careers as well as here in this body. | ||
| We all know that Jeffrey Epstein's actions were absolutely reprehensible. | ||
| As a constituent, as an individual who gave donations to me, when I learned of the extent of his actions after his investigation, I gave that money to women's organizations in my community. | ||
| Not back to him, but to women in the community who needed that support. | ||
| what I think should have been done, and that's what I did. | ||
| They've taken a text exchange which shows no participation, no assistance, no involvement in any illegal activity, and weaponized it for political theater, because that's what this is. | ||
| This has been reviewed by federal courts. | ||
| Any charges, victims who initially had a case against me dismissed it on their own without prejudice. | ||
| You don't want to talk about what is really happening here. | ||
| Your attacks on working families, your protection of powerful predators and corporate criminals. | ||
| You want to talk about texting felons? | ||
| How often do you text President Donald J. Trump? | ||
| That's the individual we should be concerned about. | ||
| And let me tell you this. | ||
| I am not going to support the wealthy and connected who continue to exploit workers and evade taxes, powerful figures with credible allegations who face no consequences, and corporate interests profiting from human suffering while families struggle. | ||
| And let me tell the people of the Virgin Islands. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen of the State's point of order. | |
| The point of order is you may not call the President of the United States a felon. | ||
| That is a violation. | ||
| The point of order is under consideration, and we're not going to lose order here either. | ||
| So please. | ||
| May I continue? | ||
| May I continue with the Speaker? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Members are, however, reminded to refrain, as mentioned a little while ago, from making personality commentary towards the President. | |
| The point of order is not timely, so the gentlelady is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| What is happening here? | ||
| I feel sorry for my colleagues. | ||
| I feel sorry for this body. | ||
| I see members coming and speaking against me who I've never even had a conversation with. | ||
| You don't know me. | ||
| You don't know the work that I've done. | ||
| You don't know the support that I've given to families, to individuals, to support people. | ||
| I worked a full-time job with children under the age of five, going to school, law school at night. | ||
| Do you think I would risk my law degree for any individual? | ||
| Never mind a reprehensible individual by Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| I would not. | ||
| But what I am about is the truth. | ||
| And let me tell the people of the Virgin Islands, this attempt at intimidation will pass. | ||
| We in the Virgin Islands do not back down from a fight. | ||
| That is how we won our freedom, and that is how we will continue to grow our equality. | ||
| And if you censure me, take away a committee, I will still do the work because I am here to support people and to support this great constitution, which I have sworn numerous times to uphold. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We reserve. | |
| And I thank the gentleman reserves. | ||
| Gentlemen from South Carolina is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, before I recognize Mr. Clyde, let me just say, Ms. Plaskett, I don't know you. | ||
| My overall impression of you has been good. | ||
| But you give these words about protecting families and children. | ||
| Where was that demonstrated when you took money from a convicted pedophile that had served time? | ||
| Where was that? | ||
| The words are beyond believability. | ||
| And I think you're a nice person, but you missed the boat when you took my. | ||
| I've got the mic now. | ||
| You lost your, I don't know the word to describe it. | ||
| But what you did, you deserve to come off to committees. | ||
| And let me remind you, we want this to go to the Ethics Commission. | ||
| And to those listening, the Ethics Commission is five Democrats and five Republicans. | ||
| Let them find it. | ||
| But in the meantime, you do not deserve to serve on a committee with national clearance. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And I would like now to be reminded again to direct their commentary to the chair. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my good friend from Georgia, Mr. Andrew Clyde. | ||
|
unidentified
|
How much time is the gentleman recognizing shall they recognize him? | |
| How much time is left? | ||
|
unidentified
|
You have 11 and a half minutes remaining. | |
| Five minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen's recognized for five minutes. | |
| I thank the gentleman for yielding, my good friend Mr. Norman from South Carolina. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands for inappropriate coordination with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing and removing Delegate Plaskett from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and referring her to the Ethics Committee for further investigation. | ||
| After four years of silence on this matter, not a peep during the entire Biden administration, let me repeat that. | ||
| After four years of silence on this matter about Jeffrey Epstein, House Democrats are now demanding transparency and accountability surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. | ||
| While their fake outrage is clearly just another disgusting attempt to smear President Trump, House Republicans are taking this matter seriously and are working toward delivering the much-needed transparency and accountability that the American people deserve. | ||
| This resolution is accountability, page one. | ||
| During the House Oversight Committee's ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, emails obtained by a congressional subpoena, that's right, it was the congressional subpoena by the House Oversight Committee, not the discharge petition that just got voted on, | ||
| but this was the Oversight Committee's congressional subpoena, has brought to light that in 2019, Delegate Stacey Plaskett coordinated her line of questioning with Jeffrey Epstein in real time over text messages during an oversight committee hearing featuring testimony from Michael Cohen. | ||
| Now, who is Michael Cohen? | ||
| Michael Cohen was the disgraced former attorney of President Donald Trump. | ||
| She was asking input from Jeffrey Epstein on how to best question Cohen, and Cohen was himself at that time a convicted felon from 2018. | ||
| So now that Republicans are exposing Democrat ties to Jeffrey Epstein and his vile crimes, the other side of the aisle has flipped. | ||
| They apparently no longer want transparency or accountability. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Because they don't want the truth. | ||
| They want to weaponize a serious matter into a distraction, all in an attempt to take down President Trump and to hurt his administration and what he's doing to make America great again. | ||
| The actions taken by Delegate Plaskett reflect poorly on the House, and this body needs to hold her accountable. | ||
| I urge all of my colleagues to vote to adopt this resolution to show the American people that those who colluded with Mr. Epstein, including members of the House, will be held accountable. | ||
| And this resolution is the beginning of that. | ||
| I thank you, and I yield back. | ||
| Gentlemen, yield to the chair. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, General South Carolina Reserves, gentlemen from Maryland is recognized. | ||
| Proud to yield one minute to the distinguished minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
| The minority leader is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from the great state of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee for yielding. | ||
| I rise today in strong opposition. | ||
| This resolution, this effort to censure Delegate Plaskett to rip away her membership on the Intel Committee is nothing more than a political stunt by a desperate failed candidate for governor, trying to pander to the people back in South Carolina. | ||
| Nothing more than that. | ||
| You want to make the statement about who's brought disgrace to the House. | ||
| The actions of this House Republican majority have brought disgrace to the House of Representatives from day one of this presidency. | ||
| The reality is, if you want to talk about fealty to the Constitution and things of that nature, the House is a separate and co-equal branch of government. | ||
| You don't seem to understand that. | ||
| You functioned from the very beginning of your so-called majority, Mr. Speaker, not as a check and balance on an out-of-control administration, but as a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, and you are failing the American people. | ||
| You failed to keep your core promise. | ||
| Your core promise to the American people was that you were going to lower costs on day one. | ||
| Costs haven't gone down here in the United States of America. | ||
| Costs have gone up. | ||
| The Trump economy is a complete and total failure. | ||
| It's a disaster. | ||
| The American people are hurting. | ||
| And so every week you come to the House floor now that you've returned from your seven-week taxpayer-funded vacation and come up with another stunt to try to distract the American people. | ||
| Or perhaps you were ordered by your puppet master, Donald Trump, who wants to distract the American people today because his effort to suppress the Jeffrey Epstein files has failed spectacularly. | ||
| We believe in transparency. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We believe in accountability. | |
| We believe in due process. | ||
| That's the opposite of what is happening on the floor today. | ||
| And let me be very clear about Stacey Plaskett. | ||
| She's a woman of great intelligence and a woman of great integrity. | ||
| And she deserves better than what she's receiving from House Republican extremists. | ||
| She deserves the opportunity to be heard. | ||
| She deserves due process. | ||
| She deserves the ability to make her case. | ||
| Not to be prosecuted by petty foggers, playing lawyer on the floor of the House of Representatives. | ||
| Google that if you don't know what it means. | ||
| The so-called Freedom Caucus wants to lecture us about proceeding at this moment. | ||
| The actions that you continue to engage in will have consequences. | ||
| Consequences today, consequences tomorrow, consequences next week, consequences next year, and certainly consequences when the American people throw this House Republican majority out in the aftermath of the election next November. | ||
| Be very careful about the extreme actions that you continue to engage in. | ||
| Now, it's extraordinary to me, week after week, censure after censure. | ||
| And I wonder, is it just coincidence that the last three censures we've had on the House floor happen to involve, first you tried to censure Lamonica MacGyver. | ||
| And then, Mr. Speaker, Republicans tried to censure Ilhan Omar. | ||
| And now we're on the floor and you're trying to censure Stacey Plaskett. | ||
| What is it exactly that those three individuals have in common? | ||
| House Republicans are going to have to answer for the things, the extreme things that you continue to do. | ||
| And the American people know this is a phony majority. | ||
| It's a fake majority. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's not a real majority. | |
| Republicans aren't doing anything to make life better for the American people. | ||
| And that's why we're on the floor right now. | ||
| There's nothing that House Republicans can do to disgrace Stacey Plaskett because House Republicans continue to disgrace themselves. | ||
| And so whatever happens later on this evening, the American people will hear from Delegate Plaskett beyond this, making her case. | ||
| The people of the Virgin Islands, I'm confident, will continue to stand behind her. | ||
| And we will never be lectured on issues related to accountability and transparency and principle and ethics from this group of extreme House Republicans who continue to visit a national nightmare on the American people, bending the knee to a wannabe king, doing real harm in real time. | ||
| And at the end of the day, your time is coming as well. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Chairman Yields. | |
| Hey, how much time do we have, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| Gentleman has four and a half minutes. | ||
| Three and a half minutes. | ||
| All members are again reminded, including minority leader, to direct your comments to the chair. | ||
| All members are again instructed, including a minority leader, to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. | ||
| The gentleman from Maryland seeks recognition. | ||
| Gentleman from Maryland Reserves, gentlemen from South Carolina. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the minority leader mentioned that, you know, we've got not really a majority. | ||
| I will tell you, 77 million people are a majority. | ||
| They rendered the consequences to elect the president that has revived this country from a disaster four years under the Biden administration. | ||
| Let's go back under a little bit of history here about the hearing. | ||
| The messages show that Plaskett texted Epstein before the hearings that started that day at 7.55. | ||
| She texted him, the sex offender, the predator on the children she says she protects. | ||
| They had comments like she told him told Ms. Plaskett talk about his grades. | ||
| She mentioned that she had a great-looking outfit. | ||
| This is from Mr. Epstein. | ||
| In 1040, she broadcast a feed cut to Ms. Plaskett, showing her moving her mouth as if she was chewing something. | ||
| And Ms. Plaskett mentioned that she had multiple texts. | ||
| Well, according to the records, and I don't know how many of her texts came from those convicted of felonies, but at 225, Epstein sent 225 minutes before Plaskett began questioning Cohen at 2.28. | ||
| Epstein messaged back good work at 2.34, one minute after Plaskett finished her question to Cohen. | ||
| So the whole five minutes was pretty much conducted under the direction of a convicted pedophile. | ||
| And this dialogue, Ms. Plaskett was reached by phone Thursday. | ||
| Plaskett declined to answer questions about the text messages and directed all inquiries to congressional staff. | ||
| Plaskett's chief of staff said Thursday she was not in a position to confirm or not whether the Congresswoman was texting with Mr. Epstein at the hearing. | ||
| She did not respond to follow-up questions. | ||
| By the way, these are facts. | ||
| These are text messages. | ||
| She can't, this one's smoking mirrors. | ||
| So it's interesting that they're taking that tact. | ||
| But, Ms. Speaker, how much time do I have left? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Chairman has six and a half minutes remaining. | |
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen from South Carolina Reserves, gentlemen from Maryland. | |
| I'm yielding one minute to the representative from New York, Ms. Clark. | ||
| Gentlelady is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, the conscience of the Congress, in strong opposition to this resolution. | ||
| This resolution is a blatantly partisan, shameless attack. | ||
| As we sit here today, Donald Trump is still the single person in this country with the authority and the ability to deliver justice to survivors and truth to the American people by just releasing the files. | ||
| So instead of answering why Donald Trump chooses every single day not to release the Epstein files, they're pointing fingers at this side of the aisle. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, unlike the President, Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett has committed no crime, violated no rule, and broken no promises. | ||
| There has been no investigation, no due process, no inquiry into whether the Congresswoman had any connection whatsoever to Epstein's despicable and disgusting criminal conduct. | ||
| This resolution would have us remove a capable and hardworking member of one of the most serious working committees in this body on the basis of a conversation from more than six years ago, which broke no rules. | ||
| Broke no rules and has no connection to any criminal activity. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote no on this partisan resolution, this sham, and I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Maryland Reserve, gentlemen from South Carolina, Speaker, I reserve. | ||
| Come from South Carolina Reserves. | ||
| And we're prepared to close. | ||
| It's closed. | ||
| Yes. | ||
| I'm prepared to close. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Gentleman from South Carolina is prepared to close. | ||
| Marilyn is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. | ||
| I want to start by addressing the young people who appear to be in the audience this evening because I'm afraid some of my arguments are lost on some of our colleagues across the aisle suffering from Trump derangement syndrome. | ||
| It seems to have completely warped their minds today, and they're not thinking clearly about the Constitution or about the rule of law. | ||
| But the young people here will recognize if they read this resolution immediately what's wrong with it, because it's replete with phrases like this, that this one incident that they're referring to raises serious questions about the integrity and the fitness to serve. | ||
| Well, I think that's absurd, but in any event, if you think it raises serious questions, presumably you would want the answers to those questions, but you don't get answers by rushing to judgment and turning the whole process upside down. | ||
| This resolution starts by saying we censure her, we remove her from committee, and the very next component of it says we direct the Committee on Ethics to conduct an investigation. | ||
| That is the opposite of due process, and I hope at least future generations will understand that's not how we hold people accountable, whether it's under criminal law, under civil law, or under an ethics process, which they purport to want to be launching here. | ||
| Again, go back to the George Santos standard. | ||
| The reason we voted against just hanging him out to dry and censoring him and expelling him is because the process hadn't happened yet. | ||
| And Democrats and Republicans together did it, but they're thinking in solely partisan terms. | ||
| Even Matt Gates, accused of having sex with a 17-year-old, was never censured by the House of Representatives. | ||
| Even with Speaker McCarthy and others condemning him for what he did, we did not censure him. | ||
| Think about what you're doing to the precedence of this body by trying to attack Ms. Plaskett. | ||
| And let me just close with a personal thought. | ||
| I wasn't going to bring it up because I didn't want to embarrass her, but she was one of the three finest students I ever had in constitutional law. | ||
| She was a straight A student in the early 1990s. | ||
| She's a straight A student in the 21st century. | ||
| I'm proud not only that she was my student, but that she's my friend and that she's my colleague. | ||
| And you don't disgrace us in any way. | ||
| You go to work every day for the people of Virgin Islands, and we're proud of you. | ||
| With that, I'll yield back. | ||
| Gentleman Yields, gentlemen from South Carolina, is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the president is occupying the minds of my good friend on the left, rent-free. | ||
| And it's interesting they bring him up every time and keep doing it. | ||
| Keep doing it. | ||
| This president's got a record that is second to none. | ||
| And I hope our listeners in the audience can distinguish between just words and babbling on when they reject the facts of what's been presented. | ||
| Texts don't lie. | ||
| And they can offer all the excuses. | ||
| And I do think Ms. Plask is a nice lady. | ||
| She made a mistake here, a bad mistake. | ||
| She took advice from a convicted pedophile that is indefensible in this discussion here today. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I've listened to my colleagues defend the indefensible. | ||
| I've heard everything from this is old news to this is just politics. | ||
| But not a single person has disputed the key fact. | ||
| Written records in Epstein's own estate documents show delegate Plaskett sought his input for an official hearing. | ||
| This is the issue. | ||
| That alone. | ||
| Everything else is just noise. | ||
| This chamber cannot overlook that a sitting member of Congress coordinated with a convicted sex offender to prepare questions for an official proceeding. | ||
| Imagine telling the American people that that's acceptable. | ||
| Imagine explaining to parents all across this country that Congress sees no problem with relying on the counsel of a predator of our innocent children. | ||
| Some of my colleagues want to blur the edges, soften the facts, or bury this under procedural fog, noise as I call it. | ||
| But sunlight is the best disinfectant, and accountability is not optional. | ||
| This resolution is not excessive at all. | ||
| It is appropriate. | ||
| It is measured. | ||
| It is necessary at this time. | ||
| The question before us is very simple: Do we uphold a minimal, a minimal standard for ethical conduct, or do we just shrug and say, well, maybe next time? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the public deserves better. | ||
| The House deserves better. | ||
| The American people deserve better. | ||
| I urge adoption of this resolution, and I yield the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman yields. | |
| Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the resolution. | ||
| The question is on the adoption of the resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| Welcome to procedural democracy. | ||
| What purpose does the gentleman seek with the public? | ||
| I request a recorded vote, and I challenge the speaker's interpretation of the voice vote. | ||
| Does the gentleman ask for the yays and nays? | ||
| I ask for the a's and the nays. | ||
| The yeas and nays are requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote by the yes and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yays and nays are ordered. | ||
| Pursuant to Clause 8 of Rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westman, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 879, I call up HJ Res 130 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. | |
| House Joint Resolution 130, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Buffalo Field Office record of decision and approved resource management plan amendment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Pursuant to House Resolution 879, the joint resolution is considered read. | |
| The joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westman, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Huffman, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westman. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on HJ Res 130. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | |
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| I rise in strong support of HJ Res 130, which would repeal the Bureau of Land Management's Misguided Resource Management Plan, or RMP, amendment for the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming, which was finalized in the twilight hours of the Biden-Harris administration. | ||
| Wyoming's Powder River Basin currently supplies 40 percent of the nation's coal. | ||
| The RMP amendment in question effectively halted future federal coal leasing across a region in Wyoming larger than New Jersey and located in the heart of America's coal country. | ||
| Without repeal, the RMP amendment will end coal production in the region entirely by 2041 and close 12 active mines. | ||
| The RMP amendment is a deathblow to America's energy security, Wyoming's workers, and the economic backbone of the state itself. | ||
| It is projected that U.S. electricity demand will grow by as much as 128 gigawatts through 2029, and global energy demand is expected to double by 2050. | ||
| Coal is reliable, affordable, and essential to meet the increasing power demands of the AI revolution and advanced manufacturing. | ||
| The RMP amendment locked up an astonishing 48 billion short tons of coal. | ||
| That's enough to meet U.S. coal demand for the next 116 years. | ||
| 92 percent of Wyoming's coal is exported to other states, helping keep the lot zone and utility prices affordable in places in distant places as far as Texas, Illinois, and my home state of Arkansas. | ||
| Nationwide, residential electricity prices have increased by 13 percent since 2022, and overturning misguided policies like this RMP amendment will help make the cost of living more affordable for families across America. | ||
| It's time to unleash our domestic resources to put this money back into the pockets of American families by repealing the Biden administration's anti-American energy policies. | ||
| What's more, instead of working with the state, the Biden administration blatantly ignored local opposition at every stage of this process and rammed this RMP amendment through to appease environmental extremists. | ||
| The Biden administration provided a limited opportunity for public comment or engagement on this RMP amendment. | ||
| Wyoming's governor, unified congressional delegation, locally elected officials, tribes, and local communities all expressed strong opposition to this plan amendment. | ||
| The previous administration ignored them all. | ||
| According to local representatives, it is suspect and disturbing that such a dramatic change to the current land use plan would solicit such little engagement during the public comment period. | ||
| Campbell and Johnson County commissioners, who represent the local communities affected by this plan, stated that whatever information they provided to the BLM in this process was, quote, ignored by the federal agency. | ||
| Overturning the RMP amendment takes power from bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., and returns it to the people of Wyoming. | ||
| The BLM also ignored tribal input in developing this RMP amendment. | ||
| The Navajo Transitional Energy Company, which is wholly owned by the Navajo Nation, provided detailed comments opposing this amendment that were all dismissed by the BLM. | ||
| In a letter they submitted to the agency, they stated, quote, BLM consistently downplayed the reasonably foreseeable negative impacts of the mines closures on the surrounding social justice communities, and it did not even consider the jobs lost in the downstream communities that rely on the Powder River Basin coal, end quote. | ||
| Energy security is national security, and Wyoming's energy industry remains indispensable to ensuring America stays energy dominant. | ||
| Wyoming's Powder River Basin, with its low-sulfur coal, produces the world's cleanest burning coal. | ||
| We should be focused on exporting this abundant natural resource to our allies abroad, not burying this baseload power under layers of bureaucracy. | ||
| By passing the CRA today, we're advancing President Trump's executive orders on unleashing American energy and reinvigorating America's coal industry. | ||
| We're also restoring hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue for Wyoming's K-12 public education system and protecting more than 4,000 high-paying jobs in rural Wyoming. | ||
| In conjunction with the pro-energy policies included in the Working Families Tax Cut Law, this CRA also has the potential to generate more than $260 million for the Federal Treasury. | ||
| This CRA helps the U.S. remain energy dominant and will lower prices for families, strengthen our economy, and boost real wages for hardworking men and women. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to stand with Wyoming, stand with American workers, and stand for energy security by supporting this resolution. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
General Reserves, Gentleman from California, is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and let me wish Chairman Westerman a happy birthday. | ||
| I do wish him a happy birthday, but even that goodwill does not change the fact that this is bad legislation. | ||
| And so, unfortunately, Bruce, I'm going to have to rise in opposition to the bill while wishing you a happy birthday. | ||
| We are, Mr. Speaker, all grateful that the Republican shutdown is finally over, but millions of Americans are still on the cusp of losing health care. | ||
| They are struggling to put food on the table. | ||
| And after their seven-week paid vacation, I can't imagine anything more disconnected than for House Republicans to come back here and make their first priority, not helping working families to make ends meet, but jamming through more favors for their billionaire buddies. | ||
| These three Congressional Review Act or CRA resolutions treat America's public lands like they are just lines on a balance sheet. | ||
| They silence public opinion. | ||
| They ignore the fires and storms that are made worse by climate change, all of it to make fossil fuel extraction the number one priority going forward for how we manage our public lands. | ||
| Wildfire defense, public safety, recreation, conservation, all of these take a backseat now to maximizing corporate profits, even in our most fragile landscapes like America's Arctic. | ||
| Americans want clean air, clean water, accessible public lands, not handouts to polluters. | ||
| Overturning balanced, forward-looking BLM plans in Wyoming and Alaska is a colossal mistake. | ||
| Across the federal land management agencies, plans like these are the foundation for responsible, sustainable management of our public lands. | ||
| RMPs are the product of extensive public input, rigorous scientific reviews, meaningful tribal consultation, and balancing the activities on our public lands, from energy development to recreation, is what these plans do. | ||
| They reflect the needs of communities, industries, ecosystems, and they outline a clear vision for the stewardship of millions of acres of public lands. | ||
| Let's look at the Buffalo Field Office RMP targeted by this particular resolution. | ||
| It was developed after a court found that the previous plan failed to address the public health and climate impacts of unfettered coal mining in the region. | ||
| Importantly, the current RMP was also developed after robust tribal consultation and public input. | ||
| So we're just going to throw that all away. | ||
| I strongly oppose HRES 130, which would repeal the current balanced RMP for BLM's Buffalo Field Office in order to prop up the coal industry in Wyoming's Powder River Valley. | ||
| The plan targeted by this resolution ended new coal leasing in the region because of its harm to the climate and public health and because of decreasing demand for coal. | ||
| At the same time, the plan allowed existing mines to continue to operate through the end of their current leases. | ||
| Rescinding this plan means locking us into unnecessary emissions and energy costs at a time when the planet and the American people cannot afford it. | ||
| And it also puts us on a treadmill of litigation and uncertainty, sending us back theoretically to a plan that was already adjudicated to be illegal, or maybe waiting for a new plan to come forward from the Trump administration, and I guess hoping that a future court will decide that it's not substantially similar to the ones that have been thrown out with your CRA. | ||
| This is something that my friends across the aisle simply haven't thought through. | ||
| There is so much chaos and uncertainty when the sledgehammer of the CRA is used in this reckless manner. | ||
| Now, House Republicans already passed and the administration implemented unprecedented giveaways to the coal industry through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including slashing the royalty rates for coal from 12 percent to 7.5 percent and opening more than 13 million acres of public lands for coal leasing. | ||
| But even with these hands outs, it's not enough to reverse decades of market contraction in the coal industry. | ||
| The coal industry is dying. | ||
| What Republicans don't mention is that BLM's coal lease sales this year have either failed to reach market value, been indefinitely canceled, or received little to no bids. | ||
| Rather than simply redoing this RMP through the well-established public process, which the Trump administration is already doing, House Republicans want to overturn it using the CRA, again, an extremely blunt instrument that will throw us into great uncertainty and litigation for sure. | ||
| This choice would lock out the perspectives from previous tribal and public engagement and ban the agency from ever again issuing a substantially similar RMP, leaving land policy frozen in time, really more like frozen in some kind of a limbo. | ||
| Incredible uncertainty and chaos. | ||
| House Republicans want to permanently enshrine fossil fuel extraction as the top priority for millions of acres of public land across the country, no matter the cost. | ||
| And they're picking winners and losers here, blocking affordable renewable energy projects, sacrificing our public lands in the process. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to reject these reckless resolutions that would upend millions of acres of public land management and reject this entire familiar playbook from congressional Republicans, trying to deepen our dependence on dirty fossil fuels that pollute our air, contaminate our water, and harm the public health while doing everything possible to slow, stop, or sabotage the development of affordable, renewable energy. | ||
| Our constituents deserve a lot better than this. | ||
| We deserve clean, affordable, and reliable energy. | ||
| We deserve good-paying jobs and affordable health care. | ||
| And we shouldn't sacrifice America's health, environment, and livelihoods in order to do it. | ||
| This legislation and my friends across the aisle are on the wrong side of history, trying to prop up the dying coal industry. | ||
| They're on the wrong side of public land management and they're on the wrong side of the American people's pocketbooks as they face rising electricity costs. | ||
| That's why I oppose this resolution and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
General Reserves, gentlemen from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I sincerely appreciate the birthday wishes from a friend across the aisle. | ||
| That means a lot to me. | ||
| If I had a birthday wish of my own, it would be to make energy more affordable for the American people, to help the good folks of Wyoming to have a livelihood and to not only keep prices down but keep good-paying jobs across this country that are in the energy industry. | ||
| We know that we need more energy going forward. | ||
| We need more electrons on the grid. | ||
| We need a larger grid. | ||
| And we need to all work together to do those things. | ||
| But if this resource management plan amendment by the previous administration was balanced, I would hate to see a heavy-handed resource management plan amendment by the previous administration because this took a sledgehammer to an established industry in the state of Wyoming. | ||
| And I'm sure my distinguished colleague from the great state of Wyoming, Representative Hageman, who is the lead sponsor of this legislation, will go into detail what this would mean to Wyoming if this plan amendment stays in place. | ||
| And I yield her six minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, House Joint Resolution 130, which utilizes the congressional disapproval procedure under the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, to restore coal leasing in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. | ||
| Many on the east coast of America might be surprised to learn that the federal government owns massive amounts of the western states. | ||
| In Wyoming, the federal government owns about half of our surface estate and 60 percent of the subsurface estate or our minerals. | ||
| In northeast Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management's Buffalo Field Office owns and manages over 788,000 acres of land and 4.7 million acres of our mineral estate. | ||
| Notably, this land encompasses Wyoming's share of the Powder River Basin, North America's largest coal deposit, responsible for the production of 40% of our nation's coal. | ||
| Wyoming is the largest coal producer in the nation. | ||
| We, in other words, are responsible for ensuring that you can turn on your lights and heat your home. | ||
| The BLM manages its public lands pursuant to the Federal Land Policy Management Act, which is implemented pursuant to what we refer to as resource management plans, or RMPs. | ||
| These RMPs are designed to maximize resource values for the public. | ||
| The BLM is required to comply with a multiple-use mandate, ensuring that these combinations of uses meet current and future needs of the American people. | ||
| In its waning days, the Biden administration issued an RMP amendment for the Buffalo Field Office, which pursued the no-new leasing alternative, pulling 481,000 acres of America's largest coal reserves and resources offline, making 48 billion short tons of coal unavailable and any leasing in the Powder River Basin. | ||
| Such a decision cannot be considered a legitimate or legal RMP pursuant to FLIPMA, and neither does it align with Congress's multiple-use mandate. | ||
| The Biden RMP is instead very clearly a mineral withdrawal enacted by climate activists in direct violation of the law. | ||
| The Biden administration's decision to terminate mining in Wyoming's PRB is not only irresponsible and harmful, but downright illegal, a mechanism used by the governing elite to inflict harm on every single citizen of this great country to further climate change lunacy. | ||
| If this RMPA is allowed to continue, it would risk 4,122 jobs in rural Wyoming, $1.9 billion in labor output through 2048, and millions of dollars in state revenue used to fund public K-12 education. | ||
| This seemingly localized decision has national repercussions as well. | ||
| In 2024, Wyoming produced 191 million tons of coal, 171 million tons of which was shipped to 26 different states for producing electricity. | ||
| At these rates, Wyoming produces about 40% of the nation's coal and about 80% of all federal coal production. | ||
| With coal generating as much as 23% of America's electricity at any given time, Wyoming coal supplies as much as 9.2% of the electricity produced in this country. | ||
| Watching the arguments in the Rules Committee last night and on the floor today, it is clear that affordability is the word of the day for my colleagues across the aisle. | ||
| If utility bills for Americans is something they genuinely care about, then I encourage them to vote for HJ Res 130 and to not turn off the Powder River Basin coal, which accounts for so much of American energy and could generate even more if Washington, D.C. had not waged a war on coal for the last three decades. | ||
| In short, it is policies such as no new coal leasing contained in this Buffalo RMP that reduces affordability, which my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be supporting if they continue to oppose HJ Res 130. | ||
| This vote today is a vote to shore up the grid, which will have positive impacts on the utility bills of Americans. | ||
| When combined with what this majority did for energy development in the One Big Beautiful Bill, we are shoring up centuries of energy production. | ||
| We cannot survive in this country without Wyoming coal, the majority of which is produced in the Powder River Basin. | ||
| Demand for Wyoming coal is only increasing, both here and abroad. | ||
| If you turn out the lights on one of Wyoming's most important industries, you will also be turning out the lights on America. | ||
| The Biden administration knew this and pursued this harmful policy anyway, and they did so in violation of the law. | ||
| On September 18, 2025, the Governmental Accountability Office determined that the Buffalo RMP was a rule subject to the CRA on the grounds that it is an agency statement, is a future effect, and it implements, interprets, or prescribes law and policy. | ||
| This decision is in line with previous GAO decisions on similar land management plans and RMPs, several of which this body has passed in the 119th Congress. | ||
| A vote today for HJ Res 130 has many positive implications. | ||
| First, it would overturn this harmful plan and revert to the 2015 RMP, thereby protecting access to 481,000 acres for coal leasing. | ||
| Second, it would provide certainty to countless Wyomingites who rely on our good, clean coal for jobs and for revenue that funds the schools that our children attend. | ||
| Third, it is a vote for the millions of Americans who continue to rely on Wyoming coal and who always will. | ||
| Fourth, it's a win for Congress, reminding the agencies that we are the primary policymaking branch of government and that we will hold the agencies responsible for bad, unlawful regulations. | ||
| I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favour of HJ Res 130, and I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Reserves, the gentleman from California, you are recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| It occurs to me that as we're having this debate, pretty much the rest of the world is in Brazil right now for the climate conference. | ||
| Of course, the Trump administration has disgracefully pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement once again, so we have no federal delegation at all. | ||
| But as the rest of the world convenes to accept the reality of the climate crisis and to accept the related reality of coal being the biggest contributor to carbon pollution and the entire world is talking about how to phase down our dependence on coal pollution and fossil fuel pollution, we are here in this alternate reality of the Republican majority, where my colleague from Wyoming calls it climate lunacy. | ||
| It's a sad, sad testament to, frankly, the disgraceful leadership of this Republican majority that propping up the coal industry with discounted royalties and massive subsidies and millions of acres of land giveaways. | ||
| And now this misuse of the Congressional Review Act is the official policy of the Republican majority. | ||
| It's just almost unthinkable, and yet that's where we are. | ||
| With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as you may consume to the gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. Vasquez. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's recognized. | |
| Thank you, Ranking Member. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Well, first, coming from New Mexico, let me tell you that I have gone through the RMP process firsthand in my own Las Cruces district, the Tri-County RMP. | ||
| And those are long and painful processes. | ||
| They take a lot of public input, a lot of painful meetings. | ||
| Those plans are developed with the input from residents from all sides of the aisle that represent different parts of what is our public lands and that mandate to have multiple use lands. | ||
| They are not meant just for one industry. | ||
| They are meant for everybody that uses those public lands. | ||
| And when I served on the U.S. Federal Committee to advise the Forest Service and we got all these stakeholders together to implement the 2012 planning rule, it was the same deal. | ||
| We did it deliberately. | ||
| We did it with all stakeholders at the table. | ||
| And so these RMPs are actually developed with public input from every community, not from one single stakeholder group. | ||
| And that is the painful process that it takes to update these plans, many of them which haven't been updated since the 1980s. | ||
| Now, it's important that we take into account the time, the effort of not just the agency staff and those folks who show up to those hard meetings and hear the public out, but the public who comes out in my district, sometimes driving 30, 40, 50 miles just to attend one of those meetings so that they can eventually get to an RMP knowing that that will be the law of the land. | ||
| And so today I rise in opposition to all the CRAs. | ||
| But in particular, I want to talk about one very special place. | ||
| In 2017, when the Arctic National Wildlife Refuges Coastal Plain was first officially opened to drilling, supporters promised that the sale would raise significant revenue. | ||
| Instead, only three bidders emerged. | ||
| And the first mandated lease sale brought in less than 1% of the $2.2 billion that Congress was told to expect. | ||
| Less than 1% that burdened taxpayers with an additional $2 billion in national debt. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Well, because the Arctic is one of the most expensive places on earth to drill. | ||
| And investors in the oil industry know this. | ||
| In fact, BP and Shell already abandoned their Arctic proposals, even paying to exit those leases. | ||
| And financing has dried up completely, with nearly every major U.S. bank and 20 global insurance companies having publicly pledged not to finance Arctic drilling projects. | ||
| Yet here we are. | ||
| The coastal plain is too remote, too costly, and too risky to make drilling financially feasible, especially when we already produce record oil and gas volumes elsewhere at a far lower cost to taxpayers, including in my district, the Permian Basin. | ||
| And let's be clear. | ||
| Arctic drilling will not lower gas prices. | ||
| With no existing roads, pipelines, or infrastructure, any Arctic oil would take years to reach the market if it ever does. | ||
| I know this myself because this is a picture from when I was in the Arctic. | ||
| Now, this is also a question of what we value. | ||
| The Arctic Refuge is the only national wildlife refuge that protects a complete Arctic ecosystem. | ||
| It's called the crown jewel of our public lands. | ||
| And it's called that for a reason. | ||
| And I saw why firsthand when I was there last summer. | ||
| Now, this special place offers unmatched, truly wild fishing and hunting opportunities for all Americans. | ||
| When you catch your first Arctic char in the Canning River on the coastal plain, it is a moment you will never forget as an American. | ||
| And these lands have provided sustenance to the Gwichin and the Inupia peoples for millennia. | ||
| The bottom line, setting the unique wildlife and recreation values of America's Arctic aside. | ||
| Using the CRA to overturn land management plans is bad policy, bad economics, and bad land management. | ||
| And truly, it's a disrespect to the constituents who showed up to those meetings to create that RMP in the first place, year over year over year. | ||
| So by treating every resource management plan as a rule that is subject to the CRA, Congress is throwing the legal status of every oil and gas lease, every grazing permit, and recreational activity across the West into question. | ||
| And I ask my Republican colleagues, why pursue the CRA process when this administration has already revised the plan in question? | ||
| They've already opened up the coastal plain. | ||
| So why do this? | ||
| We should vote no, not to score a political point, but because this proposal simply doesn't make sense and won't work. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I yield back my time. | ||
| Gentleman from California Reserves, a gentleman from Arkansas. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, it's been mentioned that U.S. coal is dying. | ||
| U.S. coal is being murdered. | ||
| There's been an attack on it for many years, and some people will not stop until they see it going, but it's to our own demise because we depend so much on the energy, not only from coal, but from natural gas. | ||
| We need more nuclear power. | ||
| We need more hydropower. | ||
| We need all kinds of new power. | ||
| And this isn't the time to be attacking our fuel sources. | ||
| And we'll have a debate on the Arctic slope and the coastal plain, but when we're talking about Wyoming, we're talking about coal, and we're talking about really the backbone of our electrical generating and distribution system. | ||
| I yield three minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota, who's the subcommittee chairman on energy and minerals for the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Stauber. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman from Minnesota is recognized for three minutes. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in strong support of this CRA resolution introduced by my good friend and colleague from Wyoming, Representative Hagman. | ||
| This resolution overturns the Biden administration's actions to lock up public lands in Wyoming from responsible coal development, all part of the Democrat and President Biden's agenda, which was anywhere but America, any worker but American energy agenda. | ||
| Last year I had the opportunity to join Representative Hagman on a tour across the Powder River basin where we visited the coal mines and met the proud men and women who have been working there for generations. | ||
| While I visited one of these mines, I met a union electrician, third generation miner, who raised his hand and stated, please don't take our jobs away. | ||
| I'm working here and my son just got hired here. | ||
| The passion he had for the industry and these jobs were incredible. | ||
| He and now his children work in that coal mine. | ||
| That gentleman told me his family story with a lump in his throat. | ||
| Like generations before him, he and now his children had access to good-paying union jobs in the coal mine across the Powder River Basin. | ||
| But thanks to the Biden administration's continued war on coal, his job and his livelihood was on the line as the mine he worked in was set to run out of coal reserves in just a few short years. | ||
| Thanks to the Biden administration's resource management plan that blocked new coal leasing, the mine wouldn't be able to access additional reserves and would have to close. | ||
| In doing so, the mine would have to lay off hundreds of workers and devastate the surrounding communities that depend on the coal mining industry to drive their local economies. | ||
| With tears in their eyes, this electrician asked me to save his job and save his livelihood so he could continue to provide for his family and energy for America. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity today to do just that. | ||
| By voting in favor of this CRA, we will be able to roll back the disastrous Biden administration's anti-American energy policies and keep the Powder River Basin alive. | ||
| And through the CRA, we will stop future anti-American energy administrations from taking similar steps to shut down the Powder River Basin. | ||
| I want to thank my colleague from Wyoming for introducing this important CRA resolution on behalf of the hardworking men and women that make up Wyoming's coal industry. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this resolution, and I yield back. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. | ||
| I'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Arkansas is prepared to close and reserve the balance of his time. | |
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, it's a little bit rich to hear all of this concern about jobs and the poor electrician who's going to lose a job and to hear all of this concern about the energy that we desperately need to meet projected demand increase. | ||
| What we're really hearing across the aisle is a very selective concern about some jobs and about some types of energy because as we're having this debate about a desperate scheme to try to prop up the dying coal industry, not just with this CRA, but with the discounted royalties, with the massive public land giveaways, with all of the other favors that have been doled out to this industry. | ||
| At the same time, the Trump administration is trying in every way it can to kill off the clean energy industry, which generates far more jobs than coal. | ||
| Far more people stand to lose their jobs. | ||
| Far more electricians, like the one my friend was just so concerned about a moment ago, stand to lose their jobs because of this war on clean energy that my friends across the aisle are just fine with. | ||
| Now, Chairman Westerman said we need all types of new energy. | ||
| Well, you know, I guess we'll have a chance this week to find out if that too is just more happy talk, more hollow words, because there'll be a markup on his legislation on permitting, and Democrats have been asking for meaningful changes to this war on clean energy as the first item to have a serious negotiation and discussion about that. | ||
| We'll find out, and I hope that Mr. Westerman delivers on his promise to work in good faith with Democrats and to do something about the war on clean energy. | ||
| But unless and until he does, and unless and until my colleagues across the aisle stop pretending that an entire industry with far more jobs than coal and far more energy that can be brought to bear to meet rising demand at far less cost, until they stop pretending that that war on clean energy is not happening, all of this, frankly, is just political theater. | ||
| Now, Mr. Speaker, to the point about the so-called viability of coal, let's just zoom in on the coal industry in the Powder River Basin, the very place that would be impacted by this CRA. | ||
| On October 6th, the Bureau of Land Management held a lease sale for 167 million tons of coal on public lands on the Montana side of this specific basin. | ||
| The BLM received one bid that was valued, that valued each ton of coal at one-tenth of one penny. | ||
| The administration rejected that bid and canceled the lease sale because that abysmal price did not meet the requirements of fair market value outlined in the Mineral Leasing Act. | ||
| That's the reason that the BLM came together to finalize the Buffalo Field Office RMP amendment to address decreasing demand for coal, which is both the dirtiest and the most expensive form of energy. | ||
| House Republicans would give away your public lands and waters to big coal for pennies, fractions of pennies. | ||
| The coin that they are phasing out as practically worthless. | ||
| It's about as valuable as the coal that they're trying to subsidize. | ||
| This resolution will do nothing to address skyrocketing energy bills in Wyoming or anywhere else. | ||
| A conservative former Wyoming state representative recently penned an op-ed that really speaks to what's happening on the ground. | ||
| And I quote, we need responsible legislators who do not rely on wishful thinking to make long-term policy decisions. | ||
| It's time to take off the aluminum foil hats filled with wishful thinking and make some real decisions based on responsible prediction, end quote. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I'm prepared to close and continue to reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman continues to reserve, the gentleman from California. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| In closing, I strongly oppose this resolution. | ||
| Using the CRA to overturn this RMP and the others that we're debating this week will throw our public lands into chaos. | ||
| It completely sidelines the input and perspectives of local communities who spent years working with BLM on this plan. | ||
| And it's another reckless attempt to prop up the fossil fuel industry and line the pockets of polluters, all at the expense of affordable energy and good-paying jobs. | ||
| The Buffalo Field Office RMP allows existing coal leases to continue with reasonable safeguards to reduce emissions and protect land and water. | ||
| Congress should not be overturning this plan with the sledgehammer of the CRA. | ||
| I strongly urge my colleagues to vote no on the resolution. | ||
| And to my Republican colleagues, I urge you to think twice about the consequences of this action and setting this chaotic precedent. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California yields, the gentleman from Arkansas. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And since my colleague mentioned the SPEED Act, which we'll be marking up in committee on Thursday, even though it is not on the floor today, I'll put in a shameless plug for our bipartisan legislation that is not only tech neutral, but it's agnostic to the project, the project type. | ||
| It would definitely help us produce more energy in America, and it will also help us to build things in America again, something we desperately need to do. | ||
| And we'll debate that Thursday, and hopefully someday we'll be out here debating it on the floor. | ||
| But as we look at this particular RMPA that is on the floor today because the Biden administration on their way out pushed something through by rule that they could never get passed into law. | ||
| And a CRA, I remind you, is so that Congress can exert its legislative authority over an administrative agency or over an administration. | ||
| And I would remind future administrations not to make dumb rules when you're going out the door, or somebody in Congress will be standing here, maybe on the other side of the aisle, doing a CRA to turn back the rulemaking ability that is not lawmaking, as we're instructed to do in the Constitution as the legislative branch. | ||
| But in response to the actual RMPA that we're talking about, the CRA on it today, Now is the time to unleash American energy. | ||
| The Buffalo Field Office Resource Management Plan would not only devastate Wyoming's energy workforce, it would raise prices nationwide. | ||
| We are in a competition. | ||
| We're in a competition with China that certainly hasn't backed off on building coal-fired plants. | ||
| Matter of fact, they're building them at a rate of about one every two or three days coming online because they know they need reliable energy, they need affordable energy, and they need that to establish their manufacturing dominance and to beat us in the race for AI. | ||
| We can't allow that to happen. | ||
| Even though China produces twice as much electricity as we do today, we shouldn't be discriminating against any energy source. | ||
| We should be trying to produce as much energy as we can so that we can win in that competition. | ||
| By passing this CRA, we're restoring the BLM's multiple use and sustained yield mandate and preventing future administrations from locking up America's natural resources. | ||
| The era of curtailing multiple uses of our federal lands hopefully is over, and it's time to usher in a golden age of unleashing our energy and mineral resources. | ||
| Urge adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen from Arkansas yield all time for debate has expired. | |
| Pursuant to House Resolution 879, the previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. | ||
| The question is on engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| Third reading. | ||
| Joint resolution provided for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Buffalo Field Office record of decision, an approved resource management plan amendment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The question is on passage of the joint resolution. | |
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| The joint resolution is passed. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from California seek recognition? | ||
| You'll never guess why. | ||
| I'm going to request the yays and nays. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The yays and nays are requested. | |
| Those in favor by a vote of the yas and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yays and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20. | ||
| Further proceedings of this question will be postponed. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 879, I call up HJ Res 131 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. | |
| House Joint Resolution 131, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, record of decision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Pursuant to House Resolution 879, the joint resolution is considered read. | |
| The joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Huffman, will each control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, you are recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on HJ Res 131. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| I rise today in support of HJ Res 131, which would repeal a Biden-era record of decision or a rod restricting oil and gas production on 1.16 million acres within the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, also known as AMWIRE. | ||
| The 1002 area of Amwire was specifically set aside by Congress for its oil and gas potential and 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 had the support of local North Slope communities and native villages. | ||
| In fact, 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 a Nupiet leadership from the native village of Cactovik, the only Indigenous tribal community within Amwire. | ||
| In that hearing, Doreen Levitt, Director of Natural Resources for the Inupiette Community of the Arctic Slope, said, and I quote, the North Slope Inupiet 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. | ||
| So it is up to their people to seek out opportunities and partners to strengthen their regional economy, end quote. | ||
| 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 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 1002 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 Amwire. | ||
| Congress must move to repeal the Biden-era rod that runs counter to congressional intent and unfairly reduces economic opportunities in the region. | ||
| I want to thank Representative Begich for his work on HJ Res 131 so we can restore common sense to the management of Amwire's vast resources and again unlease American energy. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to thwart this legislation and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman's mark is all reserves. | |
| The gentleman from California, you're recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I strongly oppose HJ 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 Gwichin people as the sacred place where life begins. | ||
| The coastal plain is the heart of the Porcupine Caribou Herds 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 Gwichin 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 to you a quote from the Executive Director of the Gwichin Steering Committee, Kristen Moreland. | ||
| She says, quote, it is unthinkable that our congressional decision makers 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 Gwichin people and ignores those realities, end quote. | ||
| Sovereign Inupiat for Living Arctic also oppose this proposal. | ||
| They said, and I quote, 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. | ||
| Now, 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 towards fossil fuels. | ||
| In the Arctic, temperatures are rising four times faster than the global average. | ||
| And 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. | ||
| You'll hear my Republican colleagues argue that increased oil and gas development in the Arctic will be good for America's bottom line. | ||
| 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 refuge lease sales were included, in part to offset the cost of those tax giveaways to 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? | ||
| It generated less than $15 million. | ||
| That is around 2% of what the CBO had estimated. | ||
| In 2022, two of the lease sales, two of the 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's about the only revenue we've 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 been 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, a drop in the bucket when you consider my Republican colleagues' big ugly bill, which 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 to leave people out of the decision-making process, all while driving up energy prices for the American people. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to join me in the long-standing bipartisan support for protecting the Arctic refuge by opposing HJ Res 131, and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I yield four minutes to the gentleman from Alaska, the lead sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Begich. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Alaska is recognized for four minutes. | |
| Mr. Speaker, as the sole representative of Alaska in the United States House, I rise today in strong support of House Joint Resolution 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 1002 area of Anwar, 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 Interior Department issued a new record of decision that made only 400,000 acres available, a mere 25% 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 25th 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, and Congress must act, because Alaskans have spoken clearly and they've 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 1002 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% 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. | ||
| And 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. | ||
| But 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. | ||
| House Joint Resolution 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 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 Utkiyagvik to Kaktovik have been asking for consistency, partnership, and respect from their federal government. | ||
| Today, we can answer that call, and I urge my colleagues to vote yes, support Alaska, support American energy security. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlemen, time has expired. | ||
| Gentlemen from Arkansas Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California, Reserves. | |
| The gentleman from Arkansas, you are recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield four minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Stauber. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Minnesota is recognized for four minutes. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this 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 agenda. | ||
| Anywhere but America, any worker but American. | ||
| This was put out by the Biden administration, Mr. Speaker, on December 8th, 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, levying more sanctions. | ||
| The Biden administration levied more sanctions on the state of Alaska than they did Iran. | ||
| Congress time and time again has passed laws to encourage and even require oil and gas leasing and development in the 1002 area of Anwar. | ||
| The Biden's administration recorded 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. | ||
| And the Biden administration failed to properly consult with the people of the North Slope when they decided to lock up Anwar and the NPRA. | ||
| Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Halland refused request after request to meet and hear from them. | ||
| And 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 1002 area of ANWAR, which was set aside by Congress for this direct purpose. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I want to 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. | ||
| And I look forward to this passing this House, and I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas Reserves, the gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. | ||
| I'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is prepared to close and reserves the balance of his time. | |
| The gentleman from California. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| So 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. | ||
| So 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. | ||
| And that's why I oppose HJ Res 131 and all of the CRA resolutions on the floor today. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no, and I yield the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California has yielded. | |
| The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, 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 Levitt, which he offered during a Resource Committee hearing last Congress. | ||
| Mr. Stabber in his testimony talked about how the locals in the area just wished someone would listen to them. | ||
| Director Levitt said this, and I quote, 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 Inupiat community of the Arctic Slope or the ICAS, | ||
| alongside many other North Slope tribes and entities like the native village of Cactovik, Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and more, have a long history of supporting responsible resource development projects in Anwire. | ||
| The Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, of which ICAS is a member, has a standing resolution supporting the responsible exploration and development of the 102 area of Anwire. | ||
| HJ Res 131 responds to the wishes of the local people who call Amwar 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. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen from Arkansas yields back. | |
| All time for debate has expired pursuant to House Resolution 879. | ||
| This previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. | ||
| The question is on engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. | ||
| All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. | ||
| Opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| The clerk will proceed with third reading. | ||
| Joint resolution provided for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program. | ||
| Record of decision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The question is on passage of the joint resolution. | |
| Those in favor, please signify by saying aye. | ||
| Opposed say no. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The ayes have it. | |
| The joint resolution is what purpose does the gentleman from California seek recognition? | ||
| Request the yeas and nays. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The yeas and nays have been requested. | |
| Those in favor of vote by yeas and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen. | ||
| The yeas and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20. | ||
| Further proceedings on this question will be postponed. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 879, I call up SJ Res 80 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. | |
| Senate Joint Resolution 80, Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to National Petroleum Reserve and Alaska Integrated Activity Plan record of decision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Pursuant to House Resolution 879, the joint resolution is considered read. | |
| The joint resolution will shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Huffman, will each control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on SJ Res 80. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| I rise today in support of SJ Res 80, which repeals the Biden administration's 2022 Integrated Activity Plan, or IAP, for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, also known as the NPRA. | ||
| Under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976, the approximately 23 million acre NPRA was designated by Congress due to its vast energy resources. | ||
| In 1980, Congress amended the act and directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct, quote, an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, end quote. | ||
| In 2020, in President Trump's first administration, the Bureau of Land Management released its IEP for the NPRA. | ||
| The 2020 IEP listened to local voices and opened up access to over 18.5 million acres of the NPRA for oil and gas leasing. | ||
| Over 13 million acres were made available for new infrastructure development. | ||
| Nuggaruk Harcher Eck, President of the Voice of the Arctic Inupia, stated in a September 2023 Natural Resources Committee hearing that, quote, we also felt heard when BLM released an NPRA integrated activity plan in June 2020 that considered the interests of our communities, including future community infrastructure needs, end quote. | ||
| The IEP outlining management activities for the natural resources throughout the NPRA was thoughtfully crafted by the first Trump administration, taking into account the voices of local Indigenous tribal communities. | ||
| Regrettably, in 2022, the Biden administration placed the 2020 IEP with a new one, reducing the available acreage for oil and gas leasing by 37 percent and reducing areas available to infrastructure by over 2.3 million acres. | ||
| In November 2023, during another hearing on the matter, we heard from Commissioner John Boyle of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, who expressed concerns about the Biden administration's NPRA rulemaking process. | ||
| And again, I quote, the process to date has been confusingly deficient as the Bureau of Land Management has scheduled and canceled public meetings on short notice, avoided consultation obligations, and attempted to avoid procedural safeguards that are meant to keep rulemakings of enormous public cost and consequence from being hastily and arbitrarily implemented. | ||
| Neither comprehensive environmental nor economic reviews have been completed for a proposal that will dramatically change environmental and economic management in what may be the largest federal petroleum asset in the country, end quote. | ||
| In that same hearing, Mr. Harcherak shared, again, I quote, this decision, coupled with further protections for NPRA, will undoubtedly shrink the economic opportunities available to the North Slope. | ||
| It virtually guarantees to set us back on our journey towards self-determination by requiring further reliance on the federal and state government to provide for the basic needs of the people on the North Slope, end quote. | ||
| Ultimately, the Biden administration stymied energy production within the MPRA and failed to offer leases in a manner that would boost revenue and provide economic stability to the region and the state. | ||
| The most recent lease sale in the NPRA took place in 2019 when the BLM leased over a million acres, generating more than $11 million, including roughly $5.6 million for the state of Alaska. | ||
| Revenue from developing these resources is essential to livelihoods of all Alaskans. | ||
| For example, in FY 2022, Alaskan oil and natural gas production, largely driven by the consequences of the pro-energy policies of the first Trump administration, generated $4.5 billion in state and local revenue and supported over 69,250 direct and indirect jobs. | ||
| Alaska's role as a leader in unleashing American energy dominance will continue. | ||
| In the Working Families Tax Cut Law, Congress highlighted the importance of the NPRA and required five lease sales to be held in the area over the next 10 years. | ||
| To ensure our energy independence, we must unleash American energy and ensure access to our own resources here at home. | ||
| This legislation is an important step in doing just that. | ||
| I thank Representative Begich and Senator Sullivan for their work to bring SJRES 80 to the House floor so we can nullify yet another misguided Biden-era action and take another step to put our nation's energy policy back on the right track. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen from Arkansas Reserves, gentlemen from California, you're recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I oppose SJRES 80, which would overturn the BLM's 2022 Integrated Activity Plan record of decision for the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska, more commonly referred to as NPRA. | ||
| Now, the name National Petroleum Reserve is more than a little misleading. | ||
| This is not some industrial sacrifice zone. | ||
| It's not some untapped oil field just waiting to be developed. | ||
| On the contrary, the NPRA is the largest contiguous unit of public lands in the United States. | ||
| It spans 23 million acres, and this area of the Western Arctic is home to a diverse ecosystem where iconic species like wolves, polar bears, and caribou roam, beluga, and bowhead whales shelter in its coastal waters. | ||
| Millions of migratory birds rely on this intact landscape and critical waters and wetlands that are the NPRA. | ||
| The legislation before us today would withdraw a smart and well-thought-out plan to balance conservation and development in the NPRA. | ||
| The 2022 NPRA plan was developed over more than a decade of engagement with a variety of stakeholders, scientists, experts, Indigenous communities, NGOs, and industry. | ||
| It aimed to limit the disruption and ecological harm from existing oil and gas development while also designating special areas to protect habitat for the many species that call this amazing place home. | ||
| I respect that there are a variety of views on how to manage our nation's public lands, but it won't be possible for future administrations to incorporate feedback and comments on proposed actions in the NPRA if Congress approves the resolution before us today. | ||
| The CRA, as we've said several times in the course of this debate, is a blunt instrument. | ||
| It would prevent BLM from ever issuing a substantially similar replacement, and so this path would strip local land managers of the ability to respond to on-the-ground changes and needs for the future of the NPRA. | ||
| My friends across the aisle, you don't need to do this. | ||
| There are already processes in place for administrations to propose new management decisions if you don't like this plan. | ||
| And the Trump administration is doing just that already, pursuing updates to the land management plans that we've been debating here using the standard, inclusive mechanisms that allow for public input. | ||
| Interior Secretary Bergham withdrew conservation protections for the NPRA in July. | ||
| And just last week, the Interior Department finalized a new rule that overturned the previous plan. | ||
| The Congressional Review Act is simply the wrong tool to address any changes to management of these lands, and it's not even necessary. | ||
| So, why do my Republican colleagues need to take up our valuable floor time here debating a rule that their friends in the administration have already rescinded? | ||
| They just returned from a 53-day taxpayer-funded vacation, canceled five weeks of votes, and still have a long to-do list before the end of the year. | ||
| That list, I hope, includes figuring out how to avoid another government shutdown in January. | ||
| But you may wonder if my colleagues are spending time on polluter giveaways to maybe distract from something. | ||
| Maybe something like the fact that President Trump has been mentioned more than a thousand times in the Epstein emails. | ||
| President Trump and House Republicans continue to push their drill baby drill agenda even though it makes no sense for people, for the planet, or for our pocketbooks. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote no on this distraction, this HJ Res 80, and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California Reserves, gentlemen from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I would just like to point out that while the current administration did recently rescind the 2024 rule this month, passage of a CRA is still necessary to prevent a future administration from again weaponizing IEPs similar to this one that ignore congressional intent. | ||
| And by replacing the 2022 IEP, BLM wouldn't be left in limbo. | ||
| They would revert back to the initial IEP finalized under the first Trump administration, which did take into account Native tribal voices and is consistent with the requirements included in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. | ||
| With that, I yield five minutes to the gentleman from Alaska, the lead sponsor of the House companion to this legislation, Mr. Begich. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Alaska is recognized for five minutes. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Senate Joint Resolution 80, legislation to disapprove the Bureau of Land Management's 2022 Integrated Activity Plan for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. | ||
| Let me be very clear. | ||
| This is not an abstract policy debate for the people of Alaska. | ||
| This is about whether the federal government will honor both the law and its commitments to the people who call Alaska home and whether America will choose energy independence over energy uncertainty. | ||
| The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, an area the size of Indiana, was set aside more than a century ago to ensure the United States had a strategic domestic energy supply. | ||
| Congress reaffirmed that purpose in the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, directing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a, quote, expeditious program of competitive leasing in the NPRA. | ||
| But the 2022 integrated activity plan issued in the final stretch of the last administration turned that congressional mandate on its head. | ||
| It shut the door on 48 percent of the reserve, reducing available acreage from 18.6 million acres to just 11.8 million acres and restricted infrastructure corridors across millions more. | ||
| In effect, the plan attempted to create a wilderness area in a petroleum reserve, and it did so without listening to the people who actually lived there. | ||
| Alaska is asking us to act. | ||
| The Inupiat people who live in the area have spoken and they could not have been clearer. | ||
| Through the North Slope Regional Trilateral, the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, the North Slope Borough, and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, we have heard that the Biden administration's 2022 plan imposed, quote, sweeping restrictions that curtail responsible development, undermine congressional intent, and disregard the well-being of the people who depend on these lands for both subsistence and livelihoods, end quote. | ||
| These communities are located in an area nearly the size of Minnesota with no highway connections, extreme transportation costs, and a cost of living among the highest in the nation. | ||
| Oil and gas development funds their schools, their public safety, their utilities, their clinics, basic services that most Americans assume their local government can provide. | ||
| But on the North Slope, that stability exists because responsible development exists, and we have a duty to ensure that it continues. | ||
| Alaska's business community stands with them. | ||
| The Alaska Support Industry Alliance, representing 547 companies and 35,000 Alaskan workers, warned that the 2022 plan jeopardizes the jobs and investment their families depend on. | ||
| National organizations from the National Federation of Independent Businesses to the American Exploration and Production Council to the American Petroleum Institute have also voiced their support for reversing this restrictive rule. | ||
| And the administration itself has made clear that restoring access to the NPRA is a priority. | ||
| President Trump's Executive Order 14153, Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential, directs the Secretary of the Interior to review and rescind the 2022 decision and re-establish a balanced framework consistent with the 2020 plan. | ||
| This statement of administration policy strongly supports this resolution. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Alaska is ready to power America. | ||
| We are ready to help lower energy costs for families and small businesses. | ||
| We are ready to strengthen national security by reducing our reliance on foreign nations. | ||
| And the people who live in Alaska's far north, the people whose ancestors have called the region home for 10,000 years, are asking us to restore the balanced, lawful management framework that they helped shape. | ||
| Senate Joint Resolution 80 does exactly that. | ||
| It restores congressional intent. | ||
| It restores certainty for Alaska's communities. | ||
| It restores America's strategic energy reserve. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Senate Joint Resolution 80 to stand with Alaska, to stand with energy workers, with the Inupiat people of the North Slope, and with an American future grounded in abundant, affordable, secure energy. | ||
| And with that, I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask your unanimous consent to submit a letter for the record from the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, ICAS, the North Slope Borough, and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, ASRC, that specifically states BLM failed to engage in meaningful government-to-government consultation with ASRC, the borough, and ICAS. | ||
| This omission contradicts federal consultation requirements and disregards the voices of the very communities most affected. | ||
| Our leadership has consistently raised concerns about this process and its outcome, yet those concerns were ignored. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman from California, the gentleman reserves, gentlemen from Marcus Armstrong Reserve, gentlemen from California. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, so again, the plan that this resolution targets for disapproval is not in place. | ||
| It has been rescinded by the Trump administration. | ||
| If ever there's a case for a misapplication of the CRA, it would be this right here. | ||
| But I think, Mr. Speaker, it's an important time for us to step back and consider why using a CRA for any, frankly, public land management plan, but certainly for one that's already been rescinded, is just a recipe for uncertainty and conflict and litigation. | ||
| Nearly a third of our nation's land mass, 640 million acres, is managed by the federal government. | ||
| The Forest Service manages 193 million acres. | ||
| BLM manages 244 million and an additional seven, in addition to 713 million acres of federal minerals. | ||
| For nearly 50 years, BLM and the Forest Service have managed these lands under management plans required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the National Forest Management Act. | ||
| And these plans, known as resource management plans, we've been calling them RMPs, establish safeguards for watersheds and recreation areas. | ||
| They facilitate energy development and grazing and logging and other commercial activities and provide a mechanism for harmonizing the needs of local communities with our national goals and perspectives. | ||
| Now, just a few months ago, we debated some other CRA resolutions targeting management plans, and we explained at that time how unprecedented that was. | ||
| We still don't know the extent of chaos that is going to result from these actions that have already been taken. | ||
| But we do know this. | ||
| Under the CRA, rules, and rules is a technical term of art here, normally cannot go into effect unless they are submitted for congressional review. | ||
| Now, here's the problem. | ||
| BLM and the Forest Service have never considered RMPs to be rules that they would submit to Congress. | ||
| They've just never done that, and that's long been the case under both Democratic and Republican precedents, with precedents being set by those presidents. | ||
| Now that Congress has decided, apparently, to disapprove of individual RMPs, what does that mean for every other plan that is in place that wasn't submitted to Congress? | ||
| What does that mean for the small businesses, the local communities, and other public land stakeholders who depend on a stable and predictable land use planning process? | ||
| If the validity of these land use plans is challenged, then leases, permits, and other authorizations that depend on those plans could be called into question. | ||
| This is already creating uncertainty and delays, making it nearly impossible for new projects to proceed on time. | ||
| And here are a couple of examples for consideration. | ||
| What would happen to the White River Oil and Gas Resource Management Plan Amendment in Colorado, which authorizes 15,000 oil and gas wells? | ||
| What about the Rosemont Copper Plan Amendment for Forest Service lands in Arizona, approving a 5,000-acre open-pit mine in the Coronado National Forest? | ||
| Or the Gateway West, Transwest Express and Gateway South RMP amendments for three transmission lines through Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. | ||
| Does Interior now need to go back and submit all of those RMP amendments to Congress for approval under this new Republican interpretation of the CRA? | ||
| Is Congress prepared to take on day-to-day management of public lands and minerals thousands of miles from Washington, D.C.? | ||
| I don't think so. | ||
| But I am not the only one who has concerns about this treadmill of litigation and conflict and uncertainty that is being created here. | ||
| Let me read a quote from Kathleen Sagama, President Trump's first nominee for director of BLM. | ||
| And she said, quote, there are some additional legal risks that can arise from the CRA. | ||
| It's uncharted ground. | ||
| And if not used wisely, there could be some legal risks introduced and some bad legal precedents. | ||
| Just a few months ago, the House passed several other CRA resolutions overturning land management plans. | ||
| As we said at the time, that was unprecedented. | ||
| These resolutions before us continue to chart unprecedented ground, and I don't think anyone, including my colleagues across the aisle, have thought a heck of a lot about where it leads. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I would submit that a recipe for disaster is when an administration goes out on their own, goes around the laws that Congress passed, and implement bad rules on their way out the door and expect no repercussions from that. | ||
| I'd say a recipe for good governance is when Congress acts within their power to disapprove of these rules, and that's exactly what we're doing with the CRA to make sure that these rules are followed. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further request for time. | ||
| I'm prepared to close and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman Reserves, the gentleman from California is recognized. | |
| I thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I just want to point out that we've heard a number of times now that more drilling is necessary in the name of energy independence. | ||
| And I want to remind my colleagues that the United States is already the number one producer of oil in the world and the number one producer and exporter of gas in the world. | ||
| But you would sure never know it when you look at the energy bills that are facing families all over this country. | ||
| It is abundantly clear that the Drill Baby Drill agenda is not working for everyday Americans. | ||
| As long as we are dependent on the fossil fuel roller coaster, American consumers will be at the whim of the global oil and gas market. | ||
| But if we want energy independence and if we want lower utility bills, we need to get back on track with the transition to clean energy. | ||
| It is cheaper, it is safer, and it is generated entirely here at home instead of being at the mercy of global price shocks like oil and gas just inherently are. | ||
| Instead, this legislation would make us more reliant on fossil fuels and more entangled with the price effects of this fossil fuel roller coaster. | ||
| Plus, oil from America's Arctic will not come online for many, many years. | ||
| The Willow Project, for example, won't start until around 2029. | ||
| Meanwhile, the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world. | ||
| Even at the Willow Project, developer ConocoPhillips will use artificial chillers to freeze melting permafrost before drilling for oil. | ||
| That's the kind of complexity and additional cost that is inherent in drilling in these remote, pristine parts of the Arctic. | ||
| The project itself will release nearly 300 million metric tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere over its lifetime, the equivalent of at least 66 coal-fired power plants. | ||
| Again, Mr. Speaker, if we want true energy independence and security, we need to combat the climate crisis and transition to clean, renewable energy. | ||
| And with that, I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman reserves. | |
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, if you could bear with me for one moment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes. | |
| Here it is. | ||
| This is just excellent staff work, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| In closing, I strongly oppose this resolution. | ||
| The three Congressional Review Act resolutions that we've been considering here today are going to strip local land managers of the ability to respond to future challenges and changes and needs in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the NPRA, and the Powder River Basin. | ||
| If these reckless resolutions pass, these places will be locked into outdated plans that fail to account for changes in community needs, industry needs, and, yes, climate-driven impacts. | ||
| And these CRA resolutions are completely unnecessary because the Trump administration has already acted on their own to replace these plans. | ||
| Even oil and gas industry experts across the political spectrum agree that the use of the CRA on land use plans creates regulatory and legal ambiguity. | ||
| In fact, Kathleen Sagamma, as I just told you, former President Trump's former nominee to lead the BLM, recently said, and it's a quote worth repeating, there could be some legal risks introduced and bad legal precedent, unquote, when using CRAs in this manner. | ||
| Yet apparently, my friends across the aisle are just going to do it anyway. | ||
| Now, Sagama led the Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas industry trade association. | ||
| She's testified before the House Natural Resource Majority many times. | ||
| This misuse of the CRA will create regulatory chaos for everyone, including the industry. | ||
| So I ask my colleagues across the aisle why pursue it. | ||
| House Republicans are continuing to lock the American people into higher energy costs by pushing their fossil fuel playbook and sabotaging clean renewable energy. | ||
| Our constituents deserve better. | ||
| They deserve a future with clean and affordable energy, where utility bills aren't skyrocketing, where we know our lands and waters won't suffer as a result. | ||
| That's why I oppose this resolution and urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting no, and I yield the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from California yields. | |
| The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's been stated that gas and energy prices won't be reduced by passing this CRA, and I contend that they will, because overturning these rules would incentivize much-needed investment throughout the state or the entire North Slope. | ||
| The regional impacts of increased energy production in Alaska cannot be overstated. | ||
| Refineries in the region, including California and Washington, are equipped to handle Alaskan oil, and the refinery in Kenai produces most of the state of Alaska's gasoline. | ||
| The North Pole Refinery provides jet fuel for our military, amongst other aviation fuels. | ||
| Two other refineries located in Valdez and near Fairbanks also produce diesel and heating fuels. | ||
| And let me point out that three out of ten state households in Alaska rely on fuel oil, kerosene, or propane for home heating. | ||
| Now, you may ask, why would they rely on these fuels that are traditionally more expensive when Alaska has trillions of cubic feet of natural gas? | ||
| That's because that natural gas is on the North Slope, and even in the city of Anchorage, they're running out of natural gas because they can't move the gas from the North Slope. | ||
| They can't develop infrastructure. | ||
| And not only can they not meet their own needs with that gas, they certainly can't export it to our allies. | ||
| As many have shared, the NPRA is essential to unleashing American energy dominance and sustaining economies throughout Alaska. | ||
| Congress must also act to undo the harm that the previous administration imposed, and we must work to unlock the estimated 8.7 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas the NPRA holds. | ||
| By repealing this decision, we can help uphold tribal voices and revert to the 2020 IAP that considered their meaningful input. | ||
| Letting these plans shut down energy production in the NPRA linger would be devastating to Alaskans, especially the native communities on the North Slope. | ||
| Without jobs, people may leave these communities, jeopardizing the culture and social fabric of the region. | ||
| We cannot afford to let this happen. | ||
| We must pass SJ Res 80. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support passage of the important legislation. | ||
| I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields the balance of his time. | |
| All time for debate has expired. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 879, the previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. | ||
| The question is on third reading of the joint resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| Third reading. | ||
| Joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan record of decision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The question is on passage of the joint resolution. | |
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| It's about 6-7. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman have? | ||
|
unidentified
|
California seek recognition. | |
| The yays and nays are requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote by the yays and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yays and nays are ordered. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 8 of Rule 20. | ||
| Further proceedings on this question will be postponed. | ||
| Purpose is the gentlewoman from New York seek recognition. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House. | ||
| The form of the resolution is as follows: HRES 889. | ||
| Censuring Representative Corey Mills in the House of Representatives, resolution censoring Representative Corey Mills. | ||
| Whereas Representative Corey Mills has on several occasions conducted himself in a manner that reflects discredit upon the House of Representatives. | ||
| Whereas on February 19th, 2025, Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to resolve a private matter at Representative Corey Mills' residence, where officers were called to the 1300 block of Maryland Avenue Southwest around 1:15 p.m. for the report of an assault. | ||
| Whereas police reports obtained by MBC4 Washington confirmed that the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department was investigating Representative Corey Mills for an alleged assault of a 27-year-old woman that took place on February 19th, 2025, at the residence of Representative Corey Mills. | ||
| Whereas the first police report provided to NBC4 Washington by a source and confirmed, excuse me, confirmed by a second source familiar with the investigation said that the 27-year-old woman accused her significant other for over a year of having grabbed her, | ||
| shoved her, and pushed her out of the door, and also said that the woman involved showed the officer bruises on her arm, which appeared fresh. | ||
| And whereas CB NBC 4 Washington also reported that the Metropolitan Police Department identified Representative Corey Mills as the significant other of the alleged victim of assault, | ||
| which alleged victim was a 27-year-old woman who was not the wife of Representative Corey Mills, and that the alleged victim let officers here, Subject 1, now identified by MPD as Mills, instruct her to lie about the origin of her bruises. | ||
| Eventually, Subject One made contact with police and admitted that the situation escalated from verbal to physical, but it was severe enough to create bruising. | ||
| Whereas on February 21st, 2025, the Washington Post also confirmed two D.C. police officers said that the alleged victim of assault initially told a 9-11 operator and police that she had been assaulted. | ||
| And that officer said she also had what seemed to be visible injuries and that while a supervisor initially classified the offense internally as a family disturbance. | ||
| police commanders later learned of the incident, reviewed the reports and body camera footage from the responding officers and reclassified the case as a domestic violence assault. | ||
| Whereas on February 21st, 2025, MBC4 Washington also reported that the Metropolitan Police Department determined that probable cause to arrest Representative Corey Mills for misdemeanor assault existed and sent an arrest warrant for Representative Corey Mills to the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. | ||
| However, then acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, refused to sign the arrest warrant for Representative Corey Mills and instead returned the case to the Metropolitan Police Department for further investigation. | ||
| Whereas on July 14th, 2025, a different former romantic partner of Representative Corey Mills, who was apparently in a relationship with Representative Mills from November 2021 to February 2025, | ||
| reported to authorities in Florida that Representative Mills threatened to release nude images and other intimate videos of her and threatened to harm her future romantic partners in retaliation for her decision to end a relationship with Representative Mills after seeing the public reports described above concerning the alleged February 2025 physical assault. | ||
| Whereas on October 14, 2025, the Circuit Court of the Third Judicial Circuit in Columbia County, Florida, issued a final judgment of injunction for protection against dating violence against Representative Corey Mills, | ||
| based on a finding that his former romantic partner was a victim of dating violence or had reasonable cause to believe she was in imminent danger of being. | ||
| becoming a victim of an act of an act of dating violence. | ||
| Whereas in August of 2024, the Office of Congressional Conduct adopted and transmitted to the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives a report indicating that there was substantial reason to believe that Representative Corey Mills may have omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements, | ||
| accepting excessive contributions to his campaign committee in the form of personal loans and contributions that may not have derived from Representative Corey Mills' personal funds entered into, held, | ||
| or enjoyed contracts with federal agencies while he was a member of Congress and may have accepted through his campaign committee in-kind contributions or other contributions not lawfully made. | ||
| Whereas individuals who served with Representative Corey Mills have called into question the veracity of the account of events which formed the basis of a recommendation that Representative Corey Mills receive an award of a bronze star bestowed in 2021 for his service under enemy fire in Iraq in 2003. | ||
| Whereas in August of 2024, Representative Corey Mills provided the Datona Beach News with documents purporting to prove that he earned a bronze star with heroism, | ||
| including a Department of the Army Form 638 recommending Representative Corey Mills for a bronze star, which includes a signature from then Army Brigadier Commander Arnold N. Gordon Bray. | ||
| However, retired Brigadier General Bray told the Datona Beach News Journal in August of 2024 that he did not sign a bronze star recommendation for Representative Corey Mills. | ||
| Whereas five people who served with Representative Corey Mills, including two men who were reported as having been personally saved by Representative Corey Mills at great risk to his own life as a basis for the recommendation for his bronze star in the Department of the Army Form 638, | ||
| disputed that Representative Corey Mills was involved in their rescue or provided life-saving care. | ||
| Whereas one private first class cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on Representative Corey Mills Army Form 638 recommending him for a bronze star, denied that Representative Corey Mills provided him any aid and also denied that his injuries were life-threatening. | ||
| Whereas one sergeant cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on Representative Corey Mills Army Form 638 recommending him for a bronze star called the account a fabrication and claimed that he was not involved in any claims that Corey Mills makes about me. | ||
| And whereas despite the numerous available contradictions of the accounts forming the basis of the recommendation for his bronze star, Representative Corey Mills described the legitimate factual disputes raised by individuals he purportedly served with and rescued as quote slander and defamation end quote in a statement at the Daytona Beach News Journal. | ||
| Now, therefore, be it resolved that Representative Corey Mills be censured. |