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Rep. Don Young’s Prepared Statement

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing this morning, and welcome to our witnesses. 

            When I first saw the hearing title, I thought this was about opening ANWR.  Anyone who has read the CRS tax report on ANWR from last year knows that continued failure to develop ANWR’s resources will cost the government at least $30 billion in royalties, plus the good jobs and over twice that much in corporate income taxes.

            Every time we decide not allow for energy development on government lands in the United States and import foreign oil instead, we put the government’s royalty stream at risk.  And the Congress has passed lots of legislation resulting in the loss of untold tens of billions of dollars in revenues that could be used to pay for Medicare, to support our troops, or to build roads to increase transportation efficiency throughout this great nation. 

            The royalty stream from the areas that have been locked up on the Outer Continental Shelf would total hundreds of billions of dollars.  Clearly a lot of royalties are being put at risk and our nation is being put at risk by groups that oppose energy development on government lands and those who vote their party line in the Congress. 

            When the staff briefed me on the hearing, I found out that we were not looking at the big underlying problem at all, but instead,  we’re going to put on our green eyes shades and argue whether the too-small amount of energy production from government lands is paying its fair share. 

            I think that everyone should pay his fair share.  I just wish more lands would be producing more American energy and more good jobs and less dependence on foreign crooks for the energy that makes our economy grow. 

            I think the tribes should get all they are due and the States should get everything they’re due.  I think that in many cases, it would just make more sense to turn over 50 percent of these federal lands to the States to manage and to collect royalties on, and give the Indian Tribes the ownership of their lands so that they don’t have to ask permission from the federal government and rely on them for everything.  That would truly be Indian Self Determination and State’s rights, and I think the tribes and the States would do a much better job and take the Washington politics out of it. 

            I would recommend right off that the federal government give the Native people of the North Slope of Alaska and the State of Alaska ANWR, since the Congress doesn’t apparently see those royalties at risk. 

For more information, access the Committee on Natural Resources’ Minority website at:

http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.shtml