Senate Proceeding on May 13th, 2009 :: 0:32:45 to 0:45:55
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0:32:38 to 0:32:58( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: are faced. ms. mkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska is recognized. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i appreciate the opportunity to follow my colleague from utah as he has so clearly laid out the grounds upon which he has a hold on the department of interior nominee

0:32:45 to 0:45:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lisa Murkowski

0:32:59 to 0:33:20( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: and i want to make just a comment at the outset. i don't think that either the senator from utah -- certainly hold. this is not a situation where there is disagreement about mr. hayes' qualification this is not a personal matter

0:33:21 to 0:33:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: , anybody out to get mr. hayes, if you will. this is really about what is happening within the department, as my colle mentioned, about the credibility within the department of interior at this moment in and the actions taken by senator

0:33:43 to 0:34:03( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: bennett in placing a hold and subsequently my actions in also placing a hold on mr. hayes and his nomination. practice of being able potential nominee, whether it's

0:34:04 to 0:34:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: in the department of interior or any other position within the administration, asking the nominees questions and expecting to receive a response from that individual. so i too rise today to oppose the cloture position for the nomination of david hayes for

0:34:26 to 0:34:47( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: the deputy and from my perspective, this vote is over a very, very simple issue, and it can be distilled quite easily, and that is will this administration answer legitimate questions from republican senators? and before i give the on my situation, i also want to

0:34:48 to 0:35:09( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: say that i do regret being on the floor at this moment and having to make this statement. i believe that this whole process through has been and at any point leading up to this the department of interior could very easily have cleared the way for this nominee without

0:35:10 to 0:35:32( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: havi to force a cloture i'll explain why. it was two weeks ago that i added my name to the junior senator from utah's procedural hold on this nominee. i did so very reluctantly. i did not do it to be obstructive, to be an obstructionist in any way, but

0:35:33 to 0:35:56( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: rather to constructively obtain an understanding, an understanding of the actions by the department of interior that seem to be, at least in my opinion, dramatically at with sectary salazar's and president obama's statements regarding domestic energy production.

0:35:57 to 0:36:19( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: i will make a statement for the record that i, and certainly not senator bennett either -- neither one of us have asked the department of interior to adopt or repeal any specific rule or policy or take or repeal any specific administrative action. and the secretary -- the senator from utah has laid out very

0:36:20 to 0:36:41( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: clearly his concerns, and i will only summarize for those of you who just started listening to what we're talking about, that the interior shortly after the beginning of this administration canceled these 77 oil and gas leases in utah, gave factually incorrect justifications for its actions.

0:36:42 to 0:37:06( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: and all that the senator from utah is asking for i of this very same issue. now, following the decision on the utah leases, the administration announced a 180-day delay of the five-year outer continental shelf leasing plan. there was also a delay of the

0:37:07 to 0:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: scheduled round resources. there was also a finding for justification of listing the yellow bill whose range through major oil and gas regions in my state of alaska. there was also the determination that the bush administration's mountaintop coal mining rule is considered legally defective.

0:37:28 to 0:37:48( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: and then finally, there was the unilateral reversal of the previous administration's endangered species act consultation rules. and this was done without public hearing or without public comment. and it was issue as it relates to the endangered species act, that in my opinion was really the straw

0:37:49 to 0:38:10( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: that broke the camel's back here. when the bush administration listed the polar bear as a threatened species due to loss of sea ice, the world really changed insofar as their thr had to be clear -- there had to be clear guidelines for keeping normal activities out of the purview of a huge and really impossible regulatory scheme.

0:38:11 to 0:38:32( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: we cautioned against an overbroad interpretation of the polar bear rule, and interior, to their credit, has correct path on some of important rule makings. and i truly do appreate that and i've had opportunity to convey my appreciation to senator salazar. we are thankful for that.

0:38:33 to 0:38:53( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: but my larger concern remains that consultations could still be required for a hos of energy projects. and in any event, that the endangered species act citizens suits provisions there are still going to give rise to a multitude of lawsuits on when and where consultation with the

0:38:54 to 0:39:16( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: fish and mandating. so all of this combined, all of these various actions wit department of interior, within a very short time period, cause great concern about the direction of our nation's energy policy. now, i have been really very pleased about some of the comments that i have heard from

0:39:17 to 0:39:40( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: the president and from secretary salaza they themselves have very clearly stated that we do need oil producinmore of it domestically. but what has been happening is the statements that have been made and the rule ming andhe odds with one another.

0:39:41 to 0:40:01( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: quotes from both the secretary and the president. secretary salazar has said, there's no question -- he was talking about renewable increase. -- energies. he goes on to state there question the nation will continue to produce oil and gas as a bridge to this energy future. i actually agree with the secretary. and the president a couple weeks

0:40:02 to 0:40:24( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: ago "as i've often said in the short term, as we transition to renewable energy, we can and should increase our domestic production of oil and natural gas. we're not going to transform our economy overnight. we still need more oil. we need more gas. if we've got some here in the united states

0:40:25 to 0:40:45( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: we should find it and do so in an environmentally sustainable and that's the end of the president's quote. i couldn't agree with him more. but there is an as i have said, in statements that have been coming from the administration and the actions as evidenced through the rule making or dictives.

0:40:46 to 0:41:06( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: so i still have questions about whether or not this administration does indeed want to include increased domestic conventional energy as one of the legs of our comprehensive energy policy. or if the administration is going to say one thing and then do another.

0:41:07 to 0:41:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: if this president and interior department want to scale back production, that is their prerogative, and we certainly talk about that. but that's something that i need to knowoth as the ranking member on the energy committee and as the senator, a senator coming fro the greatest onshore and

0:41:28 to 0:41:49( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: offshore oil and gas prospects left in north america. this is important that we know and understand where this administration is coming from. so i sent a letter to the secretary when i placed the hold on mr. hayes, and i outlined my concerns. and all of my questions in that letter focus on how interior will implement the policies that

0:41:50 to 0:42:10( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: it's announced and how it will defend against things like the third-party lawsuits, to which we believe that they have made themselves pretty vulnerable. the white house and the interior department have communicated with me and my staff since i wrote that letter. initially we were told that d.o.i. doesn't want to answer the questions because they're

0:42:11 to 0:42:31( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: too them, they're too mean. since that time, received a draft of a letter. i received it last night at about 7:00. i appreciated their response, but in many ways it avoided many of the specific questions. opportunity for us to go through

0:42:32 to 0:42:52( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: my series of questions, have that discussion in a meaningful way and get am seeking. and as a senator, i believe i'm entitled to. i will ask, mr. president, if we can presume that the interior department has been making its decisions and policies based on rational and well-thought-out

0:42:53 to 0:43:15( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: facts and science, it be to question about the decisions it? i would -- decisions and the policies behind it? i would like to submit for the record the letter i sent to secretary salazar. i think you'll see there are indeed some very hard questions contained in my letter.

0:43:16 to 0:43:37( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: but at this level of government, mr. president, i would suggest there aren't very many questions left. as i indicated in my initial comments, i am not trying to be an obstructionist here. in response to d.o.i.'s complaints, i've offered to sit down with them in good through the questions one by one. and the standard that i would

0:43:38 to 0:44:00( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: use would be if any member of this body were to be secretary of interior, which of the questions would they have insisted that their staff extensively analyze prior to taking the actions that the department has. i do believe that my questions will be answered, but it's clear that questions are being answered

0:44:01 to 0:44:22( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: because of this petion, and that troubles me. because i believe that the senate and its role to advise and consent on presidential nominees, believe that entitled to answers from the administration about what its policy is as and it shouldn't matter whether these questions come from republicans or from a democrat.

0:44:23 to 0:44:44( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: it's rsonable to expect that any one of us in this get honest answers about this administration is going to pursue and implement an energy policy. sit down and go over the questions, but instead this morning we're going to s vote on the floor.

0:44:45 to 0:45:05( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: my hold on david hayes didn't come attached with demands to change a rule, make a rule, or approve a plan or policy, i just want some answers. i want some answers as to where the administration's policy is going to be. and my commitmt is to get those answers, but regardless of what happens with this vote here

0:45:06 to 0:45:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: today, i'm certainly going to pursue actively the development of all forms of energy in this country. because we're going to need all of them and we're going to need them in high volumes. bu working in good fait with the interior department, whatever its makeup is, because we've got a lot of work to do. we know that and we commit

0:45:28 to 0:45:49( Edit History Discussion )

Lisa Murkowski: to that level of activity. with that, mr. presint, i yield the flo i note the absence of a the presiding officer: the clerk will c