[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1146 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1146
To amend Public Law 115-97 (commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act) to repeal the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2019
Mr. Huffman (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Aguilar, Ms. Barragan,
Ms. Bass, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr.
Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Casten of Illinois, Ms.
Castor of Florida, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Cicilline, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Welch, Mr. Crow, Mr.
DeFazio, Ms. DeGette, Mrs. Demings, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Deutch, Mrs.
Dingell, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Eshoo, Mr.
Espaillat, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Haaland, Mr.
Hastings, Ms. Hill of California, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Himes,
Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Krishnamoorthi,
Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. Ted
Lieu of California, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr.
Lujan, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Matsui, Ms.
McCollum, Mr. McEachin, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNerney, Ms. Meng, Mr.
Morelle, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano,
Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Peters, Ms. Pingree,
Mr. Pocan, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Schakowsky,
Mr. Schiff, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Shalala, Mr. Sires, Mr. Smith of
Washington, Mr. Soto, Ms. Speier, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Van Drew,
Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Waters,
Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. Rouda, Mr. Ryan, Mr.
Connolly, Mrs. Trahan, Mrs. Murphy, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr.
Trone, and Mr. Cunningham) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend Public Law 115-97 (commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act) to repeal the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Americans cherish the continued existence of expansive,
unspoiled wilderness ecosystems and wildlife found on their
public lands and feel a strong moral responsibility to protect
this wilderness heritage as an enduring resource to bequeath
undisturbed to future generations of Americans.
(2) It is widely believed by ecologists, wildlife
scientists, public land specialists, and other experts that the
wilderness ecosystem centered around and dependent upon the
Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
Alaska, represents the very epitome of a primeval wilderness
ecosystem and constitutes the greatest wilderness area and
diversity of wildlife habitats of its kind in the United
States.
(3) President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated protection of
the wilderness values of the Arctic coastal plain in 1960 when
he set aside 8,900,000 acres establishing the Arctic National
Wildlife Range expressly ``for the purpose of preserving unique
wildlife, wilderness and recreational values''.
(4) When the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was
established in 1980 by paragraph (2) of section 303 of the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96-
487; 94 Stat. 90; 23 16 U.S.C. 668dd note), subparagraph (B)
recognized the following four additional purposes of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge:
(A) ``To conserve fish and wildlife populations and
habitats in their natural diversity including the
Porcupine caribou herd''.
(B) ``To fulfill the international treaty
obligations for the United States with respect to fish
and wildlife and their habitats''.
(C) ``To provide . . . the opportunity for
continued subsistence use by local residents''.
(D) ``To ensure . . . water quality and quantity
within the refuge''.
(5) A majority of Americans have supported and continue to
support preserving and protecting the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, including the Arctic coastal plain, from any industrial
development and consider oil and gas exploration and
development in particular to be incompatible with the purposes
for which this incomparable wilderness ecosystem has been set
aside.
(6) Canada has taken action to preserve those portions of
the wilderness ecosystem of the Arctic that exist on its side
of the international border and provides strong legal
protection for the habitat of the Porcupine caribou herd that
migrates annually through both countries to calve on the Arctic
coastal plain.
(7) The Gwich'in people of eastern Alaska and Northwestern
Canada have relied on the Porcupine caribou herd for millennia
and caribou is a vital cultural, spiritual, and nutritional
resource for the Gwich'in.
(8) The Arctic is being impacted by climate change at
unprecedented levels. Temperatures are rising at twice the rate
of the rest of the country, and wildlife and habitat that
depend on the Arctic are being detrimentally impacted.
(9) Title II, section 20001 of Public Law 115-97 (commonly
known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) would allow an oil and gas
program on the Coastal Plain. Oil and gas activities are not
compatible with the protection of this national treasure.
(10) Repeal of section 20001 would best protect the
unspoiled ecosystem of the Coastal Plain, the human rights of
the Gwich'in, and the integrity of the National Wildlife Refuge
System.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United
States--
(1) to honor the decades of bipartisan efforts that have
increasingly protected the great wilderness ecosystem of the
Arctic coastal plain;
(2) to sustain this natural treasure for the current
generation of Americans;
(3) to honor and respect the human rights of the Gwich'in;
and
(4) to do everything possible to protect and preserve this
magnificent natural ecosystem so that it may be bequeathed in
its unspoiled natural condition to future generations of
Americans.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE OIL AND GAS PROGRAM.
Section 20001 of Public Law 115-97 is hereby repealed.
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