[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4118-S4119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Jeffords, 
        Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Biden, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. 
        Boxer, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Torricelli, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
        Kohl, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 867. A bill to designate a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge as wilderness; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.


             arctic national refuge wilderness act of 1999

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, in 1960 President Dwight Eisenhower had the 
wisdom to set aside a portion of America's Arctic for the benefit and 
enjoyment of future generations. His Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 
protected the highest peaks and glaciers of the Brooks Range, North 
America's two largest and most northerly alpine lakes, and nearly 200 
different wildlife species, including polar bears, grizzlies, wolves, 
caribou, and millions of migratory birds.
  Eisenhower's Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton called the new Arctic 
Range, ``one of the most magnificent wildlife and wilderness areas in 
North America . . . a wilderness experience not duplicated elsewhere.
  With this in mind, I reintroduce legislation today, Earth Day 1999, 
that designates the coastal plain of Alaska as wilderness area. At the 
moment this area is a national wildlife refuge--one of our most 
beautiful and last frontiers. This legislation, the Arctic National 
Refuge Wilderness Act of 1999, would forever safeguard this great 
national treasure from oil exploration and development.
  And I can't stress how important this is.
  The Alaskan wilderness area is not only a critical part of our 
Earth's ecosystem--the last remaining region where the complete 
spectrum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems comes together--but it is a 
vital part of our national consciousness. It is a place we can cherish 
and visit for our soul's good.
  The Alaskan wilderness is a place of outstanding wildlife, wilderness 
and recreation, a land dotted by beautiful forests, dramatic peaks and 
glaciers, gentle foothills and undulating tundra. It is untamed--rich 
with caribou, polar bear, grizzly, wolves, musk oxen, Dall sheep, 
moose, and hundreds of thousands of birds--snow geese, tundra swans, 
black brant, and more. Birds from the Arctic Refuge fly to or through 
every state in the continental U.S. In all, Mr. President, about 165 
species use the coastal plain.
  It is an area of intense wildlife activity. Animals give birth, nurse 
and feed their young, and set about the critical business of fueling up 
for winters of unspeakable severity.
  The fact is Mr. President, there are parts of this Earth where it is 
good that man can come only as a visitor. These are the pristine lands 
that belong to all of us. And perhaps most importantly, these are the 
lands that belong to our future.
  Considering the many reasons why this bill is so important, I came 
across the words of the great Western writer, Wallace Stegner. 
Referring to the land we are trying to protect with this legislation, 
he wrote that it is `the most splendid part of the American habitat; it 
is also the most fragile.' And we cannot enter `it carrying habits that 
[are] inappropriate and expectations that [are] surely excessive.'
  What this bill offers--and what we need--is a brand of pragmatic 
environmentalism, an environmental stewardship that protects our 
important wilderness areas and precious resources, while carefully and 
judiciously weighing the short-term desires or our country against its 
long-term needs.
  Together, we need to embrace environmental policies that are workable 
and pragmatic, policies based on the desire to make the world a better 
place for us and for future generations. I believe a strong economy, 
liberty, and progress are possible only when we have a healthy planet--
only when resources are managed through wise stewardship--only when an 
environmental ethic thrives among nations--and only when people have 
frontiers that are untrammeled and able to host their fondest dreams.

[[Page S4119]]

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 867

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF PORTION OF ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE 
                   REFUGE AS WILDERNESS.

       Section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System 
     Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(p) Designation of Certain Land as Wilderness.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a portion of 
     the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska comprising 
     approximately 1,559,538 acres, as generally depicted on a map 
     entitled `Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--1002 Area. 
     Alternative E--Wilderness Designation, October 28, 1991' and 
     available for inspection in the offices of the Secretary of 
     the Interior, is designated as a component of the National 
     Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act (16 
     U.S.C. 1131 et seq.).''.

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am proud to again join with Senator 
Roth in the very important bipartisan effort to designate the coastal 
plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness--forever.
  Today is Earth Day 1999. The introduction of the Arctic Wilderness 
Act is particularly appropriate on Earth Day because it will provide 
permanent protection for the unique and irreplaceable natural resources 
of an area that is the ``biological heart'' of the North Slope of 
Alaska. The coastal plain is a vital part of the tundra ecosystem that 
some have referred to as ``America's Serengetti.''
  On Earth Day, we should take extra measure of special, rare, and 
threatened places. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain is 
one of these places. It is one natural treasure that we must protect as 
wilderness for current and future generations.
  The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge represents 
the wildest and most pristine arctic coastal ecosystem in the United 
States. The coastal plain is where the calves of the awe-inspiring 
Porcupine caribou herd are born every year. It is also where snow geese 
feed in the fall and many female polar bears choose to den.
  During the summer, migratory birds such as the red-throated loon, 
American golden-plover, and semipalmated sandpiper and others flock to 
the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in great 
numbers. In the fall, they return southward to and through the state of 
Connecticut among other places. By dedicating the coastal plain of the 
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, we can help ensure that 
this ancient natural rite continues into the 21st Century.
  For more than a decade, Congress has repeatedly debated the 
advisability of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal 
plain to oil and gas exploration and development. Time and again, 
Congress and the American people have rejected the notion that we 
should sacrifice our last vestige of arctic coastal plain to petroleum 
development. The decision to prohibit coastal plain petroleum 
development reflects the tremendous value Americans place in the 
preservation of our great wilderness areas.
  The degradation caused by developing oil and gas in places worthy of 
wilderness designation is irreversible. Once developed, the wilderness 
value of a place is lost.
  The Alaska Wilderness Act designates the coastal plain of the Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness--an area to remain wild and 
undeveloped in perpetuity--and thereby preserves one of the last great 
natural treasures on the North American continent for generations to 
come.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, Earth Day is a celebration of the value 
and importance of our natural environment and a reminder of our duty to 
protect, rather than carelessly exploit and deplete, our natural 
heritage. Our commitment to future generations is something we in 
Minnesota take very seriously. It is a commitment to ensure that the 
environmental legacy we pass on to our children and grandchildren is 
not marred by failures such as the poisoning of our oceans, rivers, 
lakes and streams, the destruction of the natural habitat, and the 
irreversible extinction of species.
  Environmental concerns have always been very important to me and to 
Minnesotans, and I am proud of the progress that we are making in 
protecting the environment. However, while recognizing the progress we 
have made, we Minnesotans also realize how much more needs to be done.
  That is why I feel it is very appropriate that Senator Roth, myself, 
and several of our colleagues, are introducing legislation on this day 
to designate a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska 
as wilderness. My good friend Congressman Bruce Vento from Minnesota, 
along with over 150 of his colleagues, have introduced similar 
legislation in the House, called the Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act. 
This legislation is a tremendous step forward, crucial to preserving 
the biodiversity of one of our nation's last remaining frontiers.
  This bill will designate the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge as 
wilderness, protecting 1.5 million acres of some of the most unspoiled 
wilderness remaining in the United States. The Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge is a one-of-a-kind national treasure, home to many unique 
species of plant and animal life, several of which are considered 
endangered or threatened. This magnificent wilderness contains a 
complete spectrum of arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems, which can be 
found nowhere else on the continent.
  Moreover, the fragile balance of life in this wilderness is critical 
to the survival of the native Gwich'in Athabascan Indians of northeast 
Alaska, who depend on the land to maintain their centuries-old nomadic 
way of life. The Gwich'in rely on the 150,000-strong Porcupine River 
caribou herd, whose calving grounds are on the coastal plain.
  Unfortunately, a few multinational oil companies have set their 
sights on this crown jewel of America's wilderness to extract their 
short-term profits. Oil drilling on the coastal plain would mean 
despoliation of this pristine land with hundreds of oil rigs, 
pipelines, air strips, and other industrial facilities. It would 
destroy one of the most magnificent wilderness areas in North America.
  And it would do so much harm for so little gain. Allowing these 
multinationals to boost their profits by drilling oil would do nothing 
to solve our energy problems. The amount of oil that could potentially 
be recovered from the Refuge is relatively small, and most of it would 
likely be exported to Asia.
  Instead of promoting oil drilling that destroys our natural 
environment, we should be promoting renewable sources of energy. In so 
doing, we could save more energy than would ever be extracted from the 
coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
  Polls show that Americans strongly support protection of the Arctic 
Refuge. Yet the oil lobby in Washington has never suffered from a lack 
of representation. The oil multinationals pressure Congress every year 
to open up this coastal plain to drilling. It's time Congress stood up 
for the public interest, rather than the economic interests of the 
largest oil companies.
  We have a responsibility to protect the environment for future 
generations. We must voice our protest and prevent those reckless 
policies which ignore the real costs of exhausting our natural 
resources and permanently distort our ecosystem's fragile balance.
  We must continue to be a world leader in deterring the destruction of 
our natural heritage. We must continue to facilitate and promote 
successful programs that help us conserve and use our lands and 
resources wisely.
  As we celebrate the last official Earth Day of the twentieth century, 
we must ensure that we will have cause to celebrate Earth Day in the 
twenty-first century. This legislation represents a significant step in 
the right direction, and I urge my colleagues to join us in 
cosponsoring this legislation on this very special day.
                                 ______