[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 168 (Thursday, December 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2863, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS 
                               ACT, 2006

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                               speech of

                            HON. JIM RAMSTAD

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Sunday, December 18, 2005

  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly oppose the use of our 
brave troops as political cover to open the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge, ANWR, to oil drilling.
  Adding the totally unrelated and highly controversial ANWR drilling 
provision to the Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2863) is the most 
outrageous abuse of power I've seen in my 15 years as a member of 
Congress.
  This last-ditch effort to impose oil drilling in the Arctic 
wilderness by converting the Defense appropriations bill into a 
``garbage bill'' is a great insult to our troops and a flagrant abuse 
of the legislative process.
  We should oppose this heavy-handed, backdoor tactic to impose oil 
drilling in one of the Nation's last great wilderness areas.
  We should vote down the conference report so the conferees can remove 
the ANWR provision and bring back a clean Defense spending bill tonight 
for our approval.
  I urge members to honor our troops and stand up for the environment 
by rejecting this conference report.
  Let's not hold our brave troops hostage to Arctic oil drilling!

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