[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Boxer, 
        Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Kohl, Mr. 
        Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
        Whitehouse, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
        Kerry, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 33. A bill to designate a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge as wilderness; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, today, I introduced legislation to 
protect the coastal plains region of the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge from oil and gas exploration and drilling. Every Congress since 
the 101st, I have either introduced or been an original cosponsor of 
legislation to protect the Refuge, making tomorrow the twelfth time 
since 1989 that I will mark my unwavering support for reaffirming the 
original intent of the Refuge: to provide habitat for Alaska's 
wildlife, by designating 1.5 million acres of the Refuge as Wilderness 
to be included in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
  I have long believed we have a responsibility to future generations 
to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and I have fought to 
protect it for as long as I have been in the Senate. The fact is, we do 
not have to choose between conservation and exploration when it comes 
to our energy future; we can do both simultaneously while moving toward 
a sustainable and diverse national energy policy.
  The Arctic Refuge is home to 250 species of wildlife. Drilling there 
would severely harm its abundant populations of polar bears, caribou, 
musk oxen, and snow geese. Beyond that, the amount of commercially 
recoverable oil in the Refuge would satisfy only a very small 
percentage of our Nation's need at any given time and would have no 
appreciable long-tem impact on gasoline prices. The permanent 
environmental price we would pay for ravaging the Refuge to drain those 
limited resources is simply too high.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important 
legislation.
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