[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            DRILLING IN THE ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, in the Book of Genesis, Esau, hungry and 
believing he was about to die, sold his birthright to Jacob for a pot 
of red stew. The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is the birthright of 
the Gwich'in Tribe as well as a national treasure of natural beauty.
  Are we, like Esau, about to sell our birthright to corporations for a 
mess of oily pottage? Are we ready to despoil our natural heritage in 
search of liquid fool's gold?
  It is time for new thinking. Instead of the oil companies taking over 
ANWR for drilling, we ought to be talking about taking over the oil 
companies. They have gouged the American people. They control our 
politics. They have ignored the growing global environmental crisis. 
They have defeated alternative energies. The lust for oil has put us on 
a path toward war.
  It is time for new thinking. We should be talking about a windfall 
profits tax, breaking up the oil monopolies, or even taking over the 
oil companies, not sacrificing ANWR. Esau thought his birthright didn't 
mean much. Will we, like Esau, come to regret that we never claimed our 
right to control over our natural resources, our own environment, our 
own Nation?

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