President's FY 2027 Budget Request for Department of the Interior

The Committee on Natural Resources will come to order without objection the Chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time. The committee meeting today is meeting today to hear testimony on examining the President's FY twenty twenty seven budget request for the Department of Interior. For purposes of planning, there will be a ten minute recess at noon. There will also be food uh for members. Under committee rule four F, any oral opening statements are limited to the chairman and the ranking member. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other members' statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted in accordance with committee rule three O. Without objection? So ordered. And I recognize myself for an opening statement. Well, good morning and welcome, uh, welcome especially to Secretary Burgum to this important oversight hearing on President Trump's fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget request for the Department of Interior. Our abundant natural resources really are the backbone of our nation. Multiple uses of our public lands provide the food, the fuel and fiber that benefit Americans across the country. Oil, gas and coal and other energy sources developed on our public lands power our cars, our homes, and our businesses. Timber resources create jobs in rural communities and provide the raw materials necessary to build homes schools and businesses. Water is both essential for life and a vital source of power and transportation. The scope of our committee's jurisdiction is significant and carries with it profound responsibility. As stewards of our natural resources, it is imperative that we manage and conserve these assets, not only for our own benefit, but also for the well-being of future generations. The Department of the Interior and its agencies oversee more than four hundred eighty million acres of surface land, seven hundred fifty million acres of subsurface and mineral estate, and more than two point five billion offshore acres. These lands and waters are expected to generate more than uh right up close to twenty billion dollars for the American taxpayer in twenty twenty seven. While all inspiring, proper stewardship requires strong leadership, something that's been a breath of fresh air under this administration. Building on the momentum of the working family tax cuts, committee of republicans have continued to unleash American energy and strengthen domestic mineral supply chains. To remain energy dominant, we must continue to unlock our resources and build the critical infrastructure needed to fuel our country and our allies. In twenty twenty five alone, the Bureau of Land Management held twenty-two oil and gas lease sales across ten states that generated more than three hundred fifty-five million dollars in revenue. These lease sales help us reduce our reliance on our foreign adversaries, to create good paying American jobs, and boost local economies. Congress and the administration must continue to work together to unleash American energy, building our current momentum, and also so our nation can remain secure and energy dominant. We must also work together to prevent catastrophic wildfires, restore forest health, and protect communities. With more than forty-four million homes at risk in the wildland-urban interface, the need to act quickly has never been greater. Across the West, snowpack is at its lowest level in more than four decades, an ominous sign as we enter the height of the wildfire year. That's why I'm pleased to see the administration's budget so closely aligned with our bipartisan Fix Our Forest Act. including creating a wildland fire intelligence center, tripling the size of existing categorical exclusions, and codifying emergency authorities. Secretary Burgum, I look forward to working with you to get this bill to President Trump's desk, so we can give you the tools you need to address our wildli- our wildfire and forest health crisis. In the West, President Trump and Secretary Burgum have made water delivery a top priority, reducing regulatory bottlenecks and streamlining the construction of water infrastructure. Republican's working family's tax cuts included a significant investment in Western water storage and conveyance project. Under the Secretary's leadership, the department has invested nearly eight hundred million ninety million dollars in water projects to ensure reliable and secure water deliveries for farmers ranchers and households across the West. Again, our natural resources are the backbone of our country. We must steward our resources well and responsibly develop them for the benefit of our nation and for our allies. Secretary Bur- Secretary Burgum, I do welcome you back to the committee. I look forward to your testimony and discussion how we can work together to responsibly manage our resources. And with that, I uh now recognize Ranking Member Huffman for an opening statement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome back, Mr. Secretary. Since you were last here, things have unfortunately gotten worse for the department and a lot worse for the American people. President Trump is gutting funding and personnel in the agencies that manage ordering what's left of the beleaguered National Park Service staff to whitewash history, shutting down projects that are ready to bring cheap, reliable clean energy to millions of families who are struggling with skyrocketing utility bills, and bullying the offshore wind industry into abandoning billions in investments that would bring even more affordable energy online. He promised Big Oil that he'd give them everything they want if they funded his twenty twenty campaign, and he has delivered on that by driving US energy policy down a one-way street of fossil fuel dependency, blocking the off-ramps with his war on clean energy, and now crashing the car with a war in Iran. Fifteen months in, the reality of these decisions is setting in. Oil and gas prices are soaring. As America pulled back from global leadership on clean energy technology, China stepped right in. to fill the void. And while your administration promotes oil, gas and coal, the fuels of the twentieth century, the rest of the world is looking to the future and rushing to buy EVs, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines from China and others. Trump's policies have been terrible for our competition with China, terrible for working families, trying to pay their bills. There is only one group that benefits. from these policies. And that is the oil and gas oligarchs who funded Trump's campaign. Mister Secretary, at every turn you've helped all this happen. You have treated the public lands and waters that you've been entrusted with like assets on a corporate balance sheet. So that billionaires, foreign companies, and political donors can profit. You've enabled a culture of corruption, where people in your agency are making decisions that line their own pockets and enrich their families and friends. Under your leadership, Department of Interior has been a billionaire's dream, but a nightmare for the public and a betrayal of our obligations to future generations. Families across the country right now can't even afford essentials like gas, health care, and groceries. But instead of trying to make their lives better, Trump has been obsessed with a raft of vanity projects, and you've been one of the principal enablers. You've fed his hyper-fixation on buildings that glorify him. like the ridiculous Gilded Ballroom and the massive Arch to Trump that he's trying to build right in front of Arlington Cemetery. You even put his picture on park passes. You let him replace Martin Luther King Junior Day with his own birthday as a free National Parks Day. Under your budget, which you say in your testimony, is about fiscal responsibility, just about everything that benefits tribes, public lands, wildlife and water is facing deep cuts, which makes the increased funding for Washington DC beautification and the endless time and money that you seem to have for projects that stroke Trump's massive ego even more glaringly disconnected from the needs and reality that most American families are facing right now. This is the most nakedly corrupt administration in American history. My oath of office requires me to be very candid about that. One tally of cash and gifts received by the Trump family from selling the presidency comes to two point six billion dollars and that is almost certainly an understatement. Donald Trump Junior invested in a small mining start-up that has ballooned to ten times its original value after daddy bought a chunk of the company with taxpayer dollars and then issued a Department of Defense loan for six hundred and twenty billion dollars more. In fact, Trump has been on a spending spree, buying chunks of lots of companies, including foreign-owned mining companies like Trilogy Metals, which is proposing a mine in the Alaska wilderness. And meanwhile, Trumpet appointees are making a mockery of ethics while reaping personal benefits. At the Fish and Wildlife Service, an official got her family business a permit for its captive animal breeding operation. Your associate Deputy Secretary inked an undisclosed three point five million dollar water rights deal with a mining company. My colleagues and I have been working around the clock to keep up with this steady churn of scandal created by Trump and your Interior Department. But, Mister Secretary, you and your agency have stonewalled us at every turn. We're asking important questions, but the lack of transparency raises bigger questions. What are you hiding? and for whose benefit. Mister Secretary, we expect truthful answers to our questions. The American people deserve that. They deserve to see that public office is a public trust, not an investment opportunity for billionaires and plutocrats and not a vessel for one man's insatiable self-aggrandizement. The American people deserve better. I yield back.

Gentlemen, this time has expired. I now recog or uh now we'll introduce our witness, uh, the Honorable Doug Burgum, Secretary of the U. S. department of interior in washington d. c. uh secretary bergham uh you're getting to be a pro at this you've done it enough now but i'll remind you that under committee rules you must limit your oral statement to five minutes but your entire statement will appear in the hearing record to begin your testimony please press the on button on the microphone we do use uh timing lights when you begin the light will turn green at the end of five minutes the light will turn red and i'll ask you to please complete your statement and i recognize secretary bergham for five minutes

Uh, thank you, Chairman. And uh, thank you, Ranking Member Huffman. Uh, let me add on top of my written remarks that uh, Ranking Member, uh, I think that you would know that I would find your opening statements uh, filled with factual inaccuracies and uh, and and grossly mis-sweeting statements that I'm hoping over the time today that we'll have an opportunity to uh, address uh, those assertions. Uh, but as we know, this department touched the lives of billions of Americans. manages uh america's vast energy supply and natural resources we honor federal trust responsibilities and unique relationship with tribal nations we deliver water to the west we fight fires we enforce the law and we steward our treasured wildlife refuges and national parks and our efforts extend across the country to insure border security the department manages forty one percent of the southwestern border as well as the safety of indian country uh this broad portfolio uh of t tens of trillions of dollars, uh, in belongs to the American people and should be managed, conserved and put to use according to the law. Uh, this budget reflects President Trump's priorities to pursue American energy dominance deliver services more efficiently uphold law and order, and make federal land safe and accessible for all Americans, all of which will make life more affordable for families across this country. Under this administration, Interior, along with the rest administrations committed to increasing uh our energy production, uh re-establishing our position as dominant in critical minerals minerals, protecting our economic and national security. And by energy dominance, we mean selling energy to our friends and allies, so that they don't have to buy from those that are waging war against our allies or waging terrorism against the world. Uh we have eliminated burdensome ideological counter-productive regulations that undermine efficient land management uh while maintaining appropriate protections of our wildlife and environment. Uh, ongoing regulatory reform to cut red tape will continue to secure supply change, unlock ener- American energy, reduce prices, deliver better outcomes to the American people and tribal nations, and secure sustainable financial returns for the American people on their federally owned land and mineral resources. The department estimates that revenues in twenty twenty seven will exceed nearly twenty billion. That's revenue coming in from managing the resources, uh, now more than, uh, more than offsetting the operational costs to the department. Uh, the department is also reducing costs by making our operations more effective. The budget includes three unification proposals, which we hope to have an opportunity to talk about. Uh, one is unifying our four wildland fire programs into the new US wildland fire service. Uh, the budget also includes the unification of the firefighting components of the US Forest Service, into this one national US wildland fire service. unifying duplicative endangered species responsibility that is split between NOAA and UN fish and wildlife under the fish and wildlife service, and reunifying the departments to existing offshore mineral management bureaus uh into a single entity the Marine Minerals Administration. These unification efforts will streamline bureaucracy and make our work to fight fires, manage forests, protect wildlife and the environment, uh, all faster, safer, smarter, and more effective. We are expanding our efforts to cooperate with tribes and federal agencies to fulfill trust responsibilities by committing to open door engagement, transparency, and sustained communication with all of our five hundred and seventy-five federally recognized tribes. The millions of Americans visit interior lands each year, fueling a booming one point three trillion dollar outdoor economy and supporting jobs in small businesses nationwide. The twenty twenty seven budget focuses on on the continued uh recreational use as well as the beautification of interior's assets. One big ask that we would have for this committee, uh is to expeditiously reauthorize the great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund passed by Congress uh and signed by President Trump during his first term. Reauthorization for an additional five years would again help protect and insure that we have the capital budgets to maintain these uh essential resources. In addition, as we celebrate America's two fiftieth, uh, the budget focuses on visitor-facing operations at our parks, wildlife and public lands, and this will help improve visitor experience, drive tourism, create jobs and generate revenue. Simply put, this budget puts America first and Americans first while securing peace and prosperity for our country's, uh, future. I appreciate the committee's support for the department's mission, and I look forward to working closely with each of you to advance the important mission and responsibilities of the Department of Interior. Thank you.

Gentleman yields back. Thank you, Secretary Burgum, for your valuable testimony. We'll now move into questions, and I'll recognize members for five minutes, uh beginning with Miss Hagerman, the Subcommittee Chair for our Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. Miss Hagerman, you're recognized.

Thank you, uh, Mister Chairman, and Secretary Burgum, I want to start today by thanking you for your work on the Department of Interior's finalization of its NEPA implementing regulations to make it easier to permit, access, use, hunt, recreate on, develop and build on our federal lands in the United States. I co-led a letter with Western Caucasus Chair Malloy, thanking you for your work on these regulations and stressing the importance of permitting reform for our country's economic development and national security. And I also thank you for being an example to other federal agencies in leading a charge on rolling back bureaucratic overreach that is outside congressional intent. Mister Secretary, your team has been terrific in helping my state of Wyoming have a better energy future with your support of our coal industry. Wyoming has led in coal production since nineteen eighty-six, and we now produce approximately forty percent of the coal that is used in the United States. A February report from the Wyoming Energy Authority confirm that after more than a decade without new federal coal leasing, domestic and international demand could outpace supply by twenty thirty, which is a dire situation for this country. We need new coal leases and expanded production to prevent this scenario. And as you know, part of the coal leasing process, BLM must analyze the fair market value of coal to ensure that the citizens are getting a fair return. Our past administrations, most specifically Obama and Biden, who did not support coal leasing, they actually provided a return uh to taxpayers of zero, as they did everything in their power to destroy our coal industry. What is your team doing to ensure we develop a fair market value of coal, uh that would reflect real market conditions but encourage leasing, as well as rooted in current market realities, so we can lease more coal in Wyoming?

Thank you, representative. Uh, obviously, uh, uh, having a affordable, reliable base load energy is key to America's future and key to us winning the AI arms race with China. Uh, China was mentioned earlier, China added last year ninety-three gigawatts of coal. They're on track to do a similar amount this year. We know the technology exists in your state, my home state, to produce energy cleanly from coal. That coal also includes critical minerals, some of the highest concentrations of uh critical minerals that we need that were now capped at to China, coal, the co-production of critical minerals and thermal energy, uh, is is essential, uh, to our future. And of course, uh, we're getting back to our basics at the US Geologic survey, which we, uh, say is mapping is the core technology. We have gone through a preliminary assessment and estimated that the coal resources on federal land that belong to the American public are worth eight trillion dollars eight trillion dollars and so developing those

Oh my gosh.

provides return to our taxpayers that lowers energy cost. Uh, we can do it cleanly and we can help solve the critical minerals. So again, appreciate the support we have from you and the state of Wyoming, uh, to ensure that, uh, we can, uh, not only win the arms race which requires power, but to, uh, get out of the stranglehold that China has, uh, on the virtually the whole world regarding critical minerals.

Well, the the fact is that it is difficult to to permit and lease coal in Wyoming and elsewhere, and it is a process that needs to be streamlined. I don't know if you are it's also astronomically expensive. with years and years and years tied up in the permitting before any of our coal mines can actually start producing. Uh the last coal lease was issued in two thousand and fourteen, as I indicated twenty thirty is kind of a drop dead date by which we need to have some of this permitting done. I have introduced a bill that would uh address the bonus bid process for coal in the state of Wyoming and elsewhere. I'm not sure if you've had an opportunity to look at that, but I would really welcome the administration's uh support for that particular effort to make sure that we can continue to produce coal. Um but I also wanna talk about some other things that you've done. In December of last year the BLM amended a Biden era BLM regulation to extend the phase in date for compliance with the minimum bond amount for statewide oil and gas leases. In fact, what this uh rule would do is increase the cost of a single lease for bond from ten thousand dollars to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, any statewide blanket bonds from twenty five thousand to five hundred thousand, a fourteen hundred percent increase. Obviously, this will have an enormous impact. Uh, while this rule has been put back until June of twenty twenty seven, it is still hanging over our heads, and it would have a devastating impact on my independent producers in the state of Wyoming especially. What is the administration or your office doing to attempt to address what was really a horrific rule coming out of the Biden administration attempting to uh, increase the cost of oil and gas development to the point that it became infeasible.

Uh, well, Representative, you're accurate that the purpose of those was, uh, to actually try to drive an industry out of business, an industry that we, uh, desperately need, uh, an energy industry. Uh, and of course you mentioned leasing. Uh, we do we do know that, uh, you know, every president from Harry Truman, including President Obama, held the quarter quarterly required law legally required lease sales, all the way through up until the Biden administration where in the first two years, hold a single quarterly lease sale as required by law. That went to federal court, uh, and, uh, and the, uh, states prevailed. Uh, we're following the lease sales, uh, per the law, per the law passed even by this Congress with the working families tax cut. Uh, and we're taking a look at those, uh, egregious, uh, uh, bonding rules that were put in,

OK.

uh, to make sure, uh, that they're, uh, that we're appropriately protecting, uh, the resources of America, but also making sure that we're not adversely penalizing those that are trying to lower the prices for americans for energy

thank you i yield back

general ladies thomas the chair now recognizes the general lady from nevada miss lee for five minutes

uh thank you mr. chair thank you secretary for being here uh the just weeks after you were here last year in june uh interior published its july fifteenth memo requiring your personal approval on any and all solar and wind permits This basically created a total permitting mess in my home state of Nevada, stalling ninety-three percent of all new energy capacity in our state. This new red tape had gotten so bad that our Republican Governor Joe Lombardo ended up having to, uh, what he said, call an audience with the president in an attempt to clean it up. Uh, on December, on a December podcast, here's how the governor said his meeting went. Uh, quote, " Nevada utilizes solar energy more than any other state in the nation." I walked President Trump through it and he goes, " Okay, sounds good. I'm glad you brought it up. I'll call Burgum and tell them it's allowable in Nevada." So, my first question is pretty simple, Mister Secretary. Nevada currently has the third highest, uh, unemployment rate in the country. Our governor himself has emphasized that solar, if unleashed, bring tens of thousands of good paying jobs and several billion dollars of economic benefits to our state. Uh, my question is, did the president keep his promise and personally call you to tell you that solar development is allowable in my home state?

We're following the law required for permitting, uh, and I wanna

I just, it was just a yes or no. Did the president call you uh, uh, uh, based on his conversation with the governor?

Uh, President Trump has been clear about, uh, the energy dominance agenda that we have. And we're, uh, instructed to work on anything that is, uh, that is affordable, reliable and secure. Uh, and that we're following the law in terms of the, the permitting to get that done. Uh, we know that there are projects moving forward, but one thing to clarify, your opening, uh, statement said that I personally have to, that the, the, it actually says that the secretary's office, the secretary's office includes all the administrative staff, not just a local district office or not a state office.

Okay, uh, can I reclaim my time? Um, since for the past year, uh, in my home state there have been zero permits issued on solar. And with respect to following the law, the fact of the matter is a judge actually struck down the July fifteenth memo last month. So regardless of whether or not you agree with the court order, Uh, I guess my question is what's the immediate impact that that's having? Are you just not going to abide by the court order?

Well, we had a a you're referring to a single district judge that felt that he had the authority to uh tell a a federal report.

So are you appealing it?

Yeah, absolutely. Cuz we reject the whole premise. I mean, the idea that a single judge could decide what the process that we're supposed to go through internally to make sure that we're complying with the law through a complex permitting. process, uh, is absurd, and I think that, uh, you would you would object to a judge telling a single judge telling this committee how to run the committee. I mean, we have three separate equal branches of government, uh, that each have their own responsibilities, and ours is to execute on the the permitting responsibilities that we have.

So with respect to that, um, I wanna get back to your assertion that, uh, you're looking at all affordable types of energy. According to Lazard, the world's largest, uh, independent investment bank, when faced with a choice of what kind of new power sources to build, wind and solar are the clear cheapest cho- choice when accounting for capital, fuel, operations, and maintenance costs. That's true even without the federal wind and solar subsidies that Republicans and the president have unwound in the GOP budget. uh that passed in july so my point is this uh as you said we are in an arms race an ai arms race in nevada our own our own governor has contended it is a fact that solar energy ninety three percent of our new capacity of energy in our state is on hold and my only request is uh based on what we understand the conversation to have been between the governor and the president, that uh solar development be allowable in our state. I mean, you're a businessman. To have projects and billions of dollars of investment literally be stalled in their tracks, uh in a form of energy, and I am I have always been a contender that we should look at all forms of energy, But in my home state of Nevada, solar energy is the predominant clearest choice when you look at new capacity of cheap energy coming online. And my only request of you and your department, whoever it is in your department that will make the decision, that we look at these and start to pass these permits along, so we can get this development uh processed. And by the way, I'll just say this, when you're looking at permitting reform, the single thing that prevents it from happening is this memo, this July uh fifteenth memo that is stalling. If you would just re-send that memo, we could get permitting reform passed this Congress, and we can start to talk about permitting all forms of energy. So I just ask uh, Mister Secretary, that we work on making sure we can move solar development along.

General, this is General Leidy. Thomas expired.

Thank you, and I do.

As you know ladies, Thomas expired,

I

the chair now recognizes

Mi- mis- Mister Chairman, could I respond quickly on one thing? Uh, uh,

You know, it's

the Lizard analysis, uh, that suggests that this is the cheapest form of energy, uh, all of these projects you're describing in Nevada have one thing in common. When the sun goes down, they produce zero electricity. And this nation over-rotated towards intermittent forms of energy, and, and the idea that we could add intermittent and shut down base load is put our grid at at deep risk. And to I the idea that it's the cheapest, you ca- if you wanna add intermittent, you have to keep everything else. And so the the so there there we we have to have a a discussion about the total cost of grid not the cost of the incremental. Cuz it's true on an incremental basis, you may have an incremental source, but it doesn't work. The whole thing, the whole machine doesn't work when the sun goes down. And there's examples from around the world of this happening. And so it's it's a, you know, cherry picking an analysis that doesn't look, we're looking at reliable,

i'm i'm all for rational conversation about it. i'm i'm all for rational conversation about it. I'll just say we are not shutting down base load energy to build solar. And uh, I will contend we have battery storage as well. So um

We're going, we're going to move on to the next question that's sharing our record.

Chairman, I I request unanimous consent to enter into the record this amazing new technology that apparently the secretary is unaware of. It's a battery. China's figured it out. That's why they're cleaning our clock on clean energy, but I wanna enter that into the record.

That objection? So ordered.

Could could we also include that China is the world's largest emitter as part of that submission?

And and let's include the fact that uh far more clean energy uh was created in China last year that the gentleman mentioned there coal the coal

Okay, so we're

was a fraction of the new energy in in China's.

We're going to move on to the next uh member, we'll never get get through this hearing. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin,

Mister Chairman, may I be allowed to ask my

Mr. Chittenden. I'm I'm trying to recognize you, Mr. Tiffany.

I see that you're doing that. Ninety three gigawatts of coal, is that what I heard?

You haven't been recognized yet, Mr. Tiffany.

I'm sorry, what's that?

Said you haven't been recognized yet. But the chairman of the subcommittee on federal lands, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Tiffany, you're not recognized for five minutes.

Thank you for keeping order, Mr. Chairman. Ninety three gigawatts of coal, is that what I heard in China?

Yes, just in one year.

Yeah, so the witnesses stated it very well. Do you know how much the subsidies are that we pay for these intermittent sources of power? Fifty thousand dollars an acre. We are destroying some of the most productive farmland in America as we speak, including in places like the great state of Wisconsin. And guess what's happened to the great state of Wisconsin and their utility rate since then? We've went from the second lowest in the Midwest to the second highest. And that's because of this movement towards intermittent sources of power. When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, you do not get power from it. And you have to keep the base load power. You have to, unless you wanna be like Germany and fall behind the rest of the world, you cannot decommission all that you have. Um, uh, real quickly in regards to US wildland fire service, I'm looking at the budget and the numbers we have here that were provided to us. It appears there's a significant increase. Is that correct, Mister Secretary, in regards to the US for wildland fire budget?

Uh, yes, through the, through the unification of the existing uh groups across blm bia uh uh and national park service and us fish and wildlife those four plus the us forest service is included in this budget, also being included in that thing so it's a transfer from transfer from the usda budget as well.

yeah mr. chairman i wanna thank um the secretary for presiding over that because what is the one thing that we've been hearing as we've traveled around the west is that there are all these silos that have been out there, and they did not coordinate amongst themselves to fight these fires. And stopping the scourge of fire in the West is probably the greatest challenge you have, other than producing more energy for America. And I wanna thank you for doing that. I wanna get on to another issue that's uh quite different. The Obama administration opened up a loophole in our immigration policy in regards to a paroling Chinese nationals in. without having to get a visa. The Biden administration codified it. Are you taking action, working with the Do- Department of Homeland Security to shut down that loophole that allows Communist Chinese to come into America and then have children here, have babies here, and then they become citizens solely as a result of uh having birth in a place that is part of America?

But, you know, thank you, representative, yes, uh, bird tourism is is on our radar and in particular, uh, we've had some issues in our territories that we manage, uh, in the Pacific where, uh, China was exploiting, uh, low-cost, high-volume, uh, tourism visas to flood some of our places like the, uh, Commonwealth of Nor- Northern Marianas Islands with visitors. Uh, and, and so we, we, it's a, it's a real thing that we're directly involved in. So thank you for bringing attention to this issue.

And you are taking action, is that correct?

Well, we're we're working with those that control immigration certainly.

Yeah. Mister Chairman, something really important that we do. There were more births that were going on in the Mariana Islands by Chinese nationals than there were of Americans as a result of this loophole. It's important to uh shut it down. Uh, national park system, um, do you believe in public-private partnerships?

Yeah, absolutely.

And tell us some of uh, some of the actions that you're taking to make that happen.

Well, I, I would, I'm pleased to say that again, our, we've got a number of organizations like the, the, the uh National Park uh Foundation, uh, which is raising a record amount of dollars. Uh, we're excited, would invite all of you to uh, join us around the fourth of July for the opening of the Theater Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. This is a over four hundred and fifty million dollar project. A hundred percent of that is non-federal money coming from the private sector. it could be a role model for the kinds of things we could do in entrance communities to our sixty three national parks.

We should be doing far more of this, shouldn't we, because there's an enormous wealth in this country that would like to participate, isn't there?

Yeah, ab absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I wanna talk about EJA real quick here in closing. Equal Access to Justice Act, I'm sure you're familiar with it. Um, extreme environmental groups have used this to be able to shut down project after project across America including groups like the National or the Natural Resources Defense Council. And they fundraise it off, uh, fundraise off from it. Um, what actions has Interior taken, if any, to try and create better reporting and transparency around that, so these extreme environmental groups aren't ripping off the taxpayers of America?

Well, we, we're certainly, uh, uh, working on trying to create the, the transparency around these organizations that, uh, position themselves as somehow conservation groups, but don't spend any money at all on conservation. Uh, they have high paid lobbyists and CEOs as their officers. They tell people to be afraid, send us a check, we'll solve the problem. They sue and under IJA if they sue, they settle, they get pay, they we, the the taxpayer is on the hook for paying their legal fees. And it's become a giant business. I mean, there's a business model of of involved in suing over these issues, and then turning that into a profit center. And I think Congress should take the steps to make sure that we're not using taxpayer money, uh, for for groups that are blocking America. We know, we know in this country that we can do two things at the same time. We can build great things and we can protect the environment. There's not, this is a false trade-off that's being presented by these organizations, and we shouldn't be funding them with taxpayer dollars.

Who knew these uh massive environmental groups would be ripping off the taxpayers of America? I yield.

Gentlemen, this time I've expired the chair now recognizes the gentleman from Colorado, Mister Nguz for five minutes.

Thank you. Thank you, Mister Chairman. Uh, thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today. Uh, I wanna start first with a letter uh that myself and Senator Michael Bennett, Colorado, uh, wrote to your agency on April twenty ninth. Uh, this was a letter of April twenty ninth of this year in regards to the historically low snowpack that we're experiencing as you know in the Rocky Mountain West, including Colorado. Uh, obviously very concerned about the wildfire season that is upon us. The letter makes a number of requests around pre-positioning assets extending federal contracts for aerial resources. I would just ask for your commitment uh to respond to that letter, uh if you might be willing to make that commitment too.

Uh, yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate your attentiveness. We we are facing a potentially uh uh dangerous situation with the uh low water levels uh in the Colorado River Basin relative to wildfire and that's why, again, we appreciate all the support we can get from you in in unifying uh the new US Wildland Firefighting group that's gonna allow us to have a essentially a joint chiefs of staff that can make the

Yep.

command and control decisions that you're asking us to look at.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and we look forward to your response on that front. I wanna ma- follow up on a point that the ranking member referenced. This is in regards to a decision that your agency made last year in December. As you know, removing the two federal holidays that honor black history from the free entrance day list for the National Park Service. You're familiar with that decision?

Yeah, yes.

Okay. I believe uh, those two days, by the way, are Martin Luther King Day, as you know, and Juneteenth. It's my view that Juneteenth provides all citizens with an opportunity to really recommit ourselves, renew our commitment uh to equality. Would you agree with that statement?

Uh, yeah, absolutely.

I guess part of my confusion about why, given your agreement on that front, Given the fact that as Governor, you proclaimed Juneteenth back in North Dakota several years ago, why you would now allow the agency, or I presume you were involved in that decision, to remove those two holidays from the list? It just strikes me that that is not consistent with the view that you just articulated. And I would urge the National Park Service to reverse that decision. I I think it is short-sighted. And I don't think it's in the best interest of the country. I recognize my colleagues disagree with me on the other side of the aisle, perhaps some of them, uh, but that's my view. I wanna ask you about one last topic.

Ca- can I just say,

Uh, and then

I wanna make sure on that topi- on that topic that we understand that no one is,

Sure.

uh, changing these holidays, the holiday designation, whatever. There was a, uh, an ability to choose free days, uh, and part of that was, you know, where do we space the free days, where do we put them, do they match up against weekends?

Yeah, but I'm, but Mr. Secretary.

And, and. And and again, trying to get more of those, more of those days into the summer months when we have higher visitation was one of that.

I hear you. At the same time, I think you could understand how many Americans would perceive a decision by your department to remove Martin Luther King Day as a free entrance day, the National Park Service. I I just, at the end of the day, again, we'll have to agree to disagree on that front, but um, I will move on. Are you familiar with Atlantic Industrial Coatings?

But. I'm not familiar with that uh

So Atlantic Industrial Coatings is a company.

You're saying you're saying you're saying Atlantic?

Are you familiar with that company? Atlantic Industrial Coatings, correct.

Right.

Are you familiar with it or?

I'm not familiar with Atlantic.

Okay, Atlantic Industrial Coatings is the company that received a no-bid federal contract for the project at the Lincoln Memorial reflective pool. Are you familiar with that now? Is that

I'm familiar with that project, yes.

But not the company.

But I wasn't familiar that with that specific name of the company.

OK. Um, you're familiar with the fact that a company received a no-bid contract to do the work on that project, correct?

I I'm familiar that we ha- that we're working on a project to uh restore uh the reflecting pool before the uh summer season with record attendance, yes.

Yes, and that was through a no-bid thirteen million dollar contract. Right? That's not, that's not up for debate. That's a fact.

But I, I, I, I'm positive that we followed all of the required bidding rules. So you're, you're emphasizing,

Well, let me ask you that question.

you're emphasizing the word no bid like something nefarious has happened.

Well, okay then, explain it to me.

I, I reject that thesis.

Here, I'll ask you the question. My understanding of the federal procurement rules is that a no-bid contract is reserved for situations where, quote, any delay would cause serious injury to the government. W- what is your, your proposition is what? That There'd be serious injury to the government if this company didn't get the thirteen million dollar contract to do this particular project right now? Is that that

Well, I think we do have a sense of urgency. I mean, we got handed a record amount of deferred maintenance. We had nineteen fountains across the city that didn't work, eighty-two homeless sites,

That's the serious injury to the government?

a thousand.

The serious injury to the government?

Well, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not uh a I suppose a lawyer could decide that, but I think that maybe all of us could agree that we would want to have our nation's capital looking great.

Well. I I would say, uh, just last question. Who picked this company? Because President Trump a few months ago in a New York Times article said, I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools. He looked at it, he called me up, he said, sir, we can do something on it. Last night, he posted on Truth Social, also I did not give out the contract, Interior did, to a contractor I did not know and have never used before. So, uh, Interior, he's Talking about you. Did you give this thirteen million dollar no-bid contract to this