RE:RE:Northern Dynasty Will Finally Be FreedPEOPLE FORGET their HISTORY and their LEGAL RIGHTS
THE STATEHOOD ACT is the only legal process for PEEBLE
STATE LAND has only STATE AUTHORITY - NOT FEDERAL AUTHORITY (over reach is illegal(
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER REACH EXPLAINED
OPINIONS ARE NOT SCIENCE - WITNESSES ARE NOT CREDABLE (testimonies must be disregarded)
THIS IS STATE LAND not FEDERAL LAND
UNDER THE DISCOVERY CLAUSE - EXPLAINED
EPA did a PREMPTIVE STRIKE
CHEVRON DOCTRINE is very much in play in all 50 STATES and territories
OCTOBER 23, 2019 I know the issue of Pebble Mine is charged, and I respect the views of our witnesses here, but I also understand that the permit application is currently going through a very robust environmental impact analysis, just as any other large-scale project would. I think we should let that process play out.
With that, I would like to yield the remainder of my time to the distinguished gentleman from Alaska, Mr. Young, whose district this lies in.
Mr. YOUNG. Thank you, Congressman Graves, and I want to as- sociate my remarks to Mr. Westerman, and I would also like to ask for unanimous consent to yield to the committee my written state- ment. OK.
I guess I might say that I have never been for or against this project, but I am for the process. And I looked at the witness panel. There is not one on the witness panel that is a scientist, or is an engineer or a Federal witness. If we want to talk about the permit- ting process, we ought to have—Madam Chair, we ought to have a witness from the EPA. We ought to have the Corps of Engineers. We ought to listen to the science. We are going to hear a lot of opinions as it directly affects them, but not the science.
And people forget, Madam Chair, that this is State land. It is notFederal land. The Statehood Act has the right to choose the 103 million acres of land, and they chose this land. They put it up for discovery, and it was discovered. Under the discovery clause, you have a right for exploration. Under the right of exploration, you have a right for development if you go through the permitting proc- ess.
This hearing today, and what I have seen recently on TV shows, politicizes this issue. You are not listening to the science. You are saying a lot of what ifs, can and cannot, should we or shouldn’t we? This committee has a responsibility to review those that are directly involved, not those that may be affected by it. It is about science.
I worry about it because, very frankly, I agree with Mr. Westerman. We have got other things we should be doing in this committee, including passing a transportation bill. I hope we don’t start out a hearing like this one, with a transportation bill that be- comes partisan.
This is a State issue, and yet, here we are saying we are going to take land you can’t develop. We put it up by hearing or by an agency. EPA did a preemptive strike under the Obama administration. A preemptive strike. Didn’t follow the process, didn’t follow science.
It always interests me, Madam Chair, that my side and your side of the aisle always wants to say NEPA is perfect. We mustn’t attack it. We must use science. But you are not hearing any science from this side of the aisle, from that group of witnesses.
You may hear from somebody who worked for the agency once for awhile, no longer employed there, has a fixed opinion. That is not science. So I am going to sit here and listen to all this testimony, and, respectfully, believe some things people have, but I will tell you, unless we do and follow the rules, any other time there is anything to be done in the State of Alaska, there is a tendency for everybody in the lower 48 that figure they can do what is best for the State. They know better than anybody else. There is a tendency to have that feeling that we are going to take care of Alaska from Alaskans. This is a State issue. Once you step over that line, that goes for some of the witnesses here today, the Federal Government gets involved in your background, in your business, then you are going to have Big Brother on your shoulder all the time. I want to believe in the United States of America, not the United States of the Federal Government.
Mr. Chairman, this isn’t a hearing, I don’t think, which is as important as everybody makes it out to be. I would say it is important to me, because I follow the process. We are not doing it. We are making presumptive findings without the science, and I have said all along: if it isn’t there, then the State does not have to issue its permits. Forget EPA. Forget the Corps of Engineers. The State doesn’t have to do it. The emphasis should be put on the State. They chose the land. They put it up. It has to be utilized.
So Mr. Chairman, I do thank Mr. Graves for yielding his time to me, but my written statement will be for the record, and use my vocal statement too because I feel very strongly about this. I yield back.