Conference Reprot on H. R. 2863, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2863, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - December 18, 2005)

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tonight, Congress will pass the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006. This comes not a moment too soon for our troops serving bravely overseas during this holiday season. Passage of this critical legislation will ensure that our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan will receive much needed supplies, protective equipment and health benefits.

While I wholeheartedly support the underlying bill, I vehemently oppose a last minute amendment that was added by Senate and House Republicans that will open up a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. This controversial environmental matter should never be attached to a defense bill. Surely the Senate is acting in the mistrusted tradition the American people call Christmas tree bills. This ANWR ramrod fits the description perfectly. Seemingly not content to leave town before selling out to Big Oil one last time, Republican leaders in both chambers have decided to play politics with this must-pass bill and attach to it a provision that is soundly opposed by majorities in both the House and Senate, and, not insignificantly, by the American people. This ANWR ramrod is a mistake. It is a mistake procedurally. It is a mistake morally. And it is a mistake environmentally. Opening the refuge to oil exploration will disturb a delicate environmental balance and threaten a way of life for the native peoples whose livelihoods depend on that balance. That is why I have consistently supported legislative efforts to ban oil and gas exploration along the northern coastal plain of the refuge. Moreover, this sets a terrible precedent for the future. America's last remaining major oil and gas reserves should not be opened up in this way, nor used at this time. They should be preserved for a true national emergency. And that emergency does not exist today.

In my twenty-three years of Congress I have never seen the crucial Defense spending bill used as a catch-all for pushing forward legislation that would not otherwise pass on its own merits. By allowing these unrelated drilling provisions, Republican leaders are subverting the will of this House. No Member, including this one, should be forced to choose between providing for our troops and protecting the environment. No, we should not play politics when it comes to supporting our troops. We owe it to the men and women who serve our country to provide the best training, equipment services and support in a timely fashion.

Proponents of the plan say that opening ANWR to oil and gas interests will help ease our reliance on imported oil and gas. I could not disagree more. Opening ANWR is merely a temporary stop-gap--not a solution. Congress must pass meaningful legislation to address the serious energy crises that face our nation especially our dangerous reliance on imported oil and our unwillingness to put ourselves on a 10-year program to become energy independent again. That would take real Presidential and Congressional leadership, and we sure aren't

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