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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota will soon be our next Secretary of the Department of the Interior. I am going to support that nomination.

I think he will be confirmed, but until that happens, we always say ``if confirmed.''

If confirmed, Mr. Burgum will play a critical role in balancing the importance of conserving our wildlife and natural resources, while also assisting in the enhancement of domestic energy production.

Now, we must remember, over the last 4 years--in other words, under the Biden administration--many of our Nation's Federal lands were off limits for any type of use, and the excuse was for the sake of conservation. Though that is a broad stroke--the word ``conservation''--it wasn't made very clear what was meant.

Many know that I have been a longtime advocate for transparency in the public's business because transparency brings accountability. Mr. Burgum will be expected to be transparent and forthcoming when leading the Department, and I expect that he will be, but especially when responding to letters from Members of Congress.

If confirmed, Mr. Burgum will oversee several Bureaus and Agencies that all work together supporting the Interior Department's mission of protecting, of managing, and of honoring our Nation's natural resources and lands.

On the topic of our country's resources, the United States has ample resources for energy production and generation, and President Trump winning the election has made clear that that is a top priority for him. And the President has created a special council on energy, and Mr. Burgum will be chairing that council.

Now, I happen to be a believer, as I am sure Mr. Burgum is, in what you call an ``all of the above'' strategy on energy. An ``all of the above'' strategy really means just that, in other words, an emphasis upon what we have got energy from--fossil fuels--and that is declining in use, but it is still going to be around for a long, long time. It means all the energy--alternative energy--that we can create. It means conservation, and not necessarily conservation promoted by government but individual conservation. And, of course, nuclear, and nuclear brings to our attention a whole new generation of ways to produce nuclear energy. That is ``all of the above.''

And, of course, we ought to, in order to accomplish that, cut back on Biden-era regulations. These regulations seem to be very opaque. And, consequently, we would forge a fiscally sound path forward in regard to everything that less regulation would bring us.

I believe that Mr. Burgum understands the need to support an ``all of the above'' approach to energy policy, given his leadership on that issue as Governor of the State of North Dakota.

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