{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-murkowski-begich-celebrate-senate-overturning-biden-central-yukon-lock-up", "Sullivan, Murkowski, Begich Celebrate Senate Overturning Biden Central Yukon Lock-Up", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Dan Sullivan", "S001198", "www.sullivan.senate.gov", "sullivan", "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases?PageNum_rs=3", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 50 to 46, today passed Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski\u2019s (both R-Alaska) joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Biden administration\u2019s Central Yukon Resource Management Plan (CYRMP) Record of Decision (ROD), issued in November of 2024. The Biden-era CYRMP ignored the need for balanced management, purposely restricting access to resource development and economic opportunities in the region. It also blatantly contradicted multiple federal laws, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), theAlaska Statehood Act, and the Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act, while abdicating the principles of multiple-use management required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). On September 3, the House passedCongressman Nick Begich\u2019s (R-Alaska) companion CRA resolution. The legislation now goes to the President\u2019s desk for approval.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s Central Yukon Resource Management Plan was an egregious case of federal overreach and just one of the administration\u2019s 70 executive orders and actions singularly focused on harming Alaska, our economy, and our working families,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan. \u201cThis particular scheme effectively locked up millions of acres of Alaska\u2019s land, ignored Alaska Native voices, undermined long-standing federal law, and blocked access to critical mineral, energy, gravel, and material resources that our local communities, state and nation need. As I said in my remarks on the floor today, these issues of access to lands and responsible resource development are not just theoretical. Over time, they actually impact the very health and livelihoods of my constituents. I wish more of my Senate Democratic colleagues would\u2019ve respected this fact, shown some courage, crossed the far-left Lower 48 eco-colonialist groups endlessly trying to lock up our state, and stood with Alaskans. I do want to thank a majority of our colleagues in the Senate\u2014and of our House colleagues in early September\u2014for standing with me, Senator Murkowski and Congressman Begich, and helping to ensure Alaska\u2019s resources are managed responsibly for the benefit of our people, economy, and national security.\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator Sullivan and I advanced this disapproval resolution for the Central Yukon RMP because the 1,800-page plan finalized last year \u2013 over our objections \u2013 unnecessarily restricted access to millions of acres of Alaska and kept obsolete Public Land Orders in place,\u201d Sen. Murkowski said. \u201cRe-opening the Central Yukon RMP will allow BLM to develop a more balanced plan that complies with numerous federal laws \u2013 including ANCSA, ANILCA, and ALTAA \u2013 as well as the fundamental principle of multiple use on public land. I expect a new final plan to address long-standing access issues, provide greater opportunity for economic development, including key energy and mineral resources, and ensure Alaska Native landowners in the region can maximize the use of their own lands while still protecting subsistence and conserving where truly necessary.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Biden-era Central Yukon plan locked up millions of acres of land and cut off access to resources critical to our national and economic security in Alaska. With Senate passage of this resolution, we are re-opening opportunity in one of Alaska\u2019s most impoverished regions,\u201d said Congressman Begich. \u201cBy continuing to restore Alaska\u2019s ability to responsibly develop its own resources, we strengthen America\u2019s national security and lower costs for working families across our state. I am proud to see this legislation head to the President\u2019s desk and grateful for the work of Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan to get this across the finish line as we continue to unlock Alaska\u2019s resource potential.\u201d\n\nThe CRA provides Congress an expedited mechanism to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. A joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA is afforded special procedures, bypassing normal Senate rules and allowing for a vote on the Senate floor. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by a simple majority in both houses of Congress and signed by the President\u2014or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto\u2014the rule is invalidated.\n\nOn February 28, 2025, Alaska\u2019s congressional delegation submitted a request to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine whether the Biden-era CYRMP ROD constituted a \u201crule\u201d under the CRA. GAO issued its legal opinion on June 25, 2025, concluding that the CYRMP is subject to CRA disapproval. The opinion was entered into the Congressional Record on June 26, 2025, triggering the CRA timeline.\n\nThe delegation\u2019s legislation fulfills the objectives of President Trump\u2019s Day One executive order, \u201cUnleashing Alaska\u2019s Extraordinary Resource Potential,\u201d which directs the Secretary of the Interior to rescind the Biden-era CYRMP and reinstate a prior draft plan, recognizing that the 2024 ROD imposes unjustified barriers to development, access, and land use in violation of longstanding federal policy toward Alaska.\n\nThe legislation does not remove conservation designations for areas established by ANILCA or other legislation, provide automatic approval for the Ambler Access Project or other potential resource development projects, facilitate public land sales, or exclude this area from federal laws pertaining to land management or permitting.\n\nThe Alaska delegation\u2019s CRA resolution is supported by Doyon, Limited, an Alaska Native Corporation and major landowner in the region; the Alaska North Slope Regional Trilateral\u2014the I\u00f1upiat Community of the Arctic Slope, the North Slope Borough, and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; the Alaska Miners Association; Americans for Prosperity; American Energy Alliance; the National Federation of Independent Business; the American Exploration and Mining Association; Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions; the Resource Development Council of Alaska; and the Trump administration.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-murkowski-begich-celebrate-senate-overturning-biden-central-yukon-lock-up"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.471164170652628, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}