{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399044", "Young Hits it Right on the Nose in Committee Testimony to Open ANWRs 1002 Area", "2017-11-02", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Don Young", "Y000033", "donyoung.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Alaska Congressman Don Young joined a unified group of Alaskans in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to speak in favor of ending the years-long prohibition against oil and gas development in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) \u2013 an area specifically set aside by Congress in 1980 for future development.\r\nYoung, an ardent supporter of responsible oil and gas development in ANWR\u2019s coastal plain, spoke passionately on the Committee\u2019s first panel of witnesses alongside Senator Dan Sullivan and Governor Bill Walker. Young\u2019s leading argument \u2013 which hit the issue right on the nose \u2013 is that technology has improved to the point that no more than 2,000 surface acres ( approx.. 3 sq. miles) of the 19 million acre ANWR would be required to develop the more than 15 billion barrels of oil estimated to be in the coastal plain.\r\nIn a move that caught the attention of lawmakers and attendees, Young drew a dot on the tip of his nose to illustrate the size of surface impact proposed for the 1002 in comparison to the greater ANWR area.\r\n\u201cYou see anything different on my nose right now,\u201d Young asked the panel. \u201cI am Alaska. One tenth of one tenth percent is what we\u2019re talking about in disturbance\u2026This little dot on my nose \u2013 I weigh 225 lbs. \u2013 this little dot is what we\u2019re talking about in surface impact in the 1002 Area. That\u2019s a potential for approximately \u2013 early estimates were 10 billion barrels \u2013 and now estimates are probably around 20 billion barrels of oil.\u201d\r\n\r\nCongressman Young testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Development in AWNR\u2019s 1002 (click here to watch, click here for remarks)\r\nAs described by Congressman Young, one of the few who has been part of this debate from the beginning, the creation of the 1002 Area was built on an understanding that it would be used for future development.\r\n\u201cIf we are to be energy sufficient, to control the international instances that can be faced, we need ANWR,\u201d Congressman Young said. \u201cThe Congress recognized it when we passed the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA). Scoop Jackson, Warren Magnuson, Mo Udall, all agreed to this provision because they knew the value of that oil and the value it had to this nation. Now we\u2019re fighting the same battle again because of the ignorance and misinformation from those that would prefer not having any resource development at all, not only in Alaska \u2013 we\u2019re easy to pick on because we\u2019re a three person delegation \u2013 but for the nation as a whole.\u201d\r\nYoung closed as he began \u2013 an argument that resource development in the 1002 Area can be done safely and responsibly just as industry and the State of Alaska have proven on the North Slope for over 50 years.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u201cI hope you have the courage to do what\u2019s right for this nation \u2013 what\u2019s good for Alaska, what\u2019s good for the nation, and good for all the people in the future. Madam Chairman, I thank you for having this hearing,\u201d Young said. \u201cI remind you, look at this little blue dot on my nose. That is the footprint in the 1002 Area. I don\u2019t think it changes my appearance that much.\u201d\r\nFollowing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, a group of Alaskans joined together to further discuss the necessity of opening the 1002 for exploration. This group included\u00a0Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska), Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, and members of the Voice of the Arctic I\u00f1upiat, including Richard Glenn, Matthew Rexford, John Hopson, Jr. and Teresa Imm.\r\n\r\nThe Alaska Delegation holds a press availability following today\u2019s hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (click here to watch).\r\n\r\n*Click here for photos from today\u2019s hearing.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399044"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6447890773415565, "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"}