I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1146 

To amend Public Law 115–97 (commonly known as the Tax Cuts and 

Jobs Act) to repeal the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas 

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, 

Ms. BASS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN

F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. 

CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. CROW, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. HILL of 

California, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. HIMES, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. TED LIEU

of California, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. 

MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN

DREW, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. 

ROUDA, Mr. RYAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. 

KHANNA, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. CUNNINGHAM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources 


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•HR 1146 IH

A BILL 

To amend Public Law 115–97 (commonly known as the 

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) to repeal the Arctic National 

Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arctic Cultural and 

5 Coastal Plain Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Americans cherish the continued existence 

9 of expansive, unspoiled wilderness ecosystems and 

10 wildlife found on their public lands and feel a strong 

11 moral responsibility to protect this wilderness herit12 age as an enduring resource to bequeath undis13 turbed to future generations of Americans. 

14 (2) It is widely believed by ecologists, wildlife 

15 scientists, public land specialists, and other experts 

16 that the wilderness ecosystem centered around and 

17 dependent upon the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic 

18 National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, represents the 

19 very epitome of a primeval wilderness ecosystem and 

20 constitutes the greatest wilderness area and diversity 

21 of wildlife habitats of its kind in the United States. 


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•HR 1146 IH

1 (3) President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated 

2 protection of the wilderness values of the Arctic 

3 coastal plain in 1960 when he set aside 8,900,000 

4 acres establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Range 

5 expressly ‘‘for the purpose of preserving unique wild6 life, wilderness and recreational values’’. 

7 (4) When the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 

8 was established in 1980 by paragraph (2) of section 

9 303 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Con10 servation Act (Public Law 96–487; 94 Stat. 90; 23 

11 16 U.S.C. 668dd note), subparagraph (B) recog12 nized the following four additional purposes of the 

13 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: 

14 (A) ‘‘To conserve fish and wildlife popu15 lations and habitats in their natural diversity 

16 including the Porcupine caribou herd’’. 

17 (B) ‘‘To fulfill the international treaty obli18 gations for the United States with respect to 

19 fish and wildlife and their habitats’’. 

20 (C) ‘‘To provide . . . the opportunity for 

21 continued subsistence use by local residents’’. 

22 (D) ‘‘To ensure . . . water quality and 

23 quantity within the refuge’’. 

24 (5) A majority of Americans have supported 

25 and continue to support preserving and protecting 


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1 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including the 

2 Arctic coastal plain, from any industrial development 

3 and consider oil and gas exploration and develop4 ment in particular to be incompatible with the pur5 poses for which this incomparable wilderness eco6 system has been set aside. 

7 (6) Canada has taken action to preserve those 

8 portions of the wilderness ecosystem of the Arctic 

9 that exist on its side of the international border and 

10 provides strong legal protection for the habitat of 

11 the Porcupine caribou herd that migrates annually 

12 through both countries to calve on the Arctic coastal 

13 plain. 

14 (7) The Gwich’in people of eastern Alaska and 

15 Northwestern Canada have relied on the Porcupine 

16 caribou herd for millennia and caribou is a vital cul17 tural, spiritual, and nutritional resource for the 

18 Gwich’in. 

19 (8) The Arctic is being impacted by climate 

20 change at unprecedented levels. Temperatures are 

21 rising at twice the rate of the rest of the country, 

22 and wildlife and habitat that depend on the Arctic 

23 are being detrimentally impacted. 

24 (9) Title II, section 20001 of Public Law 115– 

25 97 (commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) 


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1 would allow an oil and gas program on the Coastal 

2 Plain. Oil and gas activities are not compatible with 

3 the protection of this national treasure. 

4 (10) Repeal of section 20001 would best protect 

5 the unspoiled ecosystem of the Coastal Plain, the 

6 human rights of the Gwich’in, and the integrity of 

7 the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

8 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

9 The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of 

10 the United States— 

11 (1) to honor the decades of bipartisan efforts 

12 that have increasingly protected the great wilderness 

13 ecosystem of the Arctic coastal plain; 

14 (2) to sustain this natural treasure for the cur15 rent generation of Americans; 

16 (3) to honor and respect the human rights of 

17 the Gwich’in; and 

18 (4) to do everything possible to protect and pre19 serve this magnificent natural ecosystem so that it 

20 may be bequeathed in its unspoiled natural condition 

21 to future generations of Americans. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE 

2 OIL AND GAS PROGRAM. 

3 Section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 is hereby re4 pealed. 

Æ 


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