Senate Energy and Natural Resources (Murkowski): Business meeting to consider S.365 and H.R.1729, bills to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado, S.764, to provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation management areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, S.791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, S.888, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, S.945, to amend the Smith River National Recreation Area Act to include certain additions to the Smith River National Recreation Area, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain wild rivers in the State of Oregon, S.1088, to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, S.1175, to amend section 6903 of title 31, United States Code, to provide for additional population tiers, S.1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, S.1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws, S.1413, to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act, S.1476, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Gila River system in the State of New Mexico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, S.1737, to designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, S.1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, S.2554, to provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, S.2754 and H.R.5911, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the City of Ouray, Colorado, certain land managed by the Forest Service, together with a reservoir, S.3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, S.3725, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to expand the capacity and reach of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc. (doing business as "Lewis & Clark Regional Water System"), in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, S.3732, to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, H.R.249, to redesignate certain facilities at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr, and the nominations of William Hague, of Washington, to be an Assistant Secretary, Kevin Lilly, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, both of the Department of the Interior, and Kaveh Farzad, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (International Affairs).

Committee will come to order. Good morning and welcome. Today we're holding a business meeting to consider both nominations and some legislation. I support each of these items and urge my colleagues to support them as well. First, I'll give my opening statement and then recognize Senator Heinrich for his ranking member statement.

But to accommodate our members' schedules, as soon as there is a voting quorum present, I'll pause briefly with regard to our statements and move along with votes. And then after the voting and the statements are concluded, I'll recognize any senator who may wish to speak on the business listed for today's meeting.

President Trump has selected 3 highly qualified nominees to serve in positions with significant consequences for American energy, public lands, and national security. William Haag has served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular, International, and Ocean Affairs since May of last year and brings decades of experience to the for the job. The office has been nominated— the office he's been nominated to lead is responsible for America's territories and our relationship with the freely associated states at a time when the Chinese Communist Party is seeking greater influence throughout the Pacific. Kevin Lilly has served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks since June of last year. He's led major private sector institutions, served the state of Texas, and spent decades in military service.

The decisions of the office he's been nominated to lead affect the management of hundreds of millions of acres of federal land and the communities surrounding them. I'm confident that Mr. Lilly will bring experienced leadership and respect to the people who live closest to that land.

Brings experience from the Department of Energy's Office of International Affairs and prior service at the State Department. American energy abundance strengthens our economy, supports our allies, and limits the leverage of hostile regimes. Mr. Farzad's background has prepared him to advance American energy interests abroad, protect classified department work from malign foreign influence, and help achieve American energy independence. During their confirmation hearings, each of these nominees demonstrated competence and a firm grasp of the challenges they will face. Each is uniquely qualified to serve in the positions for which they've been nominated, and I urge colleagues to support all three.

I also want to speak briefly about the Small County PILT Parity Act sponsored by Senator Daines and Senator Cortez Masto. The federal government owns more than two-thirds of the land in my state, the state of Utah. Counties cannot collect property taxes on that land because they're prohibited by law from doing so. Yet they're charged with maintaining roads, supporting emergency services, conducting search and rescue operations, and otherwise providing for their residents. The federal government owns the land.

Local communities carry the cost. Congress created the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program 50 years ago to provide partial compensation for the tax base that Washington, D.C. has removed from them. I emphasize there, partial. And for many small counties, the current PILT payments remain woefully inadequate. A county may have relatively few residents while maintaining an enormous amount of federally controlled land and a correspondingly small amount of private land from which tax revenue could be derived.

Its population alone may not reflect the cost of providing services across that land. And in countless circumstances, that is the case. The Small County PILT Parity Act would establish additional payment tiers for counties with fewer than 5,000 residents. This reform would allow these communities to receive payments that more accurately reflect the burdens placed upon them. Mass federal land ownership has left public land states on an unequal footing.

PILT cannot fully correct that inequality, but Congress should ensure that the program better reflects the real costs imposed on rural communities. So I applaud Senators Daines and Cortez Masto for advancing this bill. I also want to recognize Senator Murkowski's work on the Alaska Native, uh, Landless Equity Act. When Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, 5 Southeast Alaska Native communities— Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tanaki, and Wrangell— were excluded from recognition. Other similarly situated communities received corporate status and land while these 5 were left out.

The legislation would finally recognize those communities and provide them the same opportunity to organize and receive land that Congress extended to others more than 50 years ago. Senator Murkowski has worked for years to resolve this issue. The committee has examined the legislation through multiple hearings and reported a similar bill in the 118th Congress. She and her staff have remained persistent on behalf of these communities, and I applaud their work.

Senator Heinrich. Thank you, Chairman. I will be voting no on Mr. Haag and Mr. Farside's nominations today. My opposition is not to these nominees personally, but frankly to the policies of the Trump administration, which have been— which they have been nominated to further. For the past year and a half, this administration has consistently sought to roll back the nation's programs on climate, on clean energy, on land conservation and stewardship, and on environmental protection.

It has also waged a war on the West by trying to sell public lands and erase our our history from our national parks and monuments. I have no reason to believe that these nominees, if confirmed, will chart a different course. I will, however, make an exception for Mr. Lilly. He has taken my calls, listened to my concerns, and shown a willingness to work with me on issues of concern. And for that reason, I will vote to report his nomination.

Turning to the, uh, to the bills on the agenda, I first want to thank Chairman Lee for putting Senator Bennett and Senator Hickenlooper's Crystal Reservoir Bill, uh, agenda item number 18, on both the agenda and the shortlist. The Crystal Reservoir Bill is a good example of how the committee should operate. It is a bipartisan bill sponsored by a Republican in the House and two Democrats in the Senate, and the Forest Service has been supportive. It transfers a federal reservoir site to the local government in order to restore what had been an economic engine for the community, while at the same time ensuring the land remains in public ownership with full public access for recreational activities. I also want to thank the chairman for co-sponsoring a substitute amendment which improves the bill by addressing several technical concerns that were raised by the Forest Service.

As I said, this is how we should be doing our work, and it should serve as an example of how we can work together to move beneficial legislation. It also stands in stark contrast to the treatment of 14 other bills on the agenda that are not on the shortlist and will not be considered today. Like the Crystal Reservoir bill, they too deserve the committee's attention and favorable consideration. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the good faith discussions that I have had with Senator Murkowski on S.2554. While we are not yet in a place where I can vote yes today, I am committed to working with Senator Murkowski to find a path forward, and I look forward to our continued conversations.

Thanks so much, Senator Heinrich. We're now just one member shy of a voting quorum, but I'm told that will—. You can voice vote, members. I'm told that should be resolved within a couple of minutes, but we can start into the process. Now, in any event, what we're going to do is we're going to have voice votes on amendments to 4 of the bills, followed by voice votes on the bills themselves, and then proceed with a roll call— a series of roll call votes on today's pending nominations.

And then afterwards, I'll recognize any member of the committee who may wish to speak. I'm told that without the reporting quorum present, we can go ahead and proceed with the 4 voice votes on the amendments themselves. And if If by then we still don't have a reporting quorum, we may have to pause for a moment, but let's go ahead and do these. Unless any member feels compelled to speak on any of the amendments prior to voting, I ask that we proceed to a voice vote on the 4 amendments en bloc. Those amendments are Amendment 10A to Agenda Item 10, Amendment 17A to Agenda Item 17, Amendment 18A to Agenda Item 18, 18, and Amendment 20A to Agenda Item 20.

Committee will vote by voice and block on these amendments. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. The ayes appear to have it.

The ayes do have it. The amendments are agreed to. And now, any moment, we will proceed to voice votes on the bills as amended. As soon as the reporting quorum is present. Senator Daines.

Just to redeem the time, Mr. Chairman, thanks for the kind words about the Small County Parity Act you mentioned. Just brief background, the problem we have is we've got large counties out west that have very low populations, and the calculations are driven primarily by population, not square miles. So this is really a fairness issue. I can tell you there's some real small counties out in Montana that are bigger than New Mexico or Utah. That's not quite right, but they seem that big.

And, um, and consequently they feel like their voice is never heard back here in Washington. Uh, and this is going to be a true boost forward here to help them because they've got to deliver the same services and so forth no matter the size of the county, uh, which they have high percentages of federal lands. So this is a— would be a big win for a bunch of big counties, geography— from a geography viewpoint, but very small by population. So thanks for the support on that. Thank you.

It is a very useful bill. We've got counties in Utah including Daggett County, including Wayne County, and Piute County that could really benefit from this approach. And when you've got— especially when you've got a very small population And you've got the double whammy where you've got like 90+% of the land in that county being federal. Leaves a tiny tax base, very little money, and a big problem. So thanks for working to address it.

Well, it's been so—. They've raised—. The commissioners have raised it for years, and their voice has finally broken through, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank Senator Cortez Masto for being a great partner in this as well. Great.

Should I call the hot spot? Yeah. Yeah. What's happening to McCormick? Hey, where's McCormick going?

He's on his way back from Pennsylvania.

It happens. Well, he just doesn't, you know, he has all these events in Pennsylvania during the week. Finally, no, that's not because that's tonight. For the previously discussed, right there, the previously discussed National Parks and Community Hearing was not noticed on Tuesday. Uh-huh.

So you need to ask that you want to. All right. We'll take care of one other procedural matter while we're waiting. The previously discussed National Parks Subcommittee hearing was not noticed for members on Tuesday. For that reason, in accordance with Rule 4 of the committee rules, I ask unanimous consent that this subcommittee hearing be noticed following today's business meeting for Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. Is there objection?

Without objection, the hearing will be noticed following today's business meeting.

Mr. Chairman? Senator Murkowski. Mr. Chairman, if we're just marking time here, I'm happy to—. Sing. Either sing or tap dance, whichever you would prefer.

Both are going to be bad, but I can talk very eloquently about my my particular bill, if it's appropriate at this time. And then when we do achieve a quorum, I'm happy to suspend my comments. But I want to thank you as the chairman and your team, as well as Senator Heinrich, for including S.2554. This is the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act. This is no stranger to this committee.

We've had actually 7 hearings on this matter since 2013. So it is, it is well known. The history in Alaska is also well known, and unfortunately a really, a really kind of a sad history. As you have mentioned in your comments, there are 5 small communities in southeastern Alaska— Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell— that were just omitted when we passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act back in 1971. Nobody really knows why.

We've asked for a review and an understanding of that, but the fact of the matter is that you've got about 35,000 Alaska Natives in this part of the state that have not received any of their lands under the Settlement Act. And so what you have is, is an inequity, an unfairness that has existed for some 50 years now. And so to remedy all of this, we have been working again for years, for decades really, to complete this settlement and to allow for the formation of 5 what we call urban Native corporations. We in this legislation specify the exact parcels of land that would fulfill these Native communities' land entitlements. And believe me, that's not an easy process.

We had to vet these parcels, we had to solicit, uh, address the, the local input. We had to ensure that public process and valid existing rights, including fishing, hunting, recreation assistance, were allowed for, and we have done so. We worked to get this legislation in a place where Most everyone can support it, but it's taken a lot of work. And now that my colleague to the right of me has sat down, I'm going to suspend here so that we can move forward, recognizing that people have places to go and other votes to cast. But I would like to pick up where I left off when we've concluded the votes.

Yes, yes, of course. Thank you very much. We'll now turn to the confirmation votes on the three pending nominations. They are Mr. William Haag and Mr. Kevin Lilly to be Assistant Secretaries of the Interior, and Mr. Kaveh Farzad to be Assistant Secretary of Energy. First is agenda item number 1, the nomination of Mr. William Haag of Washington to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular, International, and Ocean Affairs.

The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Lee. Aye. Mr. Barrasso. Aye.

Mr. Risch. Aye. Mr. Daines. Mr. Cotton. Aye.

Mr. McCormick. Aye by proxy. Mr. Justice. Aye. Mr. Cassidy.

Aye. Ms. Hyde-Smith. Aye. Ms. Murkowski. Aye.

Mr. Hoeven. Aye. Mr. Heinrich. No. Mr. Wyden.

No by proxy. Ms. Cantwell. No by proxy. Ms. Hirono. No by proxy.

Mr. King. No by proxy. Ms. Cortez Masto, no by proxy. Mr. Hakenlooper, no. Mr. Padilla, no by proxy.

Mr. Gallego, no by proxy. On this vote, the yeas are 11, the nays are 9.

Favorably to the Senate. The second, uh, matter is agenda item number 2, the nomination of Mr. Kevin Lilly of Texas to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. The The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Lee. Aye.

Mr. Barrasso. Aye. Mr. Risch. Aye. Mr. Daines.

Mr. Cotton. Aye. Mr. McCormick. Aye by proxy. Mr. Justice.

Mr. Cassidy. Ms. Hyde-Smith. Ms. Murkowski. Mr. Hoeven. Mr. Heinrich.

Aye. Mr. Wyden. No by proxy. Ms. Cantwell. No by proxy.

Ms. Hirono? No by proxy. Mr. King? No by proxy. Ms. Cortez Masto?

No by proxy. Mr. Hickenlooper? Mr. Padilla? No by proxy. Mr. Gallego?

No by proxy. On this vote, the yeas are 12, the nays are 8. The yeas have it. The nomination will be reported favorably to the Senate. And our final confirmation vote is agenda item number 3, the nomination of Mr. Kaveh Farzad of Maryland to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs.

The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Lee. Aye. Mr. Barrasso. Aye.

Mr. Risch. Aye. Mr. Daines. Aye. Mr. Cotton.

Aye. Mr. McCormick. Aye by proxy. Mr. Justice. Aye.

Mr. Cassidy. Aye. Ms. Hyde-Smith. Aye. Ms. Murkowski.

Aye. Mr. Hovind. Aye. Mr. Heinrich. No.

Mr. Wiedem. No by proxy. Ms. Cantwell. No by proxy. Ms. Hirono.

No by proxy. Mr. King? No by proxy. Ms. Cortez Masto? No by proxy.

Mr. Hickenlooper? Mr. Padilla? No by proxy. Mr. Gallego? No by proxy.

On this vote, the yeas are 11, the nays are 9. The ayes have it. It will be reported favorably to the Senate. Now, we will now proceed to the bills as amended. The bills are agenda items number 10, 13, 17, 18, and 20.

Those are respectively S.1175, sponsored by Senator Daines, S.1413 by Senator Padilla, S.2554 by Senator Murkowski, and S.2754 by Senator Bennett, S.3725 by Leader Thune. The committee will vote on these 5 bills and block by voice as amended for these 5 bills as a block. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay.

The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. These 5 bills will be reported favorably to the Senate. Mr. Chairman, I would ask that Senator Cantwell and myself be recorded as a no on agenda item 17. Duly noted.

Thank you.

That—.

Yes. Okay. All right. So what we'll do now, we'll go to Senator Hickenlooper and then back to Senator Murkowski and anyone else who wants to speak after that. Senator Hickenlooper, you're recognized.

Thanks for your cooperation, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank you as the chair and Ranking Member Heinrich for including a bill in today's markup that will help the city of Ouray, the town of Ouray, Colorado, boost its recreation economy while making its water supply more resilient. Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act, which Senator Bennet and I introduced last year, would transfer a beloved destination popular for fishing, hiking, even weddings, but transfer it to the city of Ouray.

The Forest Service recently owned— has owned the Crystal Reservoir and the land it sits on. In recent years, the agency has drained the reservoir due to concerns about its condition, but that's left the local community without this key resource for tourism, for water supply, for wildfire response. Transferring the reservoir and its water rights will allow the City of Ouray to step up and make fixes at the dam and restore this valuable water storage facility for the, the town's drought resilience capability. It's also going to implement the vision of local governments, water managers, recreational groups, and citizens who worked diligently to develop this locally led solution and return this popular destination to its former glory. I'm also pleased to see the Small County PILT Parity Act, led by Senators Daines and Cortez Masto, on the agenda, a bill I'm pleased to co-sponsor.

Rural Colorado knows how critical PILT is to maintaining their operations, and this is particularly true for the counties with the smallest populations, which this bill would serve. I'm grateful to the Chair for helping advance these two bills, and I hope you will continue to work with us on other bills like our Sarvis Creek Wilderness Completion Act, which we've requested for today's markup and other past markups as well. That bill has strong on-the-ground support, very strong throughout the community. I'm hopeful that we can take that next step and advance it through this committee in the year to come. Again, thank you.

Thank you. Senator Murkowski, let me go back to you. And this really is a stunning anomaly in history with those 5 being left out. Of course, You wouldn't be born for another 20 years after that legislation was passed, but it's good that you fixed it now. So, go ahead.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and indeed we are trying to fix this. And again, this has been one of those efforts that when you think about legislation that you have worked over the course of a legislative career, the engagement that goes on within the communities, the engagement that goes on with different groups, the engagement that goes on with legislators. This dais changes from time to time, from Congress to Congress, and so I have had an opportunity to work with various ranking members on this and now with Senator Heinrich as we work to again educate and, and try to, to reinforce, uh, the, the wrong that we are attempting to right here. And, and I think oftentimes when you think about the Alaska Native Claims Settlement, you think, okay, a settlement is settlement 50 years ago, one and done, and in fairness, it is all about ensuring that the terms of the settlement as were agreed to actually translate into the opportunities that that settlement was intended to do. So I mentioned the outreach that we have been engaged in.

At the beginning, it was very much viewed as a a fight between giving back federal land into the hands of individuals. The environmental concerns were expressed that, oh, we're going to allow for an untrammeled environmental degradation of the land, and lots of concerns, and I think a lot of scare tactics that were there. There are no better stewards of our Alaska lands than the people who have lived on them for thousands of years. We have been able to not only engage with, but turn the views of many of the initial opponents to this legislation, among them the Wilderness Society, the Nature Conservancy, some of the strongest protectors of environmental values, in the Tongass both have written letters of support for this bill, recognizing that we need to find this balance, but we also must address the inequities of the Native people who have been left out. So I added those letters of— letters from Nature Conservancy and the Wilderness Society to our hearing record in February, so I don't feel like I need to add them here.

But I'll just remind that this should not be the controversial measure that it has historically been viewed at. I think all you need to do is look at the House and their recent actions on this. They worked on this bill together across the aisle, reported it from full committee a month ago— well, I guess a couple months ago. The full chamber has now passed it on suspension by a voice vote with no recorded opposition. So I'm just going to remind you, no opposition in the House, in this current House where we don't see a lot of measures that particularly lands measures that go without that.

And I think there's good reason for that because it comes back to the inequity that we have seen, uh, and an effort to do right by the Alaska Native peoples who were excluded so many decades ago. So again, I want to thank all who have continued to work with us, and I want to thank Senator Heinrich for your engagement on this. I understand your view towards conservation, and we respect those— the concern that we have from so many back home is that when we're looking at an area where we already have so much of our land that is federal, so much of our lands that are already in conservation status, there's just not a lot left over. And so again, making sure that we can get ourselves to a good place with this is, is most appreciated. I appreciate your willingness to have this, this measure move out by voice today.

I acknowledge that you have asked to be recorded as a no, and my goal and my ambition and that of our teams is to help you and your teams get to a place where we can all be supportive in rectifying this long overdue wrong. With that, I thank the committee and I look forward to further engagement in moving this and passing it into law. Thank you very much. Do you want to say anything else? With that, today's business meeting is concluded, and I want to thank my colleagues for their participation.

We stand adjourned. Thank you.