Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Promises He Will Make America ‘More Beautiful And More Prosperous’

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing before the congressional recess, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum delivered his testimony.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Ms. Pingree.

00:02We were going to have opening statements by Mr. Cole and Ms. DeLauro,

00:07but they've been delayed, obviously.

00:09So we'll just go on with your testimony right now, Mr. Secretary.

00:12Your floor is yours.

00:18Good morning.

00:20Thank you, Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Pingree

00:23and distinguished members of the subcommittee.

00:27Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of President Trump's fiscal year

00:312026 budget blueprint request for the Department of Interior

00:34and discuss what we're doing to make America safer, stronger, more beautiful, and more prosperous.

00:41As you all know extremely well, the Department oversees both onshore and offshore energy resources.

00:47We manage federal trust responsibilities with our tribal nations.

00:50We deliver water to the West.

00:52We oversee hundreds of wildlife refuges and national parks and cultural sites.

00:58The resources that we sustainably govern directly impact the lives of every American every day.

01:04Interior-managed resources hold a significant position on America's balance sheet.

01:09The public lands and minerals within the interior domain include more than 480 million acres of surface land,

01:15750 million acres of subservice and mineral estate,

01:19and more than 2.5 billion acres of offshore.

01:23Our national resources are national assets that belong to the public,

01:28and they should be responsibly managed to help grow our economy,

01:31help balance our budget, and generate a revenue for the American citizens.

01:35With common-sense approaches in modern systems, we can increase the returns for our citizens,

01:41strengthen our economy, create great-paying and meaningful jobs,

01:45all while protecting our beautiful lands, our abundant wildlife, and our clean air and clean water.

01:51The President's 2026 budget blueprint requests $11.9 billion in current authority for the Department,

01:57providing significant savings to the American people.

02:01Of that amount, $10.6 billion is within the jurisdiction of the Interior Environment Appropriations Subcommittee.

02:09The 2026 budget for the Department features strategic investments to further President Trump's commitments to energy dominance,

02:18which is the foundation of American prosperity, national security, and world peace.

02:23We are focused on increasing the production of affordable, reliable energy on federal lands.

02:29We've already taken some common-sense measures to increase production in the Gulf by 100,000 barrels a day with a simple policy change.

02:40This will help reduce the price at the pump for American families,

02:43and we proudly announced that the first historic lease sale in the newly renamed Gulf of America will occur later this year.

02:52We are also busy rectifying the mountain of restrictions designed to restrict resource development in Alaska.

03:01Last month, we removed layers of red tape that undermined coal production on federal lands.

03:06Clean American coal is a triple win for our country because thermal coal provides reliable and affordable baseload electricity

03:12at a time when we need more electricity than ever.

03:15Metallurgical coal is the foundation for bringing back our steel industry, which we need for national security.

03:23And the mining and refining of coal that contains critical and rare earth minerals is essential to secure our own domestic supply chains

03:30for our defense, transportation, and tech industries, because today we are in a huge position of vulnerability

03:38relative to our critical mineral supply chain.

03:42Right now, America is in an artificial intelligence arms race with China.

03:48This race is going to be won not only by technology, but by electricity production.

03:52Keeping domestic coal-fired power generation open will help us win this contest

03:58while driving down electricity costs for American families and improving the reliability of our grid.

04:03The department is also undertaking efforts to establish our position as the leading producer and processor

04:08of critical and rare earth minerals, which will create jobs and prosperity at home,

04:13strengthen domestic supply chains for the United States and its allies, increase our national security,

04:19and reduce the global influence of adversarial states.

04:22Preventing and combating wildfires is vitally important to protect people, communities, and the environment.

04:27Nearly 65,000 wildfires burned more than 8.9 million acres across the United States last year,

04:34endangering communities, critical infrastructure, and local economies.

04:38Federal wildlife risk mitigation and suppression responsibilities for wildlife fire, as this committee knows,

04:45is currently spread across five agencies in two different departments.

04:48We've got duplicative and ineffective structures that couldn't be improved.

04:55This budget proposes reforming the federal wildland fire management to create operational efficiencies

05:01by consolidating and unifying federal wildland fire responsibilities

05:06into a new centralized federal wildland fire service at the Department of Interior.

05:12This new service will streamline federal wildfire suppression response, risk mitigation efforts,

05:16and coordinate with non-federal partners, including states, locales, and tribes, to combat the wildfire crisis.

05:25The Department of Interior upholds the federal government's unique trust responsibility

05:31by fostering government-to-government relations between the federal government

05:35and federally recognized tribes, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

05:40This budget supports programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education,

05:44sustaining the federal government's support of the core programs that benefit tribal communities.

05:50Since becoming Interior Secretary, I've had the opportunity to travel to our national parks, historic sites,

05:56Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation, some incredible locations, including the Hoover Dam.

06:05Bureau of Reclamation is the number two hydropower producer in America.

06:10And I've also visited the wildlife refuges to learn and hear more from the leadership on the ground at each of these places.

06:17We're instituting changes to get more people actually working on the front lines,

06:21and we're looking forward to an outstanding summer at our historic sites, parks, and refuges.

06:27By opening more areas to hunting and outdoor recreation,

06:30we're helping to drive tourism, create jobs, and generate revenue for local communities,

06:34all while promoting responsible stewardship of our natural resources.

06:38Interior is also focused on streamlining our core business operations,

06:42which will result in significantly improved efficiencies and lower costs for Americans

06:47and will benefit each of the bureaus within Interior.

06:50This budget is about putting America first and doing the best for American taxpayer.

06:55As Interior moves forward, these initiatives set the foundation for renewed focus on responsible resource management and economic growth.

07:01I appreciate that the subcommittee has strongly supported the department's mission,

07:06and I look forward to working closely with you to advance these priorities.

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