National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, in a little while, we are going to vote to proceed to S.J. Res. 62, which I introduced with Senator Hoeven to repeal the Biden administration's Bureau of Land Management resource management plan for North Dakota.

Of course, H.J. Res. 105, which mirrors our bill, introduced by Congresswoman Fedorchak, has already passed the House of Representatives, and final passage is scheduled for later this evening.

The Bureau of Land Management--or BLM, as we call it--is the landlord of 745 million acres of land and subsurface deposits nationwide. BLM's management of these public resources is governed by what is known as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, otherwise known as FLPMA, which requires--I stress ``requires''--the Bureau to develop resource management plans or RMPs to guide management decisions.

And, when created, Congress was clear: These RMPs must abide by the multiple-use mandate.

Now, ``multiple use'' is a term that is thrown around a lot in the public lands discussions. It was championed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who drew from his experience in his two ranches in North Dakota, the Maltese Cross and the Elkhorn Ranch, and throughout the West.

And, by the way, North Dakota is where his Presidential Library is being built, and it will be open next July 4--unpaid announcement.

``Multiple use'' means that land is sustainably used by the State and local population, rather than preserved like a national park or a wildlife refuge. Multiple use lands are used by miners, cattle grazers, oil and gas developers, and recreationalists alike. They are not meant to be locked up.

Multiple use is a mandate, as I said earlier. It is not a suggestion. And that is what brings us here today.

In the final days of the Biden administration, they approved the North Dakota resource management plan, which governs the management of 58,500 surface acres and 4.1 million acres of mineral estate across our State for the next 15 to 20 years.

Despite vocal objections from the State, the people who actually use the land, the final plan prohibits coal leasing on over 4 million acres by inexcusably prohibiting all future development outside of a 4-mile radius from current development--over 90 percent of North Dakota's affordable, reliable coal, out of touch. It is gone.

It also blocks 213,000 acres, or 44 percent, of federally owned oil and gas acreage from future development. This restriction alone deprives the State--and we are a small State--of $34 million annually and--get this--the State's Common Schools Trust Fund a minimum of $50 million.

And if that wasn't enough, non-Federal minerals are also held hostage to the Federal Government's management plan. As I mentioned earlier, these RMPs govern subsurface acreage. Whether it is coal, oil, or gas, federally owned subsurface minerals are intermingled with State and private mineral owners. In plain speak, the Biden resource management plan is a de facto taking from the State and private mineral owners.

Throughout the rulemaking process, this point was made very clear, but BLM ignored it. And it is unacceptable and needs to be undone. And I will add that it needs to be undone by Congress so it is clear to the bureaucracy that this sort of resource management plan is out of bounds.

By passing this resolution, we reassert congressional intent and remind the bureaucracy: Our boundaries are not optional.

Mr. President, this rule will need to be replaced once we repeal it. Thank goodness Congress had the foresight in the Congressional Review Act to say no replacement rule could be substantially similar to the one it is replacing. But by no means does it preclude the proper replacement of a rule.

I have the utmost confidence in Secretary Burgum and Deputy Secretary MacGregor to get this done right, but this cannot sit on the back burner.

Nearly 6 years ago, during the first Trump administration, I wrote a letter on behalf of a single constituent advocating for this RMP to be updated so he could develop some of his privately held minerals. They started the work, but unfortunately the Biden administration finished the work.

While Congress is acting to repeal their disastrous plan today, the administration must swiftly replace this RMP, ensuring North Dakota gets the best long-term plan possible to responsibly utilize our natural resources.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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