Albuquerque, New Mexico – Some Republican lawmakers denounced Thursday. Recent Movements of the Biden Administration He offered his support for a bill that would withdraw hundreds of square miles of federal land in New Mexico from oil and gas development and instead lift the ban.

Rep. Eli Crane spoke at a congressional subcommittee hearing on legislation recently introduced by fellow Arizona Republican Rep. I was alone.

The Crane District includes parts of the vast Navajo Nation that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The eastern side of the reservation, along with the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, is part of a jurisdiction that includes federal, state, and private land.

He acknowledged that while the park has cultural significance to tribes in the southwestern United States, development around Chaco should be determined by the Navajo tribe and thousands of individuals. Affected Navajo Landowners.

“The Biden administration failed to adequately solicit tribal cooperation and effectively implemented a devastating stranglehold on tribal income and economic prosperity,” Crane said.

The Navajo Nation is one of many tribes that have sought protection for sacred areas within the Chaco region for decades, but Navajo leaders have warned that the federal government will allow the Navajo’s individual lands to be protected. He proposed creating a small buffer zone around the park to limit the economic impact of the lockdown.

Navajo President Boo Nigren claims the administration paid little heed to the concerns of the tribes before imposing the ban.

“The withdrawal occurred without meaningful consultation and did not respect the sovereignty of the Navajo,” he said. “Respect for tribal sovereignty must be consistent even when it is inconvenient.”

Gosar suggested that the administration’s decision was predetermined and that the U.S. Department of the Interior should have waited until the Pueblos of New Mexico completed an ethnographic survey scheduled for later this year.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Harland, America’s first indigenous minister, said: I said before Her agency said it has consulted with Navajo leaders and has held numerous public meetings and comment periods over the past two years as part of that process. Her hometown, the Pueblos of Laguna, were among the tribes seeking permanent protection of the land outside the park.

New Mexico Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez and Rep. Melanie Stansbury read dozens of letters from other Navajo and other tribal members in support of a ban on drilling in northwestern New Mexico. submitted.

Leger Fernandez said the difficult choice comes from balancing competing interests, such as cultural preservation and the poverty faced by the Navajo.

“I think it’s important to pay homage to the irreplaceable, the irreplaceable, the spiritual and sacred that tells us where the most important places are,” she said. Told.

Despite no new rentals within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of Chaco Park in the past 10 years, the Biden administration offers alternative solutions and alternatives to the income and jobs that exit may not provide. Nigren said it has not offered in place.

He said Navajo leaders have been told by many that they don’t have enough money to buy groceries or wash their clothes in the laundry. , says it is struggling to find ways to help people make ends meet.

Referring to agriculture, solar power development and other alternatives proposed for moving away from fossil fuels, Nygren said, “Before you make any hard decisions, you need to make sure your plans are in place. There is,” he said. “My hope was to actually put something down on paper before this order was issued so I could use it as a guide. We have to get back to the table.”

US Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the economic damage and injustice associated with the Chaco dispute cannot be ignored. New York Democrats say Native American communities have been abused and neglected for generations, and if Navajo families are affected, they deserve financial reparations. rice field.

“By stripping everything, we are now in economic hostage and people feel that acquiescing to oil and gas is their only chance and their only source,” she said. Told. Invest and reinvest in these communities instead of going back to it. “