THE BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT'S 2017-2022 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM Thursday, May 19, 2016 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:53 p.m. in Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA The CHAIRMAN. The Committee will come to order. I apologize that we are starting a little bit late, but we had votes that we had to take care of and move forward on two Appropriations bills. Although that was good for the order, it does mean that we are starting just about a half hour late today, and it probably means that some of our colleagues who would otherwise have joined us here, we might not be seeing because of scheduling issues. I appreciate the opportunity this afternoon to conduct oversight on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing program. More specifically, the five-year program for 2017 through 2022 that is being prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. We can start by recognizing that the natural endowment of the United States is virtually unrivaled. We have open spaces, wilderness, vast forests, national parks, productive seas and coastal regions. We have wild rivers, rivers that have been harnessed for our economy, soils that have ended famines and feed the world and mineral and energy deposits that underpin the international financial system and supply a global economic system. Congress delegated the management and stewardship of one portion of that endowment, our nation's Outer Continental Shelf, to the Department of the Interior in the 1950's. Since then, it has become a valuable source of energy for our nation creating economic growth and providing security as it reduces our imports from other countries.