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JANUARY 26, 2001

ON INDIAN TRUST FUNDS:
"It's alarming to hear that we have such large amounts of money that ought to belong to the Indian people themselves that has become lost somewhere in the bureaucracy of the Department of the Interior. And I will do what I can to work to straighten that out. I will work with this committee to try to find the best way to resolve that so that we can see that it's all straightened out at some point in the future." (Response to Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo). January 18)

ON INDIAN COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT:
"I certainly want to respect the rights of everyone -- the Alaska Natives, the Native Americans in the lower 48 -- all of those in every part of the United States are going to be impacted by the decisions of the Secretary of Interior. I will do my best to take into account the rights of everyone." (Response to Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) on private attempts to prevent Alaska Native commercial development in an environmentally sensitive area. January 19)

ON CLINTON'S NATIONAL MONUMENTS:
"The process in which those decisions were made is one that causes me concern. Many of those decisions were made through a top-down process without consulting the people who are most affected by those decisions. . . I would like to see a process of involvement of the people most affected by decisions. That certainly would be the practice that would be followed in a Bush administration if I am selected to be Secretary of the Interior." (Response to Jeff Bingaman (D-N.Mex) January 18)

ON DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC:
"I will certainly follow any laws that are passed to be sure that the protection of the important resources of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are preserved at the same time that any exploration or production would take place." (Response to Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) January 18)
I have been told production there would impact only about 2,000 acres in an area well over the size of many of our states. What we would have to do is to look at the environmental mechanisms that can be put forward . . . in the most responsible way." (January 19)

ON DRILLING IN FLORIDA/CALIFORNIA:
"Consistent with the idea of trying to take into account the wishes of local communities, President-elect Bush has made clear that he supports continuing the moratorium on offshore leasing, as to California and as to Florida where the states have opposed that offshore activity." (Response to Bob Graham (D-Fla.). January 18)

ON NOT SUPPORTING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS:
"As attorney general [of Colorado], it is my responsibility to advise the agencies of state government and I provided that advice to them. They felt that--and I concurred that it would be stronger for them to have someone else who had not provided the advice that I did to them, and they went forward with a different attorney and they were not successful. I think my position on that was vindicated." (Response to Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). January 18)

More of Norton in Review: Page 3