©2025 League of Conservation Voters
2017 Scorecard Vote
48
52
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sponsored an amendment to H.Con.Res. 71, the Budget Resolution. This amendment would remove the budget reconciliation instructions that paved the way for drilling in the pristine and sacred Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The indigenous Gwich’in people call the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain “the sacred place where life begins,” reflecting the importance and the need to protect this special place. These reconciliation instructions for Arctic drilling were included in the Budget Resolution as an attempt to generate $1 billion in government revenue to somehow justify $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, but multiple analyses show that it is unlikely to raise anywhere close to even that amount. On October 19, the Senate rejected the Cantwell amendment by a vote of 48-52 (Senate roll call vote 243). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The budget resolution, including the Arctic Refuge drilling instructions was adopted on October 26.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters