113th Congress Hearing Archives

Full Committee Oversight Hearing on "The Status of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Responses to Committee Subpoenas and the Continued Lack of Transparency about Its Implementation and Enforcement of American Wildlife Laws, and Oversight of the Department of the Interior’s Solicitor’s Office."

Wednesday, September 10, 2014 | 10:00 AM 1324 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515

Tags: Full Committee , Oversight

Full Committee

Oversight Hearing on:

REVISED: "The Status of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Responses to Committee Subpoenas and the Continued Lack of Transparency about Its Implementation and Enforcement of American Wildlife Laws, and Oversight of the Department of the Interior’s Solicitor’s Office."

Member Statements:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

Witnesses and Testimony:

The Honorable Dan Ashe
Director
Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

The Honorable Hilary Tompkins
Solicitor
Office of the Solicitor
U.S. Department of the Interior

Background:

For over a year the Committee has investigated the Obama Administration’s enforcement of wildlife laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), as they relate to U.S. energy producers. There are ongoing concerns that the Obama Administration is implementing these wildlife laws in an arbitrary fashion. Despite the strict liability requirements of these laws, the Administration has only prosecuted select violations of the Acts. A subpoena was issued for documents about the Administration’s development of policies and regulations implementing these laws, as well as information about closed enforcement cases.

An initial hearing on this topic was held by the Committee on March 26th. This hearing will serve as a follow-up and also examine the Administration’s failure to fully comply with a Congressional subpoena for documents. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Director Dan Ashe has been invited to testify at the hearing.

This hearing will also examine aspects of the Committee’s ongoing oversight of the Service, including its work under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the status of the Service’s responses to a separate Committee subpoena about the White Bluffs bladderpod and other formal document requests for information about closed-door legal settlements and the process and science for specific decisions under the ESA.