* * * Hearing To Be Rescheduled * * *

COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
10:00 a.m.

• Press Release - Interior Department Defies Subpoena for Documents and Now Refuses to Commit Witnesses to Attend Hearing to Answer Questions on Gulf Drilling Moratorium (7/24/2012)
• Committee Action - Interior Department Officials Called to Publicly Answer Questions on Gulf Drilling Moratorium at Full Committee Hearing (7/18/2012)
• Press Release - After Interior Department Fails to Agree to Transcribed Interviews, Hastings States Intent to Call Officials to Testify at Drilling Moratorium Hearing (7/16/2012)
• Committee Investigation - The Obama Administration's Decision to Include Gulf Drilling Moratorium in Interior Report

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Investigation of President Obama's Gulf Drilling Moratorium: Questioning of Key Department of the Interior Officials"

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Invited Witnesses:

Steve Black
Counselor to the Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior

Neal Kemkar
Special Assistant to Mr. Black

Mary Katherine Ishee
Former Deputy Administrator
Minerals Management Service

Walter Cruickshank
Former Deputy Administrator
Minerals Management Service

Kallie Hanley
Former White House Liaison & Special Assistant

BACKGROUND:

Due to the Department of the Interior’s failure to comply with an official Congressional subpoena issued in April for documents on the decision to impose the drilling moratorium and report recommending the moratorium that falsely stated the action was supported by independent engineer peer reviewers, and the refusal since February to arrange private on-the-record interviews with relevant Department officials known to possess information relating to this matter, Chairman Hastings has invited the five Department officials to testify and publicly answer questions at a meeting of the Full Committee.

The officials are specifically asked to be prepared to testify to and answer questions regarding: 1) how a decision was made by the Obama Administration to impose a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico that put thousands of people out of work and caused widespread economic harm and decreased American energy production, 2) whether the Obama Administration intentionally misrepresented the views of engineering experts in order to justify the unilateral moratorium decision, 3) how the Administration responded to complaints by the engineering experts following the misrepresentation of their views, and 4) an investigation by the Department’s Office of Inspector General into these matters.