Rural America is in the crosshairs New federal policies threaten the livelihood of people in America’s heartland June 3, 2010 St. Louis Post-Dispatch By Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Hillsboro to host a “National Summit of Rural America” on behalf of the Obama Administration. As… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04), Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals Ranking Member Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Rep. Don Young (AK) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (LA-06) today sent a letter to President Obama expressing concerns over potential policies and actions being considered as a result of reports issues by the President’s Ocean Policy Task Force. Read more »

Birnbaum's game of telephone ends in firing Mike Soraghan E&E Daily May 28, 21010 Minerals Management Service Director Liz Birnbaum might have kept her job a little longer if she'd stayed in her office and kept her phone on the hook yesterday. Instead, she was forced to resign in a move that highlights the Obama administration's struggle to stay ahead of the Gulf of Mexico oil… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Ranking Member Rob Bishop (UT-01) introduced a second Resolution of Inquiry (H. Res. 1406) seeking the missing pages of an internal Department of Interior (DOI) memo detailing plans to potentially designate 13 million acres as National Monuments.… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following statement regarding President Obama’s Gulf Coast oil spill press conference: “Everyone shares the goal of making American energy production the safest in the world.  While there are ongoing investigations into the root causes of this unprecedented spill, it’s appropriate to take interim steps… Read more »

Signs Point to Administration Plan to Lock Up 13M Acres of Federal Land Brian Wilson FOX News May 27, 2010 Click here to watch A leaked partial document produced by the Bureau of Land Management and obtained by Fox News suggests the Obama administration is considering a plan to lock up 13 million acres of land -- and the Department of Interior is refusing to answer… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s second Full Committee oversight hearing on the “Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy and Implications of the Deepwater Horizon Rig Explosion.” Click here to watch As prepared for delivery: “I would like to start by first offering my condolences to those… Read more »

Protecting endangered species interfering with border security: U.S. Republicans Randy Boswell Vancouver Sun May 26, 2010 A group of Republican lawmakers says policies aimed at protecting the grizzly bear and other cross-boundary species along the U.S.-Canada border are putting wildlife conservation ahead of national security on America's northern frontier. In a statement released… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s Full Committee oversight hearing on the “Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy and Implications of the Deepwater Horizon Rig Explosion.” Click here to watch As prepared for delivery: “Stopping the leaking well, cleaning up the oil, and responding to the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA- 04) today praised the introduction of AmericaSpeakingOut.com by House Republicans, designed to directly engage the American people in an array of new policy discussions.  This includes the ability to offer opinions and ideas on important natural resource issues such as American energy production, access to public lands,… Read more »