Interior, Congress wage turf battle over timber contracts November 6, 2009 E&E Daily Patrick Reis Three Western congressmen are pushing legislation that would extend federal contracts for timber companies trying to ride out the tough homebuilding market, but administration officials want more say in the process. H.R. 3759 would require the Interior Department to grant three-year… Read more »

New bill aims to protect Western ratepayers from transmission costs November 16, 2009 E&E Daily Katherine Ling Customers in the West would not have to pay for failed transmission projects under a bill introduced yesterday by the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), ranking member of the Water and… Read more »

President Obama should be applauded for hosting the White House Tribal Nations Conference today. As the Obama Administration moves forward, his promise of helping Native Americans should be met with concrete action that will effectively deliver opportunities on tribal lands across our country. However, many of the Administration’s current priorities will not improve the lives of Native… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04), along with Water and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom McClintck (CA-04), introduced The American Taxpayer and Western Area Power Administration Firm Power Customer Protection Act (H.R. 4027). This bill would eliminate the taxpayer bailout provision currently included in the “stimulus” statute that gave new… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee legislative hearing on two bills (H.R. 3742 and H.R. 3697) to address the Carcieri v. Salazar Supreme Court decision, which found that the Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to acquire land in trust for tribes not under federal… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) responded to a letter from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the Forest Service’s use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. In his response, Hastings requests specific information to his unanswered questions regarding the use of taxpayer dollars, the effectiveness of the ARRA and… Read more »

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4th, the Insular Affairs Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee will host a legislative hearing on The American Samoa Protection of Industry, Resources, and Employment Act (H.R. 3583), a “tuna bailout bill” that would subsidize the last remaining tuna cannery in America Samoa while imposing new taxes on competitors. Ironically, Democrats only have themselves to… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent the following letter to Committee Chairman Nick Rahall objecting to the Democrat Majority attaching reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-page government takeover of health care. Text of the letter: Dear Chairman Rahall: I’ve read your press release on the fact… Read more »

During today’s House Natural Resources Full Committee markup, Democrats voted to authorize an additional $22.5 million for neotropical birds and against a fiscally responsible Republican amendment to eliminate the funding increase. The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (H.R. 2213) is designed to conserve and protect neotropical birds that migrate between their breeding grounds… Read more »

Concerns over Central Valley woes dominate data collection hearing October 28, 2009 E&E Daily Taryn Luntz Lawmakers who gathered yesterday to examine federal water data programs ended up immersed in a bickering session over water management in California's drought-ridden Central Valley. At the outset of the Water and Power Subcommittee hearing, ranking member Tom McClintock… Read more »