The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing next week on a draft proposal to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The draft proposal, the National Forest County Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act of 2011, is a long-term solution that would provide rural counties with a stable revenue stream, create jobs, grow rural economies, and restore active,… Read more »

On Sunday, September 18th, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings will host Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a visit to Central Washington’s Fourth Congressional District for a discussion on Yakima River Basin water and a tour of Hanford’s historic B Reactor. “Secretary Salazar and I discussed his visiting Central Washington in one of our first… Read more »

The Subcommittee on Water and Power today held a legislative hearing on H.R. 2842, the “Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011,” introduced by Rep. Scott Tipton (CO-03). The legislation streamlines burdensome red tape and reduces administrative costs for the installation of increased small canal and pipeline hydropower development projects.… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held a legislative hearing on six bills that would limit the President’s authority to use the Antiquities Act to unilaterally designate new National Monuments within certain states. Last year, an internal document from the Interior Department revealed 14 areas of federal land that the Obama Administration has identified… Read more »

The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources today held an oversight hearing on “Impacts to Onshore Jobs, Revenue and Energy: Review and Status of Sec 390 Categorical Exclusions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.” Categorical exclusions are a common sense way to streamline the government process of approving energy production, while at the same time ensuring protection of the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding President Obama’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress: “While I believe there are areas where Congressional Republicans can work with the President to create new jobs, I was disappointed that the President missed this opportunity to address the need for increased American energy… Read more »

In advance of President Obama’s speech, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings delivered the following opening statement at today’s Full Committee hearing, offering 10 specific ideas to create new American energy jobs: “Later this evening, President Obama will appear before a joint session of Congress to once again give a speech on jobs and our economy. With… Read more »

Speaking today at the Energy Jobs Summit hosted by The Hill and the American Petroleum Institute, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings stated that the Committee will actively promote new opportunities for both offshore and onshore drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. Hastings recommended that the Joint Committee on Deficit… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor released the August jobs report. “There’s no question that the failed policies of the Obama Administration are slowing economic recovery and preventing Americans from getting back to work. Mounds of red tape, burdensome regulations, and threats of tax… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight field hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado entitled “American Jobs and Energy Security: Domestic Oil Shale, the Status of Research, Regulation and Roadblocks.” U.S. oil shale has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, lower energy costs and strengthen our national security by reducing our… Read more »