Today, the House Subcommittee on Water and Power held a field oversight hearing in Highland, California on, “Questionable Fish Science and Environmental Lawsuits: Jobs and Water Supplies at Risk in the Inland Empire.” Chairman Tom McClintock (CA-4), and Reps. Jerry Lewis (CA-41) and Ken Calvert (CA-44) heard from local officials, stakeholders and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a Full Committee field hearing on “NOAA's Steller Sea Lion Science and Fishery Management Restrictions - Does the Science Support the Decisions?” Members in attendance, including Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Rep. Don Young (AK-At large), heard from the Administration, state officials, scientists and the commercial fishing industry on… Read more »

The House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands today held an oversight hearing on “Payments in Lieu of Taxes” (PILT). Witnesses at the hearing underscored the importance of the program to rural communities with federally owned land, especially in the West, and the impact federal land management decisions have on surrounding communities. With PILT slated to expire at… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today held an oversight hearing on “One Year after President Obama’s Gulf of Mexico 6-Month Moratorium Officially Lifted: Examining the Lingering Impacts on Jobs, Energy Production and Local Economies.” A year after the official moratorium was lifted in the Gulf, permitting, energy production and economic activities still have not returned to… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today delivered the following statement at the Full Committee oversight hearing on “One Year after President Obama’s Gulf of Mexico 6-Month Moratorium Lifted: Examining the Lingering Impacts on Jobs, Energy Production and Local Economies.” “In May 2010, shortly after the tragic Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, the… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent the following letter to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him once again to testify before the Committee regarding the Department’s plans to issue rules on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands within the next “month or so.” Chairman Hastings first wrote Secretary Salazar a letter on December 1,… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Department of Labor released the September jobs report: “After a horrendous August, where the economy saw a net total of zero jobs created, September’s numbers weren’t much better. The unemployment rate is continuing to hold steady above 9 percent while President Obama campaigns on… Read more »

The Full Natural Resources Committee today passed three bills—H.R. 2842, H.R. 2360 and H.R. 2752—to create jobs, produce more American made energy and advance House Republicans' all-of-the-above American Energy Initiative. “Republicans are committed to increasing the use of America’s abundant energy resources to create jobs and grow the economy. These three commonsense measures protect… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, by a vote of 26 to 17. The bill prohibits the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using environmental regulations to hinder U.S. Border Patrol from securing our border on federal lands. “H.R. 1505 is a common… Read more »

Today, the Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on “The President’s New National Ocean Policy - A Plan for Further Restrictions on Ocean, Coastal and Inland Activities.” At the hearing, Members heard about the potential job and economic implications of President Obama’s Executive Order 13547, which creates a new, top-down bureaucracy that could significantly impact the… Read more »