The Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing today on the FY 2011 Administration Budget Request for the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). Subcommittee Ranking Republican Tom McClintock (CA-04) highlighted concerns that the agency’s chief mission has shifted away from its traditional mission of providing abundant water supplies for humans to one that embraces expensive… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee hearing on “The Proposed Settlement of the Cobell v. Salazar Litigation”: “I want to thank Chairman Rahall for scheduling this hearing on the Cobell v. Salazar Settlement Agreement. It was on December 7th of last year that this Settlement was… Read more »

After more than a year of delays, Secretary of the Interior quietly announced last week that the Obama Administration will discard the 2010-2015 lease plan for new development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and wait until 2012 to put a new plan in the place. This means that the Administration’s initial six-month delay has turned into a three-year moratorium on new offshore drilling.… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after today’s unemployment numbers showed 36,000 jobs were lost in the month of February: “The American people have grown weary of waiting for this Administration to enact policies that will actually help create jobs. It’s been over a year since the nearly one trillion dollar stimulus… Read more »

At the last minute, the Democrat Majority on the House Natural Resources Committee unexpectedly and suddenly canceled tomorrow’s Energy and Minerals Subcommittee oversight hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget requests. The leaders of federal agencies that oversee offshore and onshore energy and mineral production on federal lands, including Minerals Management Service, the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after co-sponsoring Republican Leadership’s Resolution of Disapproval to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases. “The EPA has seriously overstepped its regulatory authority and placed millions of American jobs at risk… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04); National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (UT-01); and 14 Members of Congress sent a letter today to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar requesting further information related to an internal DOI document that revealed the Administration is considering designating numerous new… Read more »

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has announced that she cannot support the rewrite (Abercrombie substitute) of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 (Akaka bill) that is scheduled to be voted on today by the full House. Despite being a longtime, vocal supporter of Native Hawaiian recognition, Governor Lingle opposes the rewritten bill. Full text of her statement is… Read more »

With the final rewritten text (Abercrombie substitute) of H.R. 2314, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009, being provided to members of the U.S. House of Representatives with less than 24 hours before a formal vote may be called, analysis of its provisions are ongoing.  A review of two sections of the bill reveal that it may contain a loophole that could allow… Read more »

This week, the House will consider the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 (H.R. 2314), which creates a separate, race-based government specifically for Native Hawaiians. This divisive legislation would allow this new government entity to be exempt from state taxes, set their own civil and possibly criminal jurisdictions apart from the State of Hawaii, and take ownership… Read more »