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Committee Republicans Welcome New Chief Counsel

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Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) announced Tara Hupman as the incoming chief counsel for committee Republicans. Charles Park, former chief counsel, will be leaving Capitol Hill to work in the private sector. Prior to joining the committee with Westerman in January 2021, Park previously served in the Department of Energy under the Trump…

Republicans Investigate Taliban's Access to Critical Mineral Reserves

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EMR Subcommittee

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) led a Republican forum titled "Biden's Afghanistan Crisis: Forfeiting U.S. Investment in Critical Minerals to the Taliban." "For 15 years, the U.S. Geological Survey spent more than $81 million to survey Afghanistan’s minerals and sent its scientists on more than 250 trips to research the country’s…

DOI Poised to Cut Off Vast Domestic Stores of Key Minerals

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EMR Subcommittee

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested a 20-year mineral withdrawal from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) within the Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota. This announcement automatically triggers a two-year pause on new federal mining permits and leases in the area while this application is reviewed.  "The Biden administration can't even figure…

Political Theater Will Not Solve Biden's Supply Chain, Energy Crises

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Today, three Democrat members of the House Committee on Natural Resources held an in-person field hearing to discuss the effects of the recent oil pipeline rupture off the coast of California. Committee Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:   "Our supply chain is…

Biden Administration, Congressional Democrats Bear Full Responsibility for California Oil Spill with Failure to Address Supply Chain Issues

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EMR Subcommittee

Today, President Joe Biden will be hosting a listening session on the global supply chain bottlenecks. This comes alongside news that the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will begin working 24/7, a move the administration hopes will alleviate the backlog of cargo ships. Yet while the Biden administration is finally turning its attention to one crisis of its own making, other…

Full Committee Passes Slate of Republican Bills

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Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup of 15 bills. Five Republican bills passed the committee with unanimous consent:  H.R. 442, offered by U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), conveying approximately 10 acres of land in Sitka, Alaska for the purposes of expanding and improving access to healthcare for Alaska Natives.  H.R. 1975, offered by…

Reps. Bruce Westerman, Sam Graves, Garret Graves Joint Statement on the Biden Administration’s Proposal to Gut NEPA Reforms

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Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-Mo.), and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) released the following joint statement regarding the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) proposal to roll back recent reforms cutting red tape in the National Environmental Policy…

Biden Ignores Local Communities, Reinstates Sweeping Monument Designations

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NFPL Subcommittee

Today, President Joe Biden announced he will be unilaterally expanding the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. "In a pattern that's becoming all-too-familiar, the Biden Administration is once again making a major decision with no congressional input, no prior notice, and no basis in fact. These monuments are far more…

Westerman Criticizes Biden Administration's California Water Decision

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WOW Subcommittee

This week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reinitiated consultation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service 2019 biological opinions related to the coordinated long-term operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in…