March 20, 2010 Dear Colleague, Today, the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009. One of the only two amendments made in order by the Rules Committee will be offered by Mr. Bishop of Utah, the Ranking Member of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee. The Bishop Amendment to HR 1612 would: Keep the… Read more »

VOTE YES ON THE MOTION TO RECOMMIT H.R. 1612, THE PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT OF 2009     Dear Colleague,   The Motion to Recommit would make four improvements to the Public Lands Service Corps program:   PROTECTS YOUNG PEOPLE FROM SEX OFFENDERS -          Prohibits sex offenders from participation in this… Read more »

Dear Colleague, I am asking you to join me in sending the attached letter to Secretary Salazar demanding that he roll back the “Obama Moratorium” on OCS development. On March 5, Secretary Salazar said that the Department will not be issuing an OCS lease plan until 2012 rather in July of this year. This means that the Draft Proposed Plan, initiated in 2008 and proposed as a draft in… Read more »

Support the Hastings of Washington Amendment to Require a Statewide Vote on Creating a Separate Native Government in Hawaii Dear Colleague: In 1959, a vote was taken in Hawaii on the question of becoming a state. Over 94 percent voted in favor of statehood. Hawaii voted overwhelmingly to join our union as one unified state. Today, under this bill, Congress will vote on dividing the… Read more »

Read the full Dear Colleague HERE February 23, 2010 Fundamental Changes in Final Text of Native Hawaiian Bill Today, the House of Representatives will vote on the final rewritten text (Abercrombie substitute) of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009. This latest version, written in secret without Committee review or markup, contains fundamental changes from the bill… Read more »

February 22, 2010 House to vote on rewritten Native Hawaiian Recognition Bill Text is “fundamentally changed” from last Congress Dear Colleague: This week the Democrat Leadership is bringing H.R. 2314 to the Floor, a bill to extend tribal recognition to a Native Hawaiian “governing entity.” In the 110th Congress, a previous version of this legislation (H.R. 505) passed 261-153. All… Read more »

Dear Colleague: You may recall that the House passed wild horses and burros legislation last Congress (HR 249 in the 110th). However, there is an enormous difference between this year’s bill and the bill from last Congress. Last year’s bill simply prohibited the commercial slaughter of wild horses and burros – it was one-page in length and CBO estimated the cost was under $500,000 a… Read more »

Read the full Dear Colleague HERE. Dear Colleague, I would like to draw your attention to an article in today’s Energy & Environment Daily regarding Wild Horses and Burros.   Doc Hastings Ranking Member Committee on Natural Resources "There are serious issues facing our country right now and it's absurd that Democratic leaders believe that spending $700 million to pamper… Read more »

Dear Colleague, Since January, House Republicans have simply asked the Democrat Majority for a chance to debate this amendment and vote to allow citizens to carry firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges in accordance with State law. Unfortunately, Democrat Leaders have spent the past five months using every legislative trick in the book to obstruct a fair and open… Read more »

Dear Colleague: The House Rules Committee has blocked any amendment from being offered to the Omnibus Public Lands bill, including an amendment to protect Americans’ Second Amendment gun rights when on federal park lands and refuges. Last Thursday, a federal judge struck down existing federal regulations that expressly protected Americans’ ability to carry firearms on public lands if in… Read more »