On October 16, 2007, candidate Obama said: “It's time that we had a president who understood that when we strengthen our rural communities, we lift up our entire nation So, after I am elected president, I'll ask Democratic and Republican leaders to join me in a summit here in Iowa to discuss these issues. And we'll come together in a bipartisan way to take action on a rural agenda… Read more »

Click to enlarge Background: President Barack Obama arrived in L’Aquila, Italy today to participate in the Annual G8 Summit to meet with leaders from Canada, the Russian Federation, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Climate change is expected to be one of the top issues discussed and could result in a global goal of “cutting greenhouse gas emissions by… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s June unemployment report that the U.S. economy lost nearly 467,000 jobs in June, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5 percent: “When President Obama spoke to Congress on February 24th, he said ‘the recovery plan and the financial stability… Read more »

Following criticism from a range of Congressional Democrats that the Obama Administration has ignored the needs of rural Americans, the White House yesterday announced that: “President Obama has directed many members of his Cabinet to begin what it describes as a ‘listening tour’ of rural America this summer...” After House Democrats passed the National Energy Tax… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today after passage of H.R. 2454, the Democrats’ National Energy Tax Legislation: “Congressional Democrats just dealt a devastating blow to America’s already fragile economy.  History will show that in the middle of a serious recession, Speaker Pelosi’s number one priority was to… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) spoke on the House floor today urging Members to vote against the Democrats’ National Energy Tax that will decimate America’s economy.  Full video and text of the speech follows: Click here to watch the floor speech “Madame Speaker, this bill was written in a fantasyland where unemployment isn’t reaching 10… Read more »

Today, as the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to vote on the Democrats’ National Energy Tax Bill (H.R.2454), Republicans stood up for Rural Americans who will be disproportionately affected by this legislation: Click here to watch “This bill will destroy the livelihoods of those who live and work in rural America. Those who work every day to consistently provide our nation and… Read more »

Today, after the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirmed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 5.5 percent from January to March, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Doc Hastings (WA-04) issued the following statement regarding how the Democrats’ National Energy Tax bill (H.R. 2454) will further decimate America’s economy: “The news that America’s… Read more »

On June 22, 2009, House Democrat Leaders released an updated 1,200 page Waxman-Markey “Cap and Tax” bill (H.R. 2454) that is expected to come to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as early as Friday, June 26th. In addition to forcing a massive new National Energy Tax upon the American people, buried in this legislation are provisions that impose even more economic punishment… Read more »

Ranking Member Hastings highlights the green tabs in the 1,000 page cap-and-trade bill that mark all the provisions under the jurisdiction of the House Natural Resources Committee. Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after joining seven other Committee Ranking Members in a press conference to oppose efforts… Read more »