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Insular Affairs

Bishop, González-Colón, LaMalfa, Young Offer Path Forward to Advance Puerto Rican Statehood

| Posted in Press Release

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) sent a letter to Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello Nevares, Puerto Rican Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, and Puerto Rican House Speaker Carlos Mendez Nunez, regarding the next…

Committee Advances Tribal Energy Legislation, Slate of Conservation, Public Lands and Fishery Bills

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed eight bills, H.R. 3593 (U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.), H.R. 5025 (U.S. Rep. Amua Amata Coleman Radewagon, R-American Samoa), H.R. 6507 (U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Penn.), H.R. 6602 (U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J.), H.R. 6652 (U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.), H.R. 6939 (U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.), S. 245 (U.S. Sen. John Hoeven,…

Committee Invites Puerto Rico Governor to Testify at PREPA Oversight Hearing

| Posted in Press Release

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) sent a letter to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, inviting him to testify at a July 25 oversight hearing titled Management Crisis at the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and Implications for Recovery. “Despite your recognition of the politicization that has plagued PREPA and your commitment towards allowing…

Committees Probe USVI Governor on Executive Order Permitting Firearm Seizure

| Posted in Press Release

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) sent a letter to U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp, requesting information regarding Mapp’s executive order that allows the National Guard to seize firearms from citizens. “On September 4, 2017, in preparation for the Hurricane Irma’s landfall, you…

Bishop Files Amicus Brief to Facilitate Proper Interpretation of PROMESA

| Posted in Press Release

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) filed an amicus brief over the weekend with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on the legislative intent of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). The brief, which was requested by the Court, outlines the core statutory mandates of PROMESA’s Financial Oversight and…

Financial Controls Over Federal Assistance Dominates Hearing on Hurricane Recovery in U.S. Territories

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Full Committee held an oversight hearing on “The Need for Transparent Financial Accountability in Territories' Disaster Recovery Efforts." The panel reviewed the financial needs of both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the need and form of appropriate Federal oversight. “Improved coordination and the need for transparent and accountable expenditures of taxpayer…

Bishop: PROMESA's Oversight Board Needs New Tools to Ensure Puerto Rico's Recovery

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources examined challenges to Puerto Rico’s recovery and the role of the Financial Oversight and Management Board (Oversight Board) in the immediate and long-term.  The “Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act” (PROMESA), signed into law in June 2016, created the Oversight Board to bring fiscal accountability to the…

Chairman Bishop, Westerman Letter to Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

| Posted in Letters

TO: Mr. Ricardo Ramos FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Chariman Bruce Westerman   Dear Mr. Ramos: On September 20, 2017, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) signed an "Emergency Master Service Agreement for PREPA's Electrical Grid Reconstruction with an engineering firm. Under the contract, PREPA paid the firm 3,700,000 to begin operations in the territory. Subsequently,…

Chairman, Bishop, Westerman, LaMalfa, Gonalez-Colon Letter to the Honorable Christopher Wray

| Posted in Letters

TO: The Honorable Christopher Wray FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop, Chairman Bruce Westerman, Chairman Doug LaMalfa, Rep. Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon Dear Director Wray: On October 12, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Juan Field Office announced that "[t]he FBI has received numerous complaints of mishandling and misappropriation of emergency supplies provided by the federal…

Chairman, Bishop, Westerman, LaMalfa, Gonalez-Colon Letter to the Honorable William B. "Brock" Long

| Posted in Letters

TO: The Honorable William B. "Brock" Long  FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop, Chariman Bruce Westerman, Chairman Doug LaMalfa, Rep. Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon Dear Administrator Long:  On October 12, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Juan Field Office announced that "[t]he FBI has received numerous complaints of mishandling and misappropriation of emergency supplies…