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Oversight and Investigations

Yosemite Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act (H.R. 3188)

| Posted in Committee Votes

Reporting H.R. 3188 Out of Committee (Passed 16-15. View Roll Call Vote) This bill would expedite the planning and implementation of emergency salvage timber sales for federal lands in California that were ravaged by the Rim Fire in the summer of 2013. Without prompt emergency action, the impacts of this devastating wildfire would become even worse. Fire-damaged trees invite disease,…

Chairman Hastings Invitation Letter to Secretary Vilsack to Testify before Full Committee after Failure to Comply with Subpoenas

| Posted in Letters

Dear Secretary Vilsack: The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") invites you, as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA"), to testify at an oversight hearing regarding (1) the Obama Administration's decision to sequester money paid to states under the Secure Rural Schools program ("SRS") and (2) your compliance with a subpoena served September 4, 2013, on you, as…

Chairman Hastings Invitation Letter to Director Mathews Burwell to Testify before Full Committee after Failure to Comply with Subpoenas

| Posted in Letters

Dear Director Mathews Burwell: The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") invites you, as Director of the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB"), to testify at an oversight hearing regarding (1) the Obama Administration's decision to sequester money paid to states under the Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") program and (2) your compliance with the subpoena served September 4, 2013 on…

Obama Administration Fails to Comply with Subpoenas for Documents on Retroactive Cuts to Secure Rural School Funds

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent letters to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell regarding subpoenas issued in September for documents relating to the Obama Administration’s decision to retroactively subject 2012 Secure Rural School (SRS) payments to the fiscal year 2013…

Hastings Letter to Secretary Vilsack Announcing Failure to Comply with Subpoenas, Intent to Invite Officials to Oversight Hearing

| Posted in Letters

Dear Secretary Vilsack: A subpoena was issued to you as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA") on September 4, 2013, for documents related to the Obama Administration's decision to sequester money paid to states under the Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") program. The subpoena required that the requested documents be provided to the Committee on Natural Resources…

Hastings Letter to Director Mathews Burwell Announcing Failure to Comply with Subpoenas, Intent to Invite Officials to Oversight Hearing

| Posted in Letters

Dear Director Mathews Burwell: A subpoena was issued to you as Director of the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") on September 4, 2013, for documents related to the Obama Administration's decision to sequester money paid to states under the Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") program. The subpoena required that the requested documents be provided to the Committee on Natural Resources…

Hastings Letter to Chief Tidwell Requesting Answers Regarding Decision to Close National Forests During the Government Shutdown

| Posted in Letters

Dear Chief Tidwell: The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") requests that the U.S. Forest Service take steps as necessary to keep and not destroy documents related to the recent decisions to order certain activities located on National Forest System lands to cease operations, including grazing, concessionaires, and other privately-funded businesses, while allowing others to…

BAD LANDLORD: National Park Service Forcing Privately Operated Sites to Close

| Posted in Press Release

This week the Obama Administration began erecting metal barricades to keep families, veterans, school groups and visitors out of popular open-air monuments in Washington D.C. such as the Lincoln Memorial, which did not happen during the last government shutdown, and the World War II Memorial. The U.S. Park Service has also closed small businesses and non-profit operations that happen to…