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Hastings: Address Immediate Crisis At Hand, Don’t Exploit Gulf Tragedy to Push National Energy Tax or Legislation Unrelated to Spill Response

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at today’s Full Committee legislative hearing on the discussion draft of H.R. 3534, The CLEAR Act: “This hearing today should continue to focus on the crisis unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. At this very moment: the well is not capped and oil is still…

Hastings: Interior Dept. Gives Inadequate, Vague Reasons for Delayed PILT Payments

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a follow-up letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar seeking clarification on the Department’s vague explanation of why the distribution of the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds is being delayed from June until mid-July.  Click here to read the full text of the letter. A DOI press release from June 18,…

Cassidy Statement at Natural Resources Subcommittee Hearing on State Planning for Offshore Energy Development

| Posted in Press Release

Congressman Bill Cassidy (LA-06) delivered the following opening statement as the acting Ranking Member at today’s Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee hearing on “State Planning for Offshore Energy Development: Standards for Preparedness”: Click here to watch “Madam Chairwoman, I want to compliment you for scheduling this series of oversight hearings on the Deepwater…

Hot Air Alert: Department of Interior Confuses Increased Violence and Murder With ‘Significant Progress’ on Southern Border

| Posted in Hot Air Alert

After multiple reports in recent months of violence, drug running and murders on federal lands near our Southern Border, it seems the Obama Administration has a distorted view of the reality facing Border Patrol agents, law enforcement officers and everyday citizens. Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said in a statement this week that Secretary Salazar is trying to "meet…

Rural America Solutions Group Co-Chairs Call for Committee Hearings on Federal Power Grab of Clean Water Act

| Posted in Press Release

Today, Co-Chairs of the Rural America Solutions Group Frank Lucas (R-OK), Sam Graves (R-MO) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) sent a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall asking for hearings on H.R. 5088,…

Republican Views on H.Res. 4438, "directing the Secretary of the Interior to transmit to the House of Representatives certain information relating to the potential designation of National Monuments"

| Posted in Committee Reports

Republican Views on H.Res. 4438, "directing the Secretary of the Interior to transmit to the House of Representatives certain information relating to the potential designation of National Monuments"

FOX News: Drug Cartel Activity Threatens Texas Water Supplies, Lawmaker Says

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

Drug Cartel Activity Threatens Texas Water Supplies, Lawmaker Says June 21, 2010 FOXNews.com Joshua Rhett Miller Drug cartel activity along the Mexican border presents serious security threats to the area's water supply system, particularly on federally-owned lands in southern Texas, a U.S. lawmaker says. Members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held a…

FOX News: Border Patrol Charged Millions for Habitat Damage, Republicans Say Enough 'Extortion'

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

Border Patrol Charged Millions for Habitat Damage, Republicans Say Enough 'Extortion' June 21, 2010 FOXNews.com Judson Berger Republican lawmakers are calling on the Interior Department to stop charging what they describe as "extortion" money from the Border Patrol -- millions of under-the-radar dollars meant to cover environmental damage stemming from their everyday duties along the…

FOX News: Border Patrol Navigating Reams of Regulation to Secure Federal Land

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

Border Patrol Navigating Reams of Regulation to Secure Federal Land June 18, 2010 FOXNews.com Border Patrol agents must navigate a patchwork of environmental regulations dating back decades in order to police for drug cartels, smugglers and illegal immigrants -- often on foot-and-horseback in some of the most vulnerable areas of the southwest border. Border Patrol agents must…