Today, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) held a conference call to discuss oversight efforts on Puerto Rico and the Committee’s path forward to developing responsible solutions to the island’s economic crisis. “As long as Puerto Rico and its state-owned entities continue to lose money and run deficits, debt restructuring alone will not help the territory and its people find stability and build… Read more »

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service this month proposed a new rule to crack down on predator control in Alaska, claiming it wants to better protect wildlife on national refuges. If only the Obama Administration cared as much about the protected critters that are getting in the way of its climate-change agenda. President Obama’s Clean Power Plan imposes new rules to force the closure of… Read more »

Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane venting rule: “For close to a decade, we’ve witnessed unprecedented energy growth alongside steady reductions in emissions driven by innovation – not federal intervention. Emissions nose-dived as people thrived producing their own energy-rich… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing on issues surrounding the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Draft Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for the Beaver Dam Wash and Red Cliffs National Conservation Areas in Washington County, Utah.  The panel received testimony from the Mayor of St. George, the Chairman of the Washington County Commission, local… Read more »

Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement on the Obama Administration’s coal lease moratorium on Federal lands.   “Yep, there they go again. Americans now know the ‘all-of-the-above’ energy agenda the President repeatedly claimed to support was an election year lie. This unprecedented action will completely shut down coal leasing on… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address: “The President has a knack for making awful policies sound like good ideas. What we should pay closer attention to is what was not said. In the shadows lurked the cascade of unilateral actions and costly regulations he’s planning,… Read more »

Today, the House passed S.J. Res. 22, Congressional Disapproval of the “Waters of the United States” Rule. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “When 27 states object to an action of the President we know something is wrong. Waters of the United States is the President’s latest unilateral act to extend the power of his Administration beyond constitutional limits.… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on the circumstances leading to the current financial crisis faced by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the state-owned, self-regulated monopoly that operates as Puerto Rico’s  public utility. “Today we took a step forward to uncover the origins of Puerto Rico’s fiscal failures and identifying… Read more »

Today, the House, by a vote of 235-188, passed H.R. 1644, the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act (STREAM Act). Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “The Obama Administration’s development of the stream buffer zone rule exposes the President’s disdain for the rule of law and the concerns of people,” stated Chairman Bishop.… Read more »

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) in a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr., strongly questioned the timing and substance of interviews conducted two weeks ago by EPA officials with material witnesses that could compromise… Read more »