Dear Secretary Vilsack:
More than a month has passed since the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") sent a letter on February 14 requesting that the Department of Agriculture ("USDA") abandon any plans to withhold a portion of the FY 2013 Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") payments as a way to recover the FY 2012 SRS money that the USDA ordered States to return last year. The letter… Read more »
Examiner Editorial: Fighting waste and fraud requires junkyard dogs, not pawns
Washington Examiner
March 13, 2014
When Congress and President Carter approved creation of the present inspector general program in 1978, the new officials were intended to be the front line of attack against waste and fraud in the federal government. Federal… Read more »
Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter to Department of the Interior’s Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall once again requesting an unredacted copy of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement’s (OSM) efforts to rewrite the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule.
The House Committee on… Read more »
Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA -04) and Ranking Member Peter Defazio (OR-04), along with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking for an examination of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) plans for helium sales,… Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 3189, the Water Rights Protection Act by a bipartisan vote of 238-174. This bipartisan bill, authored by Natural Resources Committee Member Scott Tipton (CO-03), protects private property rights from recent federal overreach that threatens to take water supplies from recreation businesses, ranchers, cities and towns, and local conservation… Read more »
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
Since 1996, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been directed to close down and sell off the Federal Helium Reserve. The sale of the helium contained in the Reserve has been subject to multiple Department of the Interior Inspector General reports, an examination by the Government Accountability Office, and a major National Academy of Sciences report. All of these… Read more »
Dear Ms. Kendall:
On December 23, 2013 the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General ("OIG") for the Department of the Interior ("Department") requesting a complete and unredacted copy and underlying attachments for an OIG report of investigation into the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement's ("OSM") efforts to… Read more »
Improving the Endangered Species Act for the 21st Century
By ESA Working Group Co-Chairs Doc Hastings and Cynthia Lummis
The Daily Caller
3/11/2014
Over forty years ago, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the noblest of intentions – conserve and recover wildlife facing preventable extinction. This is a moral obligation on which we can all agree. But with a species… Read more »
The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a Full Committee oversight hearing on Wednesday, March 26th entitled, “Collision Course: Oversight of the Obama Administration’s Enforcement Approach for America’s Wildlife Laws and Its Impact on Domestic Energy.” The hearing will examine the Obama Administration’s approach for enforcing wildlife laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement on President Obama’s designation of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands as a part of the Coastal California National Monument:
“Instead of using imperial powers, the President should pick up the phone and call upon Senate Democrats to take action. The House has already passed legislation,… Read more »
