Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent the following letter to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him once again to testify before the Committee regarding the Department’s plans to issue rules on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands within the next “month or so.” Chairman Hastings first wrote Secretary Salazar a letter on December 1,… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Republicans are committed to putting Americans back to work by enacting policies that embrace America’s abundant natural resources to help create jobs and grow our economy. The Committee continues its Job Watch series this week with Freshman Committee Member Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-19). His district spans five counties in California’s Central Valley and… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Department of Labor released the September jobs report: “After a horrendous August, where the economy saw a net total of zero jobs created, September’s numbers weren’t much better. The unemployment rate is continuing to hold steady above 9 percent while President Obama campaigns on… Read more »

TO: All Member Offices, House Natural Resources Committee RE: Natural Resources Committee Recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction To ensure that all Committee Members are able to participate in making "recommendations for changes in law to reduce the deficit" to the Joint Select Committee to assist it in achieving its goal "to reduce the deficit by at least… Read more »

Reporting H.R. 850 Out of Committee (Passed 30-14. View Roll Call Vote) This bill would allow a 4-lane highway bridge, which connects Minnesota and Wisconsin, to be built over the Lower Saint Croix River. Bishop Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (Agreed to by Voice Vote.) This amendment would include consensus language negotiated with the Senate and require a mitigation package… Read more »

Reporting H.R. 1505 Out of Committee (Passed 26-17. View Roll Call Vote) This bill would prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from taking actions which impede Border Security from doing their job on federal land within 100 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico and Canada. Bishop Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (Agreed to by Voice Vote.) This amendment in the… Read more »

Reporting H.R. 3069 Out of Committee (Passed 29-13. View Roll Call Vote) This bill would allows for the issuance of state and tribal permits to lethally remove increasing predatory, non-ESA listed sea lions that consume thousands of endangered salmon and other fish species in the Columbia River and their tributaries. Bordallo Amendment #002 – Adds Findings to the Bill (Not Agreed to by… Read more »

Reporting H.R. 2915 Out of Committee (Passed 26-17. View Roll Call Vote) This bill repeals the 2009 Stimulus Act’s questionable $3.25 billion Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) loan authority, including the taxpayer bailout provision for failed renewable energy transmission projects. This will save the taxpayer form bearing the burden of another Solyndra like failure. Holt… Read more »

Reporting H.R. 2842 Out of Committee (Passed 30-12. View Roll Call Vote) This bill streamlines burdensome red tape and reduces administrative costs for the installation of increased small canal and pipeline hydropower development projects. Markey Amendment #001 – Duplicative Regulation (Failed 10-28. View Roll Call Vote) This amendment applies the duplicative regulation to the… Read more »

The Full Natural Resources Committee today passed three bills—H.R. 2842, H.R. 2360 and H.R. 2752—to create jobs, produce more American made energy and advance House Republicans' all-of-the-above American Energy Initiative. “Republicans are committed to increasing the use of America’s abundant energy resources to create jobs and grow the economy. These three commonsense measures protect… Read more »