Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2013) – Western Caucus Co-Chairs Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis released the following statements in response to the new proposed regulations of hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands announced yesterday by the Department of the Interior: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2013) – Yesterday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) announced that it had obtained information that the IRS isn’t the only government agency targeting conservative groups- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing it too. It took a lawsuit filed by CEI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get to the bottom of it, but the findings were shocking. There was a clear pattern of EPA making it more difficult for limited-government groups to access public records, while fees were waived and doors were opened without fuss for liberal-leaning groups. Public interest groups were the intended beneficiaries of the FOIA’s provision for waiving fees. But it turns out that fee waivers are quite common for some groups, and yet scarce for others. Overall, green groups, like Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and EarthJustice, were granted 92% of their waiver requests. Unfortunately, the same courtesy was not extended to groups who’s beliefs don’t line up with those of the Administration- their requests were denied 93% of the time. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2013) – Yesterday, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with Chairman Steve Pearce (R-NM), Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Congressman Chris Stewart (R-UT), Congressman Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO), and Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), introduced the State Mineral Revenue Protection Act, a bill that streamlines how mineral royalty payments are distributed to the state and federal government. Read more »

Denver, CO (May 2, 2013) – Earlier today, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with Members of Congressional Western Caucus from Colorado held a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” at the Colorado State Capitol. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2013) – Thursday, May 2, 2013, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with the Colorado Members of the Congressional Western Caucus will hold a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” in Denver, CO. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 24, 2013) – Thursday, May 2, 2013, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with the Colorado Members of the Congressional Western Caucus will hold a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” in Denver, CO. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 23, 2013) – Last week, Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Congressman Holt (D-NJ) introduced a bill that would designate 9.1 million acres in Utah as wilderness . These 9.1 million acres, referred to as the ill-named Red Rock Wilderness Act, would designate large swaths of land as wilderness without the support of the people that actually live there. While we admire the Senator from Illinois and the Congressman from New Jersey for their efforts to involve themselves in the local land-use planning process, it is not their job to step on the people of Utah in the process. This bill does not have the support of any members of Utah’s Congressional delegation, the governor, or locally elected officials. Nevertheless, Eastern Democrats introduce this bill year after year, and it has become yet another example of Eastern Democrats viewing the West as their playground without any regard for the people who live there. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 16, 2013) – Thursday, May 2, 2013, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with the Colorado Members of the Congressional Western Caucus will hold a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” in Denver, CO. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2013) – President Obama released his budget Wednesday, which included $1.1 trillion in new tax revenues over the next 10 years, an additional $8.2 trillion in debt during the same period, and countless new bureaucratic hurdles for small businesses to leap through. Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairs Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-NM) released the following statements in response to the President’s budget: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 10, 2013) – Congressmen Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Western Caucus, announced Wednesday that they would be introducing an educational component to the Western Caucus. Western Caucus University will cover a variety of issues that are critical to the West, such as energy development, modernizing the Endangered Species Act, and forest management best practices, among others. The first topic to be covered will be public lands, and the impact of federally owned land on the West. Co-Chairs Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis released the following statements regarding the launch: Read more »