Congressman K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) released the following statement about the passage of the Farm Bill: “We have produced a fiscally responsible Farm Bill that spends $23 billion less than the 2008 Farm Bill and provides a strong set of risk management tools for our farmers and ranchers, while also taking a step in the right direction on the Food Stamp program. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the U.S. House of Representatives passed a five-year farm bill agreed to by the House-Senate conference committee. The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act of 2013 provides a robust crop insurance program with expanded coverage choices for farmers, saves taxpayers over $23 billion in mandatory federal spending, consolidates programs, and reforms the food stamp program for the first time since 1996. Read more »
U.S. Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE) and Sam Graves (R-MO) have introduced a trio of bills to improve the ability of long haul truck drivers to access and utilize natural gas as a fuel. The legislative proposals are aimed at making it safer, more convenient, and more cost-effective for trucking transportation companies to use natural gas when transporting goods across the country. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Kristi Noem (R-SD/AL), Jim Costa (D-CA/16), Adrian Smith (R-NE/3), and Mike McIntyre (D-NC/7) today led 83 members from both sides of the aisle in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez urging the agency to stop using funds to regulate small farming operations. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) defended small family farms against unnecessary regulation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is prohibited by law from using funds to regulate growing, harvesting, and “related activities” of farms with 10 or fewer employees. However, the agency published a memo in 2011 indicating that grain “handling” did not meet the definition of an activity directly related to growing and harvesting and could thus be subject to OSHA regulation. The memo has since been broadly interpreted to allow OSHA inspectors to regulate the activities of small farms. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines’ North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013, bipartisan and locally driven legislation to protect the North Fork watershed, today was approved without opposition by the House Natural Resources Committee, clearing the way for a full vote by the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2657, the Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act of 2013, legislation sponsored by Congressman Jason Chaffetz. This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to sell nearly 3.3 million acres of federal land deemed suitable for disposal. Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee, announced the approval of a comprehensive public lands package that will create new wilderness areas, release unnecessary wilderness study areas (WSA), convey federal land to local governments, provide land for economic development, and offer new outdoor recreation opportunities in Northern Nevada. Read more »
Amodei took issue with comments made by Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-4) and some of his colleagues during today’s markup, which seemed to be informed by an outside environmental special interest rather than consideration for the facts. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) today announced that Jennifer Phillippi, co-owner of Rough and Ready Lumber in Josephine County, will be his guest at President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. Rough and Ready was the last remaining sawmill in Josephine County when it closed its doors last April due to a lack of available federal timber. Read more »
