News List

WASHINGTON – Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) was selected to be a conferee for the upcoming Conference Committee on water infrastructure reform. H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA), was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House by a vote of 417-3. The Senate has its own version of water infrastructure reform, which has resulted in the two chambers coming together for a Conference Committee. Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources approved Congressman Doc Hastings’ bill H.R. 1308, the “Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act,” by a bipartisan vote of 22 to 16. This legislation is aimed at protecting endangered Columbia River salmon and other fish species from predation by California and Steller Sea Lions. The bill only addresses sea lions that are not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the House of Representatives named its members of the conference committee which will merge the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2013(WRRDA) with the Senate’s version. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the House Committee on Natural Resources favorably reported two bills he cosponsors to rein in waste at the Department of the Interior and protect state and local water rights from federal takings. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer questioned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy on hydraulic fracturing and coal regulations, and reiterated his request for a listening session in North Dakota on the agency’s planned carbon emission standards. Cramer, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, asked McCarthy why the EPA continues to create uncertainty in the energy industry by searching for what is possible without attention to what is probable or likely. Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today named the following House Republican negotiators to serve on the House-Senate Conference Committee charged with resolving differences over the Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA). Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Steve Daines (R-MT), Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) and Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ), along with 31 of their colleagues, today sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell regarding plans to designate national monuments on public lands without congressional approval. Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC – Alaskan Congressman Don Young today joined 38 members of Congress in signing a bipartisan letter urging leadership in both the House and Senate to include fishery disaster relief in the final funding package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The bipartisan coalition from coastal states across the country emphasized the devastating impacts fisheries disasters have had on coastal communities over recent years, and why these federally declared disasters should not be overlooked. Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson has been appointed as Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. The Subcommittee funds all functions of the U.S. Department of Energy, including the Idaho National Laboratory’s research and cleanup operations. Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined a number of his Western colleagues in supporting the rule recently proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. Simpson authored legislation in 2011 to delist wolves in Idaho, where the population has seen a robust recover since reintroduction in the mid-1990’s. Read more »