News List

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines pressed the House yesterday to move forward with the passage of a five-year farm bill, noting the importance of agriculture to Montana’s economy and the need for a long-term Farm Bill that provides Montana’s farmers and rural communities with much-needed certainty. Read more »

Amendment to House Farm Bill protects rural forested communities from further burdensome regulation; plan unanimously passed by the U.S. House Read more »

In written testimony submitted Tuesday to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Army Corp of Engineers announced the department will not undertake a full programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on permit applications for coal exports at ports in Washington and Oregon. Anti-coal groups, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and various elected officials had requested that the entire lifecycle of coal – from extraction, to transport, to eventual usage in Asia – be considered in the EIS covering a single port project. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, the Mountainaire Relief Bill (H.R. 862), introduced by U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S (R-AZ) and Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), with a vote of 395-1. This legislation settles a federal land boundary dispute by correcting a decades-old surveying error that put part of some people's private property inside the boundaries of the Coconino National Forest. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer questioned U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on the Obama Administration’s policy toward enhanced oil recovery research at a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Cramer highlighted North Dakota’s leadership role in capturing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants for enhanced oil recovery, and the research effort at the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership at the University of North Dakota. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers sent a letter to Mr. Kevin Shea, Acting Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Monday, requesting an investigation timeline and a formal meeting to discuss the genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon earlier this month. The following are excerpts from the letter. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 253, The Y Mountain Access Enhancement Act, by a vote of 397 – 1. The legislation, sponsored by Congressman Jason Chaffetz, would allow Brigham Young University to purchase the land surrounding the “Y” block on Y Mountain. Read more »

Legislation authored by Congressman Mike Simpson addressing water issues in Idaho wilderness areas was passed by the House of Representatives today. H.R. 876, the Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act, authorizes and permits historical water diversions in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area that existed before the wilderness designations. Similar legislation sponsored by Congressman Simpson was passed by the House during the 111th and 112th Congresses. Read more »

This legislation amends the Native American Veterans’ Memorial Establishment Act of 1994 to allow the National Museum of the American Indian to construct a memorial to Native Veterans on the museum’s grounds, which is on the National Mall. Current law authorizes a memorial inside the confines of the museum, but there is not sufficient space within the facility to construct a proper tribute to Native American Veterans. Read more »

Washington, D.C., Jun 14 - The House of Representatives today approved amendments authored by Congressman Doc Hastings to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park and to execute a land transfer for local economic development. Hastings’ amendments were added to the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. Read more »