WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Walter Jones (NC-3) reintroduced H.R. 819 - the Preserving Access to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area Act. The bill is tentatively scheduled for a hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation on March 14th. Congressman Jones introduced the bill in the last Congress and it passed the House of Representatives, but the Senate version failed to make it out of committee. Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Scott Tipton (CO-03) has reintroduced his legislation to prevent catastrophic wildfire by restoring forests to a healthy natural state through more proactive, localized management. The Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (H.R. 818), which received broad community support last year, has momentum out of the gate this Congress with key Western Members signing on as original co-sponsors. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), Gene Green (D-TX), Tom Reed (R-NY) and Jim Costa (D-CA) today announced an expanded, four-member leadership team for the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, a bipartisan effort to educate Members of Congress and the American people about the importance of natural gas as a domestic energy resource, its role in meeting the nation's energy demand and in attaining energy security. Read more »
Washington - U.S. Representative K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, has asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for answers on how the U.S. Agriculture Department plans to implement its sequester cuts. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Alaskan Congressman Don Youngtoday introduced legislation that would prohibit the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce from authorizing commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) unless specifically authorized by Congress. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) today, along with 28 original bipartisan cosponsors, reintroduced the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013, to allow the United States to more efficiently develop strategic and critical minerals, such as rare earth elements, that are vital to job creation, American economic competitiveness, and national security. The bill streamlines the permitting process for mineral development by coordinating the actions of federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to reduce red tape while protecting the environmental review process. Read more »
Washington, D.C. –Today, Rep. Chris Stewart (UT-2), introduced his first piece of legislation, the 2013 Utah Land Sovereignty Act, which would prevent the extension or establishment of national monuments in Utah without authorization from Congress. This bill adds Utah to an agreement made in 1950 between the federal government and Wyoming. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Senate Western Caucus Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Congressional Western Caucus co-chairs Stevan Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined 22 other Caucus Members in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging the Administration to withdraw Secretarial Order 3321, which establishes the “National Blueways” program. Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), authors of H.R. 267, the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013, applauded the unanimous approval of their bill in the House of Representatives today. The final vote was 422-0. Their legislation would facilitate the development of small hydropower and conduit projects and direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to study the feasibility of a streamlined two-year permitting process. The bill now moves to the Senate. Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe today, detailing concerns with a proposal to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Read more »
