10.29.19

Chair Grijalva, Rep. O’Halleran, Supporters of “Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act” Holding Post-Vote Press Conference on Wednesday Evening

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) will hold a press conference at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in H-137 at the U.S. Capitol following the House vote on Grijalva’s Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. The lawmakers will be joined by Native American and other supporters of the bill, which puts a permanent moratorium on new uranium mining claims on more than 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park.

The event will be livestreamed at http://facebook.com/nrdems.

Grijalva published an op-ed in this morning’s USA Today – available online at http://bit.ly/2Nq4T3Y – urging support ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The Natural Resources Committee recently published a video on the widespread community demand for greater Grand Canyon protections.

As Grijalva writes in his new op-ed:

The latest fight over the future of the Grand Canyon started in 2012 when, in a move I had proposed since 2008, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar put a 20-year pause on new uranium mining claims on about 1 million acres of federally protected land around Grand Canyon National Park. Conservation agencies needed, and still need, time to study the health and environmental risks of allowing uranium mining to continue (or even expand) in such a sensitive region.

Fossil fuel corporations and their allies in Congress are pushing the president to end that moratorium now, more than a decade ahead of schedule. I’m calling on my colleagues in Congress, and the American people, to unite in support of Grand Canyon protections until President Donald Trump declares it off limits for the long term. The House is voting this week on my bill, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, to make the moratorium permanent. If it passes, as I hope it will, the Senate should take it up and say no to this blatant act of corporate welfare once and for all.

The press conference will include a discussion of the impact of the House vote, the next steps for the bill, and supporters’ thoughts on the environmental threat posed by the Trump administration.

 

What: Press conference following House vote on Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act

When: 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Oct. 30

Where: H-137, U.S. Capitol

Who: Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.)

Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.)

Carletta Tilousi, Councilwoman, Havasupai Tribe

Santee Lewis, Executive Director, Navajo Nation Washington Office

Athan Manuel, Director, Sierra Club Lands Protection Program

Chad Lord, Senior Director, National Parks Conservation Association Waters Program

Steve Moyer, Vice President of Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited

Other speakers TBD

 

Press Contact

Adam Sarvana

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 mobile