09.30.16

Throughout October, Natural Resources Democrats Will Release Fact Sheets Highlighting Consequences of Republican Policy Failures

Washington, D.C. – Each weekday in the month of October, Democratic staff will release a new fact sheet highlighting the real-world consequences of the Republican majority’s failure to pass needed legislation or adequately support vital programs in the Committee’s jurisdiction. Each fact sheet will include a plain-language overview of the issue of the day and a look at the numbers that most dramatically tell the story.

A sample, which will be released in full on Monday as the first fact sheet of the month, is included below. The format of each fact sheet will closely follow the sample.

Despite clear public support for American federal conservation programs, the Republican majority on the Committee has steadfastly opposed the Antiquities Act and Endangered Species Act; refused to reauthorize the previously uncontroversial Land and Water Conservation Fund; failed to offer new funding to the National Park Service on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; continued to deny the reality of climate change, going so far as to compare a climate denier witness at a hearing to Galileo for his supposed intellectual courage; declined to propose or support any meaningful environmental regulations for the oil and gas industry, which faces increased scrutiny over climate and water quality impacts; insulted Native American communities and belittled their legitimate demands for federal consultation on major decisions; and generally played an unproductive and unsuccessful role throughout the 114th Congress.

In hopes of encouraging a more productive lame duck session, the Democratic fact sheets will offer a much-needed perspective on what these failures have meant for the country. They will demonstrate why Republicans cannot continue to pursue failed pet projects or doomed ideological crusades at the expense of adequate funding for Interior Department agencies and meaningful, productive, science-based oversight of federal conservation programs.