Press Releases

Prior to Hearing, Ranking Member Grijalva Condemns Committee Republicans for Fueling Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric

In advance of tomorrow’s full Committee hearing titled, “Destroying America’s Best Idea: Examining the Biden Administration’s Use of National Park Service Lands for Migrant Camps,” House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) issued the following statement condemning Committee Republicans’ use of extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent political stunts and media appearances: “House Republicans’ infighting is barreling us towards a government shutdown, causing mi… Continue Reading

Ranking Member Grijalva Applauds Launch of President Biden’s American Climate Corps

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today released the following statement on the Biden-Harris administration’s launch of the American Climate Corps. The new workforce training and service initiative will employ more than 20,000 young people, putting them on the path to careers in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience. The Biden administration also announced $15 million for the Indian Youth Service Corps yesterday. “Young people all over the … Continue Reading

Ranking Member Grijalva Applauds Biden Administration Recommendations for Reforming Severely Outdated Mining Law of 1872

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior-led (DOI) Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting released a new report outlining 65 recommendations for modernizing the country’s severely outdated mining system. The report was informed by tens of thousands of public comments, as well as dozens of working group meetings with external stakeholders. Upon release of the report, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) issued the following s… Continue Reading

Media Advisories

*TO BE RESCHEDULED* MEDIA ADVISORY: Rep. Magaziner, Ranking Member Grijalva, Committee Members to Hold Roundtable on Offshore Wind in Rhode Island

**THIS EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED DUE TO MEMBERS BEING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR VOTES** **INFORMATION ON NEW TIMING FOR THE EVENT WILL BE PROVIDED SOON** Washington, D.C. - On Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, at 8:45 a.m. ET, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee member Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.),  Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huff… Continue Reading

MEDIA ADVISORY: Ranking Member Grijalva to Visit Puerto Rico

– On June 26-28, 2023, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will visit Puerto Rico to meet with local elected officials and other stakeholders to discuss the Puerto Rico Status Act and the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund. Additional background information on both is provided below. Ranking Member Grijalva will attend meetings on other federal legislative and oversight priorities as well, including Puerto Rico’s reconstruction,… Continue Reading

MEDIA ADVISORY: Ranking Member Grijalva to Hold Virtual Roundtable on Indian Child Welfare Act

– On Tuesday, May 9 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will host a virtual roundtable to discuss the history and significance of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA is a more than 40-year-old law that protects the well-being and best interests of Native children and families in state child welfare systems. In the past several years, ICWA has faced a series of legal challenges, the most prominent being the Brackeen v… Continue Reading

Opinion Pieces

Gutting the National Environmental Policy Act is a Political Vendetta, Not Permitting Reform

At the end of March, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, a shameless giveaway of handouts and loopholes to the oil, gas, and mining industries, fittingly dubbed the Polluters Over People Act. While oil companies’ record-breaking profits make it clear that they’re not an industry under duress, Republicans continue to push legislation to gut our most fundamental environmental and public health laws, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to line industry pockets.  But … Continue Reading

House Dems fight for Arizonans. Republicans fight each other.

Making history isn’t always a good thing. Last week, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives seemed determined to prove that point. For the first time in more than a century, the Republican-controlled House failed not once, not twice, but 14 times to take the most basic first step of a new Congress—electing a Speaker of the House. The Republican party’s infighting has inspired entertaining social media memes, but if you’re hoping for them to do anything more tha… Continue Reading

The Puerto Rico Status Act is a real opportunity

This is a historic week for the people of Puerto Rico. Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill-H.R. 8393, the Puerto Rico Status Act-that could move Puerto Rico away from its current status as a U.S. territory toward a new political future. The era of colonization for the island could finally see its long overdue end, once and for all. In the more than 120 years since Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War, territory status and … Continue Reading

Letters

Grijalva, Hawai'i Members Ask Interior Department to Support Environmental and Cultural Restoration in Maui Wildfire Recovery Efforts

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai'i), and Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawai'i) sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland requesting DOI’s support for environmental restoration and cultural preservation in recovery efforts in Maui and Hawai'i Island. DOI played a critical role in fire evacuation and search and recovery efforts on the island. Read the full letter. Last month’s wildfires in Maui, w… Continue Reading

Committee Democrats Send Letter Seeking Accountability for Fishery Council’s Mismanagement of Taxpayer Dollars & Improper Lobbying

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Rep. Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-CNMI), and Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requesting information about the agency’s authority to enforce accountability measures for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC). WESPAC has authority… Continue Reading

Ranking Member Grijalva, Reps. Velázquez, Clarke, Porter, Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib Urge Army Corp of Engineers to Cancel San Juan Bay Dredging Contract

?- House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) today sent a letter? to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) urging it to cancel its contract and plans to dredge San Juan Bay in Puerto Rico to accommodate larger liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil tankers. Alternatively, t… Continue Reading

Reports

Hearing Report: The Role of Public Relations Firms in Preventing Action on Climate Change

The Hearing Report presents select findings and redacted documents from the Committee's investigation into PR firms' work with fossil fuel companies. For decades, the fossil fuel industry denied or downplayed climate change and its role in causing it. As climate denial has become less accepted by the general public, the industry has worked with PR firms to execute subtler and more sophisticated campaigns to mislead the public and block climate change policy proposals. The Hearing Report details … Continue Reading

Repairing the Trump Administration's Damage to US Indigenous Communities and Charting a Better Way Forward

Dirty Deals: Four Years of the Trump Administration Putting Polluter Profits Over People

This report outlines the major damage the Trump administration has inflicted on the environment, economy, and energy supply of the United States and takes a closer look at the tactics they've used to perpetrate that destruction. Special attention is given to the federal agencies under the Committee's jurisdiction, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The report is not an exhaustive list of … Continue Reading