Press Releases
Ranking Member Grijalva Requests Phone Records of Top Offshore Regulator Scott Angelle, Seeks Explanation for Lack of Transparency
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who is expected to become Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee in the 116th Congress, today sent a letter to Joe Balash, the Department of the Interior (DOI) assistant secretary for land and minerals management, requesting all calls to and from the personal cell phone number of Scott Angelle, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), that occurred from May 23, 2017, through November 12,… Continue Reading
11.15.18
Ranking Member Grijalva Opposes Republican Effort To Delist Gray Wolves, Calls on Colleagues to Reject “Sad Waste of Time”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today called on his Democratic and Republican colleagues to join him in opposing H.R.6784, a bill by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.) that removes the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the lower 48 states. The bill, which has only three cosponsors, is expected to receive a House vote tomorrow morning. "This bill is a sad, insulting waste of the country's time, especially with California on fire, and even Republican leaders… Continue Reading
11.14.18
Committee Leaders Announce Series of Climate Hearings Over Two Day Period Early Next Year
Washington, D.C. - As Democrats prepare to take the House Majority in January, three Democratic Committee leaders, whose committees have jurisdiction over climate change, announced today that their committees will hold a series of hearings over a two-day period early next year to assess the effects of climate change and the need for action. The announcement was made by Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) … Continue Reading
11.02.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Begin New Medium Series, Watchdog, Connecting Dots on Secretary Zinke’s Ethical Failures
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Democrats today published the first post in a new Medium series called Watchdog, which connects the dots and offers the public a clear explanation of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's multiple ethical failures. The opening post brings publicly available information up to date, including recent reports that the White House is concerned Zinke may have broken federal rules. Watchdog follows closely on Democrats' recent Wasted Resources series highlighti… Continue Reading
11.01.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: DOI Reorganization is Zinke, Bernhardt “Smashing the Department to Pieces and Telling Employees to Pick up the Mess”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on recent reports that the Trump administration's reorganization of the Interior Department is expected to be complete by July 1, 2019. "Secretary Zinke and Deputy Secretary Bernhardt are smashing the Interior Department to pieces and telling employees to pick up the mess. The organizational plan described here is unworkable for a number of reasons and demands oversight that Republicans on this … Continue Reading
10.31.18
New Democratic Report Details Industry Influence Over Natural Resources Committee Republicans Throughout 115th Congress
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the minority staff of the House Natural Resources Committee released a new report this morning, Unmasked: How The House Natural Resources Committee Tricks Taxpayers and Treats Industry, detailing Committee Republicans' campaign to stack full Committee and subcommittee hearings with industry interests in the 115th Congress. The report shows the many ways in which industry perspectives have heavily skewed the Committee's polic… Continue Reading
10.22.18
Forty-Four House Democrats Push BLM to Rescind Illegal Anti-Transparency Directive on Federal Oil and Gas Leasing, Postpone December Lease Sales
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter with 43 House Democratic colleagues to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Deputy Director Brian Steed today urging him to rescind a policy memorandum on oil and gas leasing that a federal judge has already partially enjoined. The lawmakers also ask Steed to delay lease sales planned for December that impermissibly limit public input based on the controversial memo's language. The full letter is available at http://bi… Continue Reading
10.19.18
Ranking Member Grijalva Pushes for Answers On Interior Dept. Weakening of Public Access to Endangered Species Records
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter today to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke seeking information about new guidance issued to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) employees restricting information released through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests specific to the Endangered Species Act. The full letter is available at http://bit.ly/2R1lEmj. Grijalva raises concerns that an internal document, as recently reported by The Guardian, recommended … Continue Reading
10.18.18
Leading Committee Democrats Urge Scrutiny of New Interior Inspector General – Change Could Interfere with Zinke Investigations
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and leading Democratic Committee members sent a letter today to Michael E. Horowitz, chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), raising concerns about the replacement of Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Inspector General (IG) Mary L. Kendall with Suzanne Israel Tufts, a political appointee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This move is particularly… Continue Reading
10.16.18
Committee Democrats: Don’t Use Forest Service Rulemakings to Hand Fossil Fuel and Mining Companies the Keys to Our National Forests
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, jointly submitted formal comments yesterday afternoon on two U.S. Forest Service Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) in which they highlighted the proposals' overwhelming industry favoritism and potential improper weakening of environmental standards. Both proposals - one on mining "locatable minerals" such as gold,… Continue Reading
10.11.18
Ranking Member Grijalva, Leading Committee Democrats Urge Repeal of DOI “Secret Science” Order, Recommitment to Scientific Integrity
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and leading Democratic Committee members sent a letter today to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to rescind a recent Secretarial Order that threatens to further politicize how science is used across the Department of the Interior (DOI). The "Promoting Open Science" Order, issued quietly by Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt on Sept. 28, is just the latest in a long line of Trump administration attacks on scientific integri… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Judiciary and Natural Resources Democrats Slam Interior Department Proposal to Charge Fees for First Amendment-Protected Activities
Washington, D.C. -Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and House Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), along with Representatives Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, and Donald McEachin (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigatio… Continue Reading
10.05.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: Republican Spin, Climate Denial Making it Harder to Pass Good Forestry Policy in Farm Bill
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a Democratic conferee in the ongoing Farm Bill negotiations, said today that deepening climate denial and new waves of Republican spin are making it harder to negotiate a final Farm Bill deal. Recent remarks by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), as quoted in an Oct. 4 Politico tip sheet item, make it clear that Republicans are holding the bill hostage to their unreasonable demands on forestry policy… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Shea-Porter and Grijalva Question Trump Administration Decision to Disarm and Decommission Dual Status National Wildlife Refuge Officers
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) and Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, today sent a letter to Cynthia Martinez, Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System (the System), requesting additional information on recent changes to FWS policy that would decommission dual status officers in the System. The full letter is available at https://shea-porter.house.gov/sites/sheaporter.house.gov/files/Letter%20to%20Chief%20Mart… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Committee Democrats Examine Republican Record on NEPA as Hispanic Heritage Month Raises Environmental Justice Profile
Washington, D.C. - In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues until Oct. 15, the Natural Resources Committee's Democratic staff on Tuesday published a look back at Republicans' attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), one of our country's strongest environmental justice laws. The multimedia piece, "Harming Communities of Color" is part of the Democrats' ongoing "Wasted Resources" series looking back at the misguided hearings and misplaced priorities of the Committee's R… Continue Reading
10.03.18
Ranking Member Grijalva, 70 Democratic Colleagues Write to Trump Urging Cancellation of Polluter-Friendly Methane Proposals
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and 70 House Democratic colleagues wrote to President Trump today urging him to cancel two polluter-friendly rulemakings on methane emissions, one at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the other at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the EPA, helped lead the letter. Co-leaders include Reps. Jared Polis (D-Col… Continue Reading
10.01.18
Grijalva: LWCF Expired Because Republicans Let it Expire, Not Because it’s Controversial – And They Shouldn’t Hold it Hostage Now
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of Tuesday's expected Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee markup of a bill permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which expired Sept. 30, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that Republican leaders are responsible for the program's expiration and shouldn't hold the program hostage in the lame duck session between the Nov. 6 elections and the end of the 115th Congress. The House Natural Resources Committee… Continue Reading
10.01.18
Grijalva, Gallego, Lujan Grisham Lead Pair of Letters to Zinke Urging Halt to Further Action on Shrinking Utah National Monuments
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz) and Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Michele Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) led a pair of letters to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today, each signed by 61 of their House Democratic colleagues, urging him to halt work on any environmental impact statement (EIS) or monument management plan being prepared for Bears Ears National Monument or Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both protected sites in Utah that President Trump atte… Continue Reading
09.25.18
Ranking Member Grijalva Introduces Endangered Species Protection Bill as GOPers Gear Up for “Wipeout Wednesday” Anti-ESA Hearing
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today introduced the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act, a bill that restricts the importation of African lions and other sport-hunted species that have been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The move comes a day before the Committee's Republican majority plans to hold a hearing on nine separate bills that would weaken the ESA and the public's ability … Continue Reading
09.21.18
Grijalva: If Secretary Zinke Wants to Protect the Grand Canyon, He Should Support Permanent Ban on New Uranium Claims and Full LWCF Funding
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), an original cosponsor of the bipartisan bill funding the National Park Service (NPS) maintenance backlog recently approved by the Natural Resources Committee, said today that if Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke truly wants to improve Grand Canyon National Park - as he is signaling with his trip this weekend to discuss maintenance needs - he should work with Congress to end new uranium mining in the park's watershed and fully fund … Continue Reading