04.29.19

After Months of Delay, Chair Grijalva Presses Interior Sec. Bernhardt to Testify on the Record – New Letter Outlines Pattern of Stonewalling

Washington, D.C. – In a letter today, Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) pressed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee on May 15 as previously requested. The letter comes after months of stonewalling and failed staff-level outreach to Bernhardt, who has only indicated an interest in private, off-the-record, one-on-one meetings with individual lawmakers on the Committee.

The full letter is available at http://bit.ly/2GGBRde.

Several weeks ago, Grijalva sent Bernhardt an April 15 letter asking him to testify on May 15 on a wide variety of the Department’s policies and priorities. Bernhardt’s conduct has raised multiple ethical questions, including his undisclosed work for former lobbying clients, as reported by theNew York Times and other outlets; his apparently central role in blocking publication of a scientific analysis of pesticide impacts on endangered species; and discrepancies in his publicly disclosed calendars that have still not been fully investigated.

The April 15 invitation has still not received a response. As Grijalva recounts today:

While the invitation sent to you April 15 was the first public request, the Committee has been seeking your testimony for some time. This would be your first appearance before the Committee this Congress.

On January 16, you were asked to testify on February 27; you declined. On March 1, you were asked to testify on March 27; you declined. On April 2, you were asked to testify on May 8 or May 15, and you have not responded.

You have led the Interior Department during this entire period and appearing before Congress is among your fundamental responsibilities.

Among other issues the Committee intends to pursue, Grijalva has signaled an interest in asking Bernhardt about the risks to climate, public health and environmental quality from the Trump administration’s ongoing fossil fuel push and the impacts of Trump’s attacks on public lands and Native American sacred sites.

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