Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Federal Lands
Decades After First GOP Attempts to Destroy Izembek Refuge Failed, Grijalva Asks Why Majority Still Pushing it at Today’s Hearing
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today questioned Republicans' insistence on holding this morning's hearing on Rep. Don Young's (R-Alaska) bill to build a habitat-destroying road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska decades after the failed idea was first proposed and years after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) formally declared the idea not in the national interest. Izembek is the nation's first designated Wetland of Interna… Continue Reading
03.28.17
Ahead of Republican Briefing on Weakening Our Public Lands Protections, Grijalva Challenges Bishop to Propose and Debate a Bill
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said ahead of tomorrow's American Enterprise Institute briefing on the Antiquities Act that Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who will offer opening remarks at the event alongside Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), needs to bring a bill on the Antiquities Act up for debate in the House Natural Resources Committee and make his case to fellow lawmakers that protections for federal lands should be weakened or eliminated. Bishop for years has led… Continue Reading
03.28.17
Grijalva: Trump Order Ending Federal Climate Planning, Opening New Federal Coal Leases is “Major Self-Inflicted Wound”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today called the Trump administration's impending executive order canceling federal climate change planning and mitigation efforts and ending the federal coal leasing moratorium "a major self-inflicted wound" and pointed out that it would likely harm communities, in Appalachia and elsewhere, that the White House has promised to help. Today's order rolls back current rules mandating that federal agencies plan for the realities o… Continue Reading
03.22.17
Grijalva Presses Bishop to Call Interior Secretary Zinke for Hearing on Department’s Future in Light of Budget Cuts, Other Needs
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today sent a letter to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) urging him to call a hearing for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to testify on the future of the Interior Department, in light of the Trump administration's proposed 12 percent budget cut, and on other issues Zinke has yet to address. "Given the lack of detail provided in the President's proposal," Grijalva writes, "it is critical that Secretary Zinke appear before the Committee … Continue Reading
03.16.17
Committee Republicans Hold Hearing on Addressing Parks Infrastructure Needs as the Trump Administration Proposes to Slash DOI’s Budget
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of the release of the Trump administration's budget, Committee Republicans are holding a hearing this morning to explore "innovative ideas" to address the infrastructure needs of the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), a problem created because of congressional neglect and underfunding. Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) pointed out in a press release yesterday the real-world impacts the Trump administration's proposed 12 … Continue Reading
03.08.17
Grijalva Presses Interior Secretary on Whether He Believes Monuments Can Be Revoked Through Executive Action Without Congress
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today pressing him to explain his stance on whether presidents can use the Antiquities Act to revoke national monument status at existing monument sites. In an early test for Zinke, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and other Republicans are urging the Trump administration to use the Act to withdraw monument status at Utah's Bears Ears National Monument and elsewhere despite the law not … Continue Reading
03.07.17
Grijalva on Vote to Scrap BLM Planning Rule: Republicans Are More Concerned With Obama Legacy Than With Governing
Washington, D.C. - Today the Senate repealed the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Planning 2.0 Rule using the Congressional Review Act, a previously arcane law Republicans have used since the beginning of this Congress to eliminate a host of federal regulations without regard for the economic or environmental consequences. Planning 2.0, promulgated under the Obama administration, was an update to Reagan-era BLM rules that guide public input and decision-making on managing the approximately 250 … Continue Reading
03.06.17
Grijalva Annotates GOP Interior Department Budget Views, Highlights Bishop’s $50 Million Demand to Cover Costs of His Land Giveaways
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today highlighted Chairman Rob Bishop's (R-Utah) $50 million budget demand, in the formal Republican "views and estimates" on the fiscal year 2018 budget, to make up for lost revenue from his plan to give away federal land. Bishop's demand marks the latest in a string of efforts to get others to take responsibility for the costs and likely legal struggles of his anti-public lands campaign. Under Congressional Budget Office acco… Continue Reading
03.01.17
Grijalva to Zinke: Succeeding as Secretary Means Protecting Interior’s Mission and Budget, Staying True to Your Word on Public Lands
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today urged newly confirmed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to reject the White House's threat to cut 10 percent from the Department of the Interior (DOI) budget in fiscal year 2018, to reject extreme proposals to give away millions of acres of public land to state and local entities, and to invest in the DOI mission of protecting our country's natural resources. "Happy talk about making this country great doesn't make up for gut… Continue Reading
02.16.17
Grijalva Questions Republican Attack on Science as Majority Preps Vote to Kill Bear Cubs, Wolf Pups in Alaska Natl. Wildlife Refuges
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of today's House vote to repeal a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that prohibits the slaughter of Alaskan wolf and bear populations on National Wildlife Refuges using methods widely recognized as inhumane and unsportsmanlike by hunters and the general public, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) questioned why Republicans have made the effort such a high priority. He called on Speaker Paul Ryan to cancel the vote and focus on legislation that improv… Continue Reading
02.07.17
Democrats Call for Continued Action as Republicans Reject Transparency, Terrorism Reforms to Rules and Oversight Plan
Washington, D.C. - At today's recently concluded organizing meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee, the Republican majority voted down a number of Democratic proposals that, among other reforms, would have mandated financial disclosure by politically appointed Trump administration witnesses; strengthened language in the Committee's oversight plan to acknowledge the human causes of climate change; and added terrorist funding through natural resources trafficking to the Committee's overs… Continue Reading
02.07.17
As GOP Votes Down Transparency Rule at Another Committee, Leading Dems Highlight Need to Expose Trump-Style Conflicts of Interest
Note: The headline of this press release has been slightly changed from its original version to reduce confusion. The qutoe from Rep. Bennie Thompson was added to the online version and was not included in the initial release. Washington, D.C. - The Republican majority on the House Committee on Natural Resources just voted down a Democratic proposal to require that hearing witnesses working for the Trump administration disclose financial conflicts of interest before appearing to testify, contin… Continue Reading
02.03.17
Grijalva on GOP Vote to Wipe Out Methane Emissions Rule: “This Majority Exists to Give Away Public Resources to Private Interests”
Washington, D.C. - After the House Republican majority's just-concluded vote to repeal the Interior Department's rule prohibiting methane waste on public lands - a vote that caps a week spent slashing environmental and corporate disclosure rules - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva said the Republican majority has proven that giving away public goods to private entities is all the majority seems to know how to do. Each vote is pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Con… Continue Reading
02.02.17
Grijalva on Disavowal of Unpopular Public Lands Giveaway Bill by Its Sponsor: “Activism is the Strongest Power in Washington”
Washington, D.C. - Following the sudden abandonment of a House Republican bill to give away millions of acres of federally protected land in response to massive public protests, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva called on public lands supporters to continue their activism and urged Republican leaders to rethink their unpopular environmental policies. "Political activism is the only way to protect public lands from President Trump and his cheerleaders in Congress, and it works," Grijalva sa… Continue Reading
02.01.17
Grijalva Highlights Industry Favoritism, Hits to Public Health and Royalties in Upcoming Republican Deregulatory Votes
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today highlighted the damage to public health and the environment that will stem from impending Republican votes to wipe out the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Methane and Waste Prevention Rule; the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSMRE) Stream Protection Rule; and the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Resource Extraction Rule, each of which carries significant benefits for ordinary Americans … Continue Reading
01.26.17
Ranking Member Grijalva: Regardless of Who Picks Up the Tab, the Price of Trump’s Border Wall is Too High
Washington, D.C. - President Trump yesterday signed an executive order that pursues the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border - a project that would harm wildlife, erode tribal sovereignty, disrupt communities and perpetuate a humanitarian crisis. Despite repeated promises that "Mexico will pay," House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that American taxpayers will pay billions for Trump's wall. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reiterated in strong terms yesterday that his cou… Continue Reading
01.11.17
Today’s Grijalva Amendment to GOP Deregulatory Bill Would Strip Republican Language Harming Federal Land Management Agencies
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will offer an amendment today to strip language in H.R. 5, the Regulatory Accountability Act, that makes it much more difficult for national land management agencies to protect public resources. Formally, H.R. 5 would make all land use management plans published by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) subject to an onerous economic analysis through a procedure described in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (R… Continue Reading
01.06.17
Grijalva Expresses “Profound Disappointment” With Administration Choice Not to Protect Grand Canyon Through National Monument
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today expressed his "profound disappointment" in the Obama administration's decision not to protect the Grand Canyon area by establishing Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument. The effort to create the monument - strongly backed by Native American tribes across the region - is supported by 82 percent of voters nationally and 80 percent of voters in Arizona, a rare instance of an environmental initiative transcending political ph… Continue Reading
01.03.17
Grijalva Pushes Back on GOP Proposal to Make it Even Easier to Give Away America’s Public Lands
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a notice to Democratic leadership today highlighting a significant change the Republican Conference has proposed to House rules. The new provision would help House Republicans pursue their long-stated goal of giving away National Parks, Forests, Public Lands, Wildlife Refuges and other federal areas - currently owned and used by the American people - by requiring the House to pretend such giveaways have no cost. The Congre… Continue Reading
12.28.16
Grijalva Applauds President Obama for Designating Two New National Monuments; Remains Optimistic Grand Canyon is Next
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) praised President Obama for taking another pivotal step in cementing his environmental legacy by establishing two new national monuments that will protect Native American lands, as well as critical environmental, historical and cultural resources. Today, under the Antiquities Act of 1906, Obama designated Gold Butte in Nevada and Bears Ears in Southern Utah. The President's announcement failed to include the proposed Greater Gra… Continue Reading