Press Releases
Chair Grijalva Hails Climate Committee Recommendations – Highlights Public Lands Net-Zero Carbon Bill, Environmental Justice, Other Measures
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva today congratulated the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and Chair Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) on today's comprehensive report recommending a broad and aggressive policy approach to climate change. The Committee, Grijalva said, has done a vital public service in focusing on the greatest threat humanity faces and basing its recommendations on thorough public outreach. Grijalva praised Speaker Nancy Pelosi's determination to create the Committee an… Continue Reading
06.25.20
Chair Grijalva Blasts Trump Administration Move to Hand Over Nearly 7 Million More Acres of Arctic to Oil and Gas Industry
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement in response to the Bureau of Land Management's release of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Trump administration's new management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which would open up roughly 6.8 million additional acres of public lands for oil and gas leasing: "Whatever else is happening in our country, the Trump administration makes time to hand over public land to the … Continue Reading
06.25.20
In New Letter, Chair Grijalva and Rep. Huffman Highlight President Trump’s Failure to Distribute Congressionally Approved Funding for Hard-Hit Fishermen
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), chair of the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, sent a letter to President Trump today questioning his administration's unexplained failure to distribute $300 million in financial aid to Tribal, subsistence, commercial, and charter fishery participants three months after Congress approved the measure as part of the CARES Act, which became law on March 27. The letter is available at https://bit… Continue Reading
06.25.20
New GAO Report Requested by Chair Grijalva Finds No Reliable Data on What Mining Companies are Taking From Public Lands or How Much It’s Worth
Washington, D.C. - A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that other than for coal, there is no reliable data on the amount or value of minerals that mining companies take from federal public lands, underscoring long-held concerns that hardrock mining on federal lands is a multi-billion-dollar industry with only minor taxpayer benefits and almost no public accountability. The report, available at https://bit.ly/2A3U5WT, finds that "federal agencies do not generally collect da… Continue Reading
06.18.20
GAO Report Requested by Chair Grijalva Finds Customs & Border Protection Needs to Improve Stakeholder Outreach on Reducing Slavery in Seafood Industry
Washington, D.C. - In a new report today requested by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have not effectively coordinated with partner agencies to reduce human slavery and illegal labor practices in the seafood industry and need to improve their investigative methods. The report makes clear that collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), affiliated no… Continue Reading
06.17.20
Chair Grijalva, Reps. Lowenthal & Levin Press Interior Dept. for Explanation of Sudden Pro-Industry Changes to Oil and Gas Royalty Payments on Public Land
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, and Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) wrote to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt today seeking an explanation for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) recently released guidance making it easier for companies to pay less in public royalties for producing oil and gas on public lands. The revised guidance, the authors write, deprives taxpayers of a fair… Continue Reading
06.05.20
Chair Grijalva: Trump Illegal Rollback of Marine Monument Protections Shows He’s in “Recreational Destruction Mode” as He Clings to Power
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva today released the following statement on President Trump's decision to end restrictions on commercial fishing in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The move comes just one day after he signed an executive order waiving the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act in some circumstances, falsely describing the giveaway long sought by polluters as a targeted response to the current economic… Continue Reading
06.04.20
Chair Grijalva Introduces Bills to Expand Saguaro National Park, Allow Land Exchange to Support University of Arizona and U.S. Forest Service
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today introduced two bills to support national parks and public education in Arizona. The Saguaro National Park Boundary Expansion and Study Act, available online at https://bit.ly/3gXuDCK, adds 1,150 total acres to the eastern and western portions of the beloved national park. The expansions protect wildlife habitats, improve trail access and better connect the park with nearby state and local public lands. … Continue Reading
06.04.20
Chair Grijalva, Vice Chair Haaland Push for Explanation of Park Police Walling Off President’s Park, Historic Site of Decades of Civil Rights Activism
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Vice Chair Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) wrote to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt today pushing for an explanation of why U.S. Park Police have walled off public access to President's Park, a normally open area across the street from the White House that is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). Among other questions, the lawmakers ask Bernhardt what credible threat the closure is based on, and whether White House perimeter security … Continue Reading
06.04.20
Chair Grijalva: President Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks are Another Attack on Black Communities
Washington D.C. - U.S. House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today on President Trump's new executive order that waives bedrock environmental laws including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act. "President Trump seeks to make awful situations worse. Instead of creating unity and providing the leadership our nation needs, he has created chaos and fueled hatred following the murder of George Floyd and th… Continue Reading
06.03.20
Nadler, Grijalva, Smith and Thompson Call for Answers on Trump Administration's Use of Force Against Peaceful DC Protestors
Washington, D.C. - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) sent a letter today seeking answers on the Trump Administration's use of tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters, stun grenades, and rubber bullets to forcibly remove peaceful protesters gathered in Lafayette Square. The lette… Continue Reading
05.29.20
Chair Grijalva: Interior Secretary Bernhardt Should Fire Assistant Secretary Domenech After Second Watchdog Finding of Wrongdoing in Six Months
This press release has been updated from its original version. Mr. Domenech used tickets from Secretary Zinke, not Secretary Bernhardt, to hold his initial meeting with a senior EPA official. Tucson, Ariz. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called on Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to fire Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Doug Domenech after the release of a new Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report finding that Domenech im… Continue Reading
05.28.20
Ahead Of The Upcoming Hurricane Season In The Caribbean, Chair Grijalva Joins Sen. Schumer, Rep. Velázquez and Democratic Lawmakers In Seeking Answers on How FEMA Is Preparing To Respond To Storms That Hit Puerto Rico And The U.S. Virgin Islands
Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva joined United States Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), in sending a letter with 39 Members of Congress to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ahead of the upcoming hurricane season in the Caribbean, seeking answers to how FEMA is preparing to respond to a storm that hits Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands amidst the numerous other ongoing disa… Continue Reading
05.27.20
Chair Grijalva Joins NM, AZ Lawmakers In Demanding Answers to Reports that Former Trump White House Official Supplied Indian Health Service with Potentially Substandard Personal Protective Equipment
Washington D.C. —Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) joined U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.), Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in sending a bicameral letter to the Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Rear Admiral Michael… Continue Reading
05.27.20
Chair Grijalva Spotlights Trump Administration’s “Beyond the Pale” Economic Favoritism for Fossil Fuel Companies Over Proposed Royalty Payment Delays
Tucson, Ariz. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva today wrote to White House Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought urging him to reject the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) proposed rule allowing oil and gas companies to delay paying royalties for drilling on public lands. The letter is available online at https://bit.ly/3db1jGW. The Trump administration proposal, which has not yet been finalized, would hurt multiple states whose b… Continue Reading
05.22.20
Chair Grijalva Criticizes Trump Admin for Botched Coronavirus Response in Indian Country, Calls for Immediate Release of Tribal Education Funding Passed in CARES Act
Washington, D.C. - Today Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva released the following statement calling on the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior to release the education funding for the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) that was included in H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and signed into law on March 27, 2020. "Every day, children and families in Indian Country are suffering at the hands of the Trump administr… Continue Reading
05.22.20
Chair Grijalva Leads Introduction of “Amendments to PROMESA Act” to Stabilize Puerto Rican Economy, Stop Austerity Cuts, Guarantee Services Funding
This press release has been updated from the original published version to include additional endorsing organizations and to correct a name. Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today introduced the Amendments to PROMESA Act, which prioritizes funding for public health care, education, safety, pensions and the University of Puerto Rico, creates a publicly funded commission to audit Puerto Rico's debt, and gives the Puerto Rican government the option to discharge unsecured … Continue Reading
05.20.20
Chair Grijalva Leads Bicameral Amicus Brief Urging District Court to Halt Dakota Access Pipeline Operation Until Tribal, Environmental Impacts Assessed
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today led the filing of an amicus brief with 36 House and Senate colleagues in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia urging the court to halt operation of the nearly 1,200-mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). As detailed in the amicus, available online at https://bit.ly/3bPBDhB, the lawmakers believe the pipeline must not be allowed to continue operations until the government analyzes the potentially disastrous effects o… Continue Reading
05.19.20
HIGHLIGHTS: Chair Grijalva and Local Leaders on Communities Protecting Public Health, the Environment from Trump in the Pandemic Era
Washington D.C. - On Wednesday, May 13, Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) hosted a virtual roundtable with community leaders around the country who are fighting against polluting industries and the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks during the coronavirus pandemic. As Grijalva said in opening the event, “Today’s panelists are living proof that we are not powerless at all." The full recording is available at https://bit.ly/2YUIBz0. Key highlights and takeaways from the conversation … Continue Reading
05.19.20
Chair Grijalva, Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge Trump Administration to Prioritize Distribution of Coronavirus Resources to U.S. Territories
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva and 12 bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar yesterday urging him to consider the vulnerable economic and public health infrastructure in the U.S. Territories when determining criteria for prioritizing the distribution of coronavirus resources. The full letter, available online at https://bit.ly/3cGJsat, was signed by Committee Vice Chair Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sabla… Continue Reading