Press Releases
Grijalva: Yellowstone Grizzly Delisting Ignores Science, Disrespects Tribes
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and several tribal leaders spoke out today against the Trump administration's announcement that it plans to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. "The Interior Department has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by delisting Yellowstone grizzlies prematurely and without adequate tribal consultation or safeguards to ensure th… Continue Reading
06.20.17
Grijalva Calls on Bishop to Hold NOAA Budget Hearing to Examine How Deep Cuts Would Harm Ocean Protections, Species Programs
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) today urging a hearing for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to testify on the Trump administration's proposed fiscal year 2018 budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In line with the drastic cuts proposed across natural resources, environmental and science agencies, the administration's budget reduces NOAA funding by 17 percent compared to the FY17 co… Continue Reading
06.14.17
Grijalva Highlights Job-Killing Risks of Trump’s Red Snapper Plan as Federal Register Admits it Presents a Severe Overfishing Threat
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today in response to the Trump administration proposal to extend the 2017 private boat red snapper season in federal Gulf of Mexico waters from 3 days to 42 days: "The red snapper population in the Gulf has been recovering from years of overfishing. Our priority now has to be maintaining and continuing that recovery. Gulf Coast businesses literally cannot afford a fishery management fiat that el… Continue Reading
06.07.17
Ignoring Widely Understood Need to Remove Deadbeat Dams, GOP Will Push Sea Lion Slaughter at Thursday Salmon Hearing
Washington, D.C. - Republicans at tomorrow's 10:00 a.m. Natural Resources Committee hearing on Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler's H.R. 2083 will argue that the best way to rescue the Pacific Northwest's ailing salmon runs is to kill approximately 1,000 area sea lions rather than breach, bypass, or remove a series of four outdated dams along the Snake River, as a federal judge and the vast majority of stakeholders and scientists have called for. The fact that these dams pose the greatest threat to the… Continue Reading
05.23.17
Grijalva: This Budget is What Republicans Signed Up For When They Supported Trump – and It Would Destroy Our Environment
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today highlighted four environmental policy areas the Trump administration's proposed budget would hit especially hard, calling on Republicans to reject it out of hand or explain why they continue to support an administration that has lost all credibility. "This budget is the reality of the Republican vision for the country, and Republicans in Congress need to admit it," Grijalva said today. "It treats our environment as a spee… Continue Reading
05.18.17
Ahead of Endangered Species Day, Grijalva Calls on Zinke to Scrap Grizzly Delisting Proposal, Consult with Tribes
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today opposing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposal to remove endangered species protections for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bears. Last year, Grijalva sent a letter to former Service Director Dan Ashe voicing his concerns about the proposed delisting. Many scientists, including renowned conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, don't support del… Continue Reading
05.16.17
As GOP Pushes Deregulation, Taxpayers Potentially on the Hook for Billions in Decommissioned Oil Rig Cleanups, GAO Will Testify
Washington, D.C. - A Government Accountability Office (GAO) witness at tomorrow's House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the fate of decommissioned offshore oil rigs will testify that taxpayers could be required to pay billions of dollars to meet cleanup requirements ignored or abandoned by oil companies. The hearing comes as Republicans argue for less stringent federal oversight of efforts like the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's Rigs-to-Reefs Program, which converts deco… Continue Reading
05.11.17
Grijalva on Congress Overturning Obama-era Rules: “Republicans Have Put the Health & Well Being of Everyday Americans in Jeopardy”
Washington, D.C. - As of today, Congress can no longer use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn Obama-era rules. The Republican-controlled Congress successfully voted to overturn thirteen rules issued under the Obama administration and President Trump signed them into law. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) points out that nearly a quarter of the rules were blatant attacks on our environment. "On our very first day in Congress, House Rep… Continue Reading
04.28.17
Trump’s Offshore Drilling & Marine Sanctuaries Executive Order Puts Coastal Communities at Risk
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of President Trump's signing of an executive order that will try to open up more of our oceans to offshore drilling, weaken safety regulations, and launch a review of all national marine sanctuaries designated in the last decade, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) released the following statement condemning the administration's actions. "Opening up our oceans to more of… Continue Reading
04.12.17
Ranking Member Grijalva, Center for Biological Diversity File Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security Over Border Programs
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today against Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly; Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); and CBP as a whole seeking a court order for a supplemental programmatic environmental impact statement for the U.S.-Mexico border enforcement program. If successful, the suit will force a federal assessment under the National Environmen… Continue Reading
04.07.17
After Four Weeks of Infrastructure-Related Hearings Heavy on Deregulation, Grijalva Asks Where GOP Infrastructure Plan is Hiding
Washington, D.C. - Following a month's worth of Natural Resources Committee hearings in which Republicans and their invited witnesses argued falsely that major environmental deregulation is the only way to improve our nation's infrastructure, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today asked where the Republican infrastructure plan is hiding and why the GOP is using infrastructure as the latest cover story for its unchanging pro-polluter agenda. Throughout the month, Republican lawma… Continue Reading
03.29.17
Grijalva Calls on Interior Secretary to Lift Gag Order on Fish and Wildlife Service’s Communications With Congress
Washington, D.C. - In the latest of a growing list of requests to improve communications with Congress, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging him to reverse a recently discovered Department of the Interior (DOI) policy of blocking communication between Democratic Congressional staff and the Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) about hearings before the House Natural Resources… Continue Reading
03.29.17
Grijalva: Trump Must Explain Why Rural America, not Mexico, is Paying for His Border Wall – And Whether He’s Building it in Mexico
Note: The online version of this press release includes an extended quote from Ranking Member Grijalva. The final paragraph was not included in the originally publicized version. Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today called on President Trump to explain why his budget plan forces rural and Native American communities to pay for his border wall rather than following through on his false promise to make Mexico pay for it. Grijalva also called on Trump to provid… 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
03.01.17
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
02.28.17
GAO Debunks GOP Claims on Endangered Species Act Litigation – Grijalva Calls for More Honest Debate, Increased Protection Funding
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report today thoroughly debunking a common Republican talking point on citizen lawsuits and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), prompting Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to call for an end to misleading GOP rhetoric. In a letter today, available at http://bit.ly/2ma0xTn, Grijalva also urges the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for threatened and endangered species programs at the U.S. F… 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