Press Releases
Grijalva on Potential Dakota Access Relocation: “I Question the Need for This Pipeline But Support a Reroute That Protects Sovereignty”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva released the following statement on President Obama's recent announcement that the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota may be partially re-routed in response to widespread concerns about violations of tribal sovereignty in the siting and permitting process. "I still question the need for the Dakota Access Pipeline. However, if it can be rerouted in a way that respects and protects tribal sovereignty, as President Obama has suggested, … Continue Reading
10.28.16
Ranking Member Grijalva Statement on Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Trial Verdicts
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva released the following statement on yesterday's not-guilty verdicts in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge trial. "Unlike the Bundys, I respect our system of laws, so I accept this jury verdict. That doesn't change my personal view, which is shared by most Americans, that they are dangerous extremists spouting unhinged rhetoric and should be disavowed by responsible political leaders everywhere. "The Bundys still have to answer for po… Continue Reading
10.20.16
Ranking Member Grijalva Leads 51-Member Letter to EPA Chief Urging Fracking Review to Follow Expert Input on Water Risks
This press release has been updated online from its original version to reflect an increased number of signatories. Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today sent a letter signed by 51 House Democrats urging Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy and her staff to follow the recommendations of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) before finalizing and publishing a congressionally mandated review of fracking's risks to drinking water. In its rece… Continue Reading
10.11.16
Grijalva “Disappointed” by Court Ruling on DAPL; Calls on Dakota Access to Voluntarily Halt Construction Until Corps of Engineers Concludes Ongoing Review
Tucson, Ariz. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) reacted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's rejection of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request for an injunction to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a nearly 1,200-mile pipeline that would be built near sacred tribal land and put the reservation's main water supply at risk: "While I'm disappointed by the court's decision, I'm encouraged that… Continue Reading
10.11.16
Report Finds GOP Failure to Approve Water Rights Settlements is Devastating Indian Country Across the United States
Washington, D.C. - A new report from the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats titled "Water Delayed is Water Denied: How Congress Has Blocked Access to Water for Native Families" finds that nearly 48 percent of U.S. homes on Native American land - in contrast to less than 1 percent of U.S. homes overall - do not have access to reliable water sources, clean drinking water or basic sanitation, a problem exacerbated by the refusal of today's Republican congressional majority to approve water… Continue Reading
09.30.16
Throughout October, Natural Resources Democrats Will Release Fact Sheets Highlighting Consequences of Republican Policy Failures
Washington, D.C. - Each weekday in the month of October, Democratic staff will release a new fact sheet highlighting the real-world consequences of the Republican majority's failure to pass needed legislation or adequately support vital programs in the Committee's jurisdiction. Each fact sheet will include a plain-language overview of the issue of the day and a look at the numbers that most dramatically tell the story. A sample, which will be released in full on Monday as the first fact sheet o… Continue Reading
09.28.16
Grijalva, Polis Question GOP Commitment to Tribal Consultation as Majority Prevents Vote on Dakota Pipeline Amendment
Washington, D.C. - Republicans late yesterday blocked a House vote on an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act by Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) that would have made completion of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline dependent on the Army Corps of Engineers publishing a full environmental impact statement for the project. The amendment, originally offered on Monday, was technically "ruled out of order" by the majority of the House R… Continue Reading
09.27.16
Grijalva Tells Fish and Wildlife Director He Will Oppose Grizzly Delisting in Yellowstone Region Without Adequate Safeguards
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe this morning stating his opposition to the proposed removal of Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) absent meaningful safeguards to guarantee the future of the population. You can read the letter at http://bit.ly/2dh9zta. The letter follows one Grijalva received fro… Continue Reading
09.21.16
Hearing on Wolf Management Devolves Into GOP Story Time as Republicans Repeat Debunked Myths about Iconic Endangered Species
Washington, D.C. - A just-concluded oversight hearing on federal management of wolves turned into an afternoon storytelling forum as Republican lawmakers and their invited witnesses repeated the same debunked claims they often share about wolves, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act. "They keep telling the same stories, reality and the scientific community keep proving those stories false, and then we hold another hearing where it happens again," said Ranking Member Raúl … Continue Reading
09.21.16
Grijalva: GOP Full Committee Hearing Today “Another in a Long Line of Time-Wasting Climate Denial Theater Productions”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva dismissed today's Committee hearing at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on White House climate change guidance to federal agencies as "another in a long line of time-wasting climate denial theater productions." Grijalva urged the Committee majority to end its habit of calling climate hearings to promote discredited views and repeat industry talking points. "Everyone involved knows this is about sending a partisan signal to industry allies and cli… Continue Reading
09.12.16
Grijalva: Fish and Wildlife Service Should Follow Science, Not Cave to Red Wolf Opponents, in Protecting North Carolina Population
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) announcement that it will suspend efforts to recover the critically endangered red wolf in eastern North Carolina: "The Service is making a profoundly disappointing decision to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Prejudices and irrational fears led to the initial extirpation of the red wolf, and I'm concerned that those same prejudices and fears … Continue Reading
09.08.16
Ranking Member Grijalva: I Join Tribes In Strongly Opposing Just-Passed Republican Bill That Politicizes Tribal Recognition Process
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today highlighted Native American communities' strong opposition to Chairman Rob Bishop's (R-Utah) Tribal Recognition Act, officially designated H.R. 3764, which passed the Natural Resources Committee a few minutes ago largely along party lines. The bill eliminates the executive branch's longstanding ability to recognize a Tribe for the purpose of government-to-government relations, making an act of Congress the only way for the federal g… Continue Reading
08.25.16
Ranking Member Grijalva: Next Century for National Park Service Must Be About “Doing More With More,” Not Fighting for Resources
Saguaro National Park, Ariz. - Speaking before Interim Superintendent Leah McGinnis and a diverse audience at Saguaro National Park outside Tucson, Ariz., today, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing the National Park Service (NPS) as its celebrates its 100th anniversary and looks ahead to its next set of goals. Grijalva emphasized the need to increase NPS funding, permanently reauthorize conservation programs like the Land and Water Conservat… Continue Reading
08.24.16
Ranking Member Grijalva Applauds the Designation of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine
Tucson, Ariz. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva hailed today's designation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument as a success for Maine, for the country, and for the Antiquities Act, which remains one of the most important conservation tools in American history. The monument's designation comes a day ahead of the Aug. 25 Centennial marking the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, which is expected to manage the newly created monument. "This land needs to be preser… Continue Reading
08.17.16
Ranking Member Grijalva: EPA Should Make Navajo Community Whole in Resolving Gold King Mine Spill Cleanup
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today said the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) first responsibility in resolving the newly announced Navajo Nation lawsuit over the 2015 Gold King Mine spill in Colorado must be to make the Navajo community whole and mitigate financial risk to Navajo tribal members. Grijalva urged EPA officials to consider a settlement as the best and fastest way to protect the interests of the Navajo Nation and the agency itself. Grijalva last y… Continue Reading
08.10.16
Grijalva, Dingell, Cartwright: New Guidance Brings Outdated Coal Industry Self-Bonding Standards Closer to Extinction
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) today hailed the recently announced guidance from the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) to state environmental agencies urging strict reviews and new limits on the use of so-called self-bonding, which allows coal companies to put taxpayers at risk for the cost of mine cleanups. The guidance follows many of the recommendations put forth in… Continue Reading
08.03.16
Grijalva Urges Support for New Rule Protecting Alaska Species From Unnecessary Cruelty – Standard is Major GOP Target
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today applauded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) release of a new rule prohibiting several unnecessarily cruel killing methods on 76 million acres of wildlife refuge land across the state of Alaska. The new rule is a major target of Republican lawmakers, who have already tried multiple times to prevent it from going into effect. The rule prohibits hunters from using artificial lights to lure black bears from their dens; trapping … Continue Reading
07.21.16
GAO Rejects Republican Claims on Natural Gas, Says Taxpayers Losing Potential Revenue Due to Outdated Rules on Federal Land
Washington, D.C. - A newly released report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights the urgent need for new natural gas regulations to minimize methane loss and ensure taxpayers receive their fair share for the production of natural gas on federal lands. The report, Interior Could Do More to Account for and Manage Natural Gas Emissions, makes multiple recommendations and concludes that the Department of the Interior "does not have the information it needs to reasonably ensure it … Continue Reading
07.12.16
Grijalva: GOP Singling Out Native American Tribes, Won’t Allow Inclusion of Tribal Legislative Language in Interior Spending Bill
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today highlighted Republican leaders' decision to single out Native American communities in the Interior Department funding bill set for debate this week. The rule governing the bill's debate and legislative parameters permits the inclusion of non-appropriations authorization language - which is normally forbidden by House rules - with the sole exception of language addressing a dispute over land taken into trust by the federal government… Continue Reading
07.08.16
Grijalva Urges House Rules Leaders to Protect Fix for Native American Tribes in Interior Appropriations Bill, Reject GOP Challenge
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today sent a letter to House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) urging them to reject an effort by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) to remove language in the pending Interior Department appropriations bill that protects Native American lands taken into trust by the federal government. Bishop recently told Sessions and Slaughter that because he is working on a bill addressing the issue… Continue Reading