Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Federal Lands
Chairman Grijalva Praises House Environmental Leaders For New Legislation to Protect Americans From the Harms of Offshore Drilling
Washington, D.C. - Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today praised a coalition of House Democrats on their newly introduced suite of bills to protect America's coastal communities from offshore drilling. The bills are being introduced on the same day that similar state-level legislative announcements took place at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. The efforts come as the Trump administration prepares to release the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage… Continue Reading
01.03.19
Grijalva: Shutdown Has Damaged Public Lands, Indian Country, U.S. Economy – Dem Funding Plan to End Shutdown is Best Step Forward
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who is expected to chair the House Natural Resources Committee during the 116th Congress, said today that President Trump's ongoing government shutdown has significantly damaged the economy and our national parks and public lands, and that he will support the package of House Democratic bills to fund the government and end the shutdown. The House is expected to vote on that package this evening. "This is not self-inflicted damage, this … Continue Reading
11.26.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: President Trump Is Hurting Americans By Ignoring Climate Change Findings From His Own Administration
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today following President Trump's attempt to bury the Fourth Annual Climate Assessment by releasing it the day after Thanksgiving, instead of next month as was expected. "The President's attempts to cover up the real and urgent findings of the most recent Climate Assessment shows that he will do anything to stop the American people from knowing the truth about our changing climate." Grijalva sai… Continue Reading
11.14.18
Committee Leaders Announce Series of Climate Hearings Over Two Day Period Early Next Year
Washington, D.C. - As Democrats prepare to take the House Majority in January, three Democratic Committee leaders, whose committees have jurisdiction over climate change, announced today that their committees will hold a series of hearings over a two-day period early next year to assess the effects of climate change and the need for action. The announcement was made by Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) … Continue Reading
11.01.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: DOI Reorganization is Zinke, Bernhardt “Smashing the Department to Pieces and Telling Employees to Pick up the Mess”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on recent reports that the Trump administration's reorganization of the Interior Department is expected to be complete by July 1, 2019. "Secretary Zinke and Deputy Secretary Bernhardt are smashing the Interior Department to pieces and telling employees to pick up the mess. The organizational plan described here is unworkable for a number of reasons and demands oversight that Republicans on this … Continue Reading
10.16.18
Committee Democrats: Don’t Use Forest Service Rulemakings to Hand Fossil Fuel and Mining Companies the Keys to Our National Forests
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, jointly submitted formal comments yesterday afternoon on two U.S. Forest Service Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) in which they highlighted the proposals' overwhelming industry favoritism and potential improper weakening of environmental standards. Both proposals - one on mining "locatable minerals" such as gold,… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Judiciary and Natural Resources Democrats Slam Interior Department Proposal to Charge Fees for First Amendment-Protected Activities
Washington, D.C. -Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and House Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), along with Representatives Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, and Donald McEachin (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigatio… Continue Reading
10.05.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: Republican Spin, Climate Denial Making it Harder to Pass Good Forestry Policy in Farm Bill
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a Democratic conferee in the ongoing Farm Bill negotiations, said today that deepening climate denial and new waves of Republican spin are making it harder to negotiate a final Farm Bill deal. Recent remarks by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), as quoted in an Oct. 4 Politico tip sheet item, make it clear that Republicans are holding the bill hostage to their unreasonable demands on forestry policy… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Committee Democrats Examine Republican Record on NEPA as Hispanic Heritage Month Raises Environmental Justice Profile
Washington, D.C. - In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues until Oct. 15, the Natural Resources Committee's Democratic staff on Tuesday published a look back at Republicans' attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), one of our country's strongest environmental justice laws. The multimedia piece, "Harming Communities of Color" is part of the Democrats' ongoing "Wasted Resources" series looking back at the misguided hearings and misplaced priorities of the Committee's R… Continue Reading
10.01.18
Grijalva: LWCF Expired Because Republicans Let it Expire, Not Because it’s Controversial – And They Shouldn’t Hold it Hostage Now
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of Tuesday's expected Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee markup of a bill permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which expired Sept. 30, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that Republican leaders are responsible for the program's expiration and shouldn't hold the program hostage in the lame duck session between the Nov. 6 elections and the end of the 115th Congress. The House Natural Resources Committee… Continue Reading
10.01.18
Grijalva, Gallego, Lujan Grisham Lead Pair of Letters to Zinke Urging Halt to Further Action on Shrinking Utah National Monuments
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz) and Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Michele Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) led a pair of letters to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today, each signed by 61 of their House Democratic colleagues, urging him to halt work on any environmental impact statement (EIS) or monument management plan being prepared for Bears Ears National Monument or Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both protected sites in Utah that President Trump atte… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Grijalva: If Secretary Zinke Wants to Protect the Grand Canyon, He Should Support Permanent Ban on New Uranium Claims and Full LWCF Funding
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), an original cosponsor of the bipartisan bill funding the National Park Service (NPS) maintenance backlog recently approved by the Natural Resources Committee, said today that if Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke truly wants to improve Grand Canyon National Park - as he is signaling with his trip this weekend to discuss maintenance needs - he should work with Congress to end new uranium mining in the park's watershed and fully fund … Continue Reading
09.21.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: Trump Officials Have No Good Reason to Permit Black Rhino Trophy Import – Or Make Taxpayers Subsidize Rhino Hunts
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to permit a Texas billionaire who paid $275,000 at auction to hunt a critically endangered black rhino in Namibia and bring it as a trophy back to the United States is an insult to taxpayers and the very idea of environmental protection. There are fewer than 5,500 black rhinos in the wild, and Namibia has fewer than 2,000. “We shouldn’t allow critically endangered ani… Continue Reading
09.17.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Launch #SaveLWCF Countdown, Urge Vote On Bipartisan Bill Before LWCF Expires
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats launched an online #SaveLWCF initiative today highlighting successful Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) projects implemented across the country in the more than 50 years since the program was established in 1965. Natural Resources Democrats will tweet an LWCF success story every hour until Sept. 30, when the program is set to expire. Each tweet will tell the story of how… Continue Reading
09.17.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Launch #SaveLWCF Countdown, Urge Vote On Bipartisan Bill Before LWCF Expires
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats launched an online #SaveLWCF initiative today highlighting successful Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) projects implemented across the country in the more than 50 years since the program was established in 1965. Natural Resources Democrats will tweet an LWCF success story every hour until Sept. 30, when the program is set to expire. Each tweet will tell the story of how… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Kick Off “Wasted Resources” Series Highlighting GOP Oversight Failures, Misplaced Priorities
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats today launched Wasted Resources, a new multimedia series highlighting the major natural resources policy issues the Republican majority ignored over the course of the 115th Congress and the misguided hearings they chose to hold instead. The series kicks off today by highlighting a Committee hearing on July 13, 2017, featuring Republican witness testimony accusing multiple Nati… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Grijalva: Historic Bipartisan Agreement Reauthorizing LWCF, Paying for Park Maintenance Should Advance Quickly
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that measures just passed by the House Natural Resources Committee permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and dedicating new funding to National Park Service maintenance represent a historic bipartisan moment and should move forward quickly. "This is a taste of what's possible when people work together in good faith," Grijalva said today. "Days like these are far too rare in Congress, a… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Grijalva: Historic Bipartisan Agreement Reauthorizing LWCF, Paying for Park Maintenance Should Advance Quickly
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that measures just passed by the House Natural Resources Committee permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and dedicating new funding to National Park Service maintenance represent a historic bipartisan moment and should move forward quickly. "This is a taste of what's possible when people work together in good faith," Grijalva said today. "Days like these are far too rare in Congress, a… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Kick Off “Wasted Resources” Series Highlighting GOP Oversight Failures, Misplaced Priorities
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats today launched Wasted Resources, a new multimedia series highlighting the major natural resources policy issues the Republican majority ignored over the course of the 115th Congress and the misguided hearings they chose to hold instead. The series kicks off today by highlighting a Committee hearing on July 13, 2017, featuring Republican witness testimony accusing multiple Nati… Continue Reading
07.25.18
Ranking Member Grijalva Introduces Suite of Bills to Protect Southern Arizona Historic, Environmental Sites
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today introduced a set of bills designed to promote Arizona public land conservation, including the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Act to designate a national monument on approximately 85,000 acres of federal land in Southern Arizona. The monument will be managed as part of the Bureau of Land Management's National Conservation Lands. The area identified by the bill is filled with cultural and histori… Continue Reading