Articles

In a letter sent this week, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson asked the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its proposed actions on regional haze and instead work with the State of Wyoming and other stakeholders on a path forward. Simpson, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over EPA's budget, is concerned with the economic impact on Southeastern Idaho of an overly aggressive federal plan to address regional haze. Read more »

Washington, DC – Congressman Steve Scalise today issued the following statement after the House passed a bill to fund emergency management and disaster response. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines’ North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013, bipartisan and locally driven legislation to protect the North Fork watershed,today received its first hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines today applauded the House passage of a measure to provide necessary appropriations to keep the nation’s National Parks open during the partial government shutdown. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines today joined nearly two dozen House and Senate members in condemning President Obama’s recently proposed energy regulations and sharing the detrimental effects that these new rules would have on Montana families supported by coal jobs. Read more »

Washington, DC – Congressman Tom McClintock today introduced HR 3188, the Yosemite Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act. The measure provides for the expedited salvage of fire-killed timber in the Stanislaus National Forest and the Yosemite National Park by waiving environmental regulations and litigation that often delay salvage operations until the timber becomes worthless. It is estimated that up to one billion board feet of timber could be salvaged if it can be processed in the next 18 months Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Mark Amodei (R-NV) introduced with bipartisan support the Water Rights Protection Act to protect privately held water rights from federal takings and uphold longstanding state water law. Reps. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Jared Polis (D-CO) are original co-sponsors. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is currently pushing the federal government’s latest attempt to disregard state law and take private water rights, despite objections from elected officials, business owners, private property advocates and a U.S. District Court ruling. Read more »

Washington, DC – Members of the Colorado Congressional delegation in the House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan bill today that would lift the cap on funds appropriated in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. Currently, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) emergency relief funds are capped at $100 million per state and incident. The legislation would lift the cap for the purpose of rebuilding roads and bridges, many of which provide vital access to towns and communities that have since been cut-off due to the unprecedented flooding. Estimates now put the number of bridges that have been damaged or destroyed above 50. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis voted for H.R. 527, the Helium Stewardship Act, and the U.S. House passed it 367-0. The Act, in addition to securing a stable supply of helium, restores $60 million of the money owed to Wyoming by the Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Fund and reduces the royalty rate on Soda Ash from 6 percent to 4 percent for the next two years. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The full House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 (H.R. 687), legislation that authorizes a land exchange that would open up the largest copper mine in North America and create more than 3,700 local jobs. The mine would also generate more than $61.4 billion of economic activity and could supply 25 percent or more of the nation’s domestic copper demand. Read more »