WASHINGTON –The U.S. House of Representatives adopted an amendment to the Farm Bill (H.R. 1497) offered by Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Mike Coffman (CO-06) and Cory Gardner (CO-04) to allow the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to lease new air tankers for fighting wildfires, at no additional taxpayer cost. Currently, the Forest Service is limited to leasing only decommissioned military tankers and operating commercial tankers, restricting access to the newest and most effective tankers, as well as forcing the agency to choose from a limited number of tankers in service. Read more »
“This was not a perfect bill, but a good first step toward reform that would have eliminated or consolidated more than 100 government programs, and saved $40 billion, including $20 billion in reforms to SNAP by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse while ensuring that those who are truly in need of assistance would have full access to it. These would have been the largest reforms since 1996, and were good commonsense steps. Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC – House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade, under the chairmanship of Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), today held a hearing on the potential economic and employment benefits of increased domestic oil and natural gas production, due to new technologies, for the nation and specifically for small businesses. Read more »
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Reps. Cory Gardner (CO-04) and Jared Polis (CO-02) passed a bipartisan amendment today to H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, the FARM Bill, that would help communities better prepare for and recover from catastrophic wildfires. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Daines pressed the House yesterday to move forward with the passage of a five-year farm bill, noting the importance of agriculture to Montana’s economy and the need for a long-term Farm Bill that provides Montana’s farmers and rural communities with much-needed certainty. Read more »
Amendment to House Farm Bill protects rural forested communities from further burdensome regulation; plan unanimously passed by the U.S. House Read more »
In written testimony submitted Tuesday to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Army Corp of Engineers announced the department will not undertake a full programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on permit applications for coal exports at ports in Washington and Oregon. Anti-coal groups, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and various elected officials had requested that the entire lifecycle of coal – from extraction, to transport, to eventual usage in Asia – be considered in the EIS covering a single port project. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, the Mountainaire Relief Bill (H.R. 862), introduced by U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S (R-AZ) and Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), with a vote of 395-1. This legislation settles a federal land boundary dispute by correcting a decades-old surveying error that put part of some people's private property inside the boundaries of the Coconino National Forest. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer questioned U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on the Obama Administration’s policy toward enhanced oil recovery research at a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Cramer highlighted North Dakota’s leadership role in capturing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants for enhanced oil recovery, and the research effort at the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership at the University of North Dakota. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers sent a letter to Mr. Kevin Shea, Acting Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Monday, requesting an investigation timeline and a formal meeting to discuss the genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon earlier this month. The following are excerpts from the letter. Read more »
