Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), and Members of the Congressional Western Caucus Executive Committee participated in the Western Caucus Foundation’s annual 2022 Kick-off Chairman’s Briefing to outline their vision for the year ahead. Click here to watch.
 
Following opening remarks by Chairman Newhouse and Senate Western Caucus Chairman Steve Daines (MT), Conference Chairwoman Stefanik and Vice Chairs Mark Amodei (NV-02), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), and Yvette Herrell (NM-02) spoke about their priorities and goals for the Western Caucus in 2022.
 
The full Congressional Western Caucus Executive Committee and Membership can be found here.
 
Read Chairman Newhouse’s prepared remarks below:
 
Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today!
 
It’s great to be here with my Senate counterpart, our Republican Chairwoman – and our newest Member of the Western Caucus – Ms. Stefanik, as well as the distinguished Members of our Executive Committee.
 
We’ve got a very exciting year ahead, and I’m delighted to see so many of you here who are interested in our vision for 2022.
 
If you’ve been following along over the past year, you know that the primary goal of the Congressional Western Caucus has been lifting the voices of rural communities – not just in the West but across the United States.
 
My priority – as Chairman – is to ensure that our Members are guiding our actions, our legislative efforts, and our messaging, and I think we have been really quite successful.
 
Unfortunately, the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats have given us far too many devastating issues impacting rural communities. From our struggling agriculture sector and threats to our water and land rights like return of WOTUS, to the Administration’s attack on American energy production, we’ve got a lot of problems needing addressed.
 
The Western Caucus has worked to utilize every tool in the box to highlight how the policies passed in Congress and the decisions made by the federal government impact the real people, families, and businesses that we represent throughout rural America.
 
Now, while I mention the Biden Administration’s and Democrats’ screwing over way too many of our constituents, this year we also really want to work on continuing to focus on the successes we see at the state and local levels.
 
From a new cobalt mine in Idaho and forest collaborative efforts in my home state of Washington, to emerging nuclear technologies and incredible advancements being made by the oil and gas industry to reduce our carbon emissions– there are truly incredible developments taking place in our Members’ districts across the country. And the Caucus is going to be making a concerted effort this year to highlight those successful projects and help tell those stories.
 
One of our core beliefs as a Caucus, and as representatives from the West, is that local communities – those who are closest to the land – are the best stewards of our environment we can possibly have. We work hard in Congress to ensure this is reflected in all of the legislation we introduce, the letters we send, and the programming we conduct.
 
Last year, we introduced the Western Conservation Principles, which remains a major tenant of our work to stand up against federal one-size-fits-all policies when it comes to conservation and management of our lands and waters. 
 
We will continue to develop policy proposals to improve the Endangered Species Act, push for permitting and regulatory reform that will make it easier to deploy energy and forest management projects, and work to empower rural communities to pursue economic development while also effectively creating a healthy and resilient environment for future generations.  
 
One of my goals for this past year in my first year as Chairman was to expand the Caucus’ influence on and off the Hill. I think it’s extremely important to engage with the industry partners and stakeholders – many of you who are in this room!
 
We have also worked to engage with House Committees, other Caucuses, and coalitions. I have to give a shout out to our House Natural Resources Republican Leader and Western Caucus Vice Chair Bruce Westerman, who has truly embraced our collaborative relationship and helped forge a strong partnership. We want to do more of that – and we plan to continue soliciting feedback from both industry and other Members on Capitol Hill.
 
We are going to prove to our constituents, and to everyone in rural America who feels left behind by the Administration and Democrats in Congress, that when Republicans take back the majority, we are ready with a solid platform to serve rural American and hit the ground running.