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Small, Jeff [Jeff.Small@mail.house.gov] 7/18/2018 4:00:46 PM Small, Jeff [Jeff.Small@mail.house.gov] Rush Request: Key Votes and Endorsements Requests for Interior Appropriations Bill Western Caucus Vote Rees and Priority Amendments.pdf
Apologies for the rush request and very short notice on this email but we have been slammed. (It is most helpful to us to have endorsements and Key Votes on the below amendments by 5p.m. Eastern today. Biggs' amendment is only one we need by 2p.m today .)
We need your help today to get some important amendments over the finish line and to keep some bad amendments out of the Interior Appropriations bill.
Key votes on recorded amendments from national organizations are the biggest ask form Chairman Gosar, our Members and Western Caucus at this time.
However, endorsements from local and national groups for the 12 Caucus priority amendments identified below are also extremely helpful.
To endorse any of the amendments, please email me with "Jeff, we endorse amendments_____." Please also send any Key Vote letters or emails my way and I will send them around.
Thank you for your consideration. Let me know if you have questions.
Jeff Small Executive Director | Congressional Western Caucus
A list of the Interior amendments for fiscal year 2019 made in order can be found HERE. There are 46 more amendments that will be debated today, July 18th and 41 amendments that were debated yesterday. No recorded votes on amendments have occurred yet. Postponed Recorded Vote Amendments (First votes expected today: 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Summaries of pending votes below.) Recorded votes for the Second Amendment Vote series are expected to occur between 9:10-9:50 p.m. Key Vote and Endorsement requests below.
Pending Interior Awroyriations Vote Rees - First Series...
Postponed Recorded Vote Amendments (First votes expected: 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.):
1. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) Amendment. Amendment No. 1 - Reduces the BLM Land acquisition account by $2.4 million in order to transfer 1.48 million to the NPS Parks Maintenance Backlog. Additional Background: The bill provides $24 million above the President's budget request for the BLM land acquisition account. The current total federal estate already exceeds more than 635 million acres. The Department of the Interior has a total of roughly $16 billion worth of deferred maintenance. The National Park Service (NPS) has the largest share of that amount with an $11.6 billion maintenance backlog in 2017. A recorded vote was requested by the minority.
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R ecom m endation: Strongly su p p o rt Chairman Calvert supported on the floor.
2. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Amendment. Amendment No. 25 - Increases the budget for the Department of the Interior Inspector General's Office by $2.5 million by cutting the Office of the Secretary of the Interior's Department Operations account by $2.5 million. Additional Background: The D O IIG Inspector account is already funded in the bill at the President's budget request level of $52.49 million, a $1.43 million increase above the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. Further, Western Caucus Members and others should oppose the offset that cuts funds from the DOI Operations Account. Recommendation: Oppose. Chairman Calvert and Chairman Gosar opposed on the floor.
3. Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-AZ) Amendment. Amendment No. 27 - Redirects $3,000,000 to the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation by cutting $3 million from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. Additional Background: The Navajo and Hopi Settlement Act of 1974 was intended to only last for five years after going into effect. This relocation program has lingered on for nearly 40 years longer than it was supposed to. Originally, the program was intended to help 1,000 Native American families. The program has helped 3,600 Navajo and 27 Hopi families. According to GAO, the office of the Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation has indicated its intent to close by September 2018. Accordingly, an amendment redirecting funds for fiscal year 2019 from an important office responsible for carring out the trust responsibility and managing Indian funds held in trust by the federal government defies common sense and is not a prudent use of scarce taxpayer dollars. Further, the Arizona Republic reported in 2015 that at that time, the " relocation program has exceeded its original $41 million price tag by more than $500 million." Recommendation: Oppose. Chairman Gosar opposed on the floor.
4. Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) Amendment. Amendment No. 29 - Decreases and then increases the EPA Environmental Programs and Management account fund by $742,000. This increase is intended to redirect funding to the Environmental Justice program. Additional Background: The President's budget request in fiscal year 2018 recommended eliminating the Environmental Justice Program. The Republican Study Committee Budget has also proposed eliminating the Environmental Justice Program. Recommendation: Oppose. Chairman Calvert and Chairman Gosar opposed on the floor.
5. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) Amendment. Amendment No. 39 - Reduces funding for the National Endowment on the Arts and the Humanities by 15 percent. Additional Background: The President's budget request recommended eliminating funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Heritage Action and the Republican Study Committee Budget has also proposed eliminating funding for these programs. The bill provides $155 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $126,051,000 above the President's budget request. The bill provides a total of $155,000,000 for the National Endowment for the Humanities, $112,693,000 above the budget request. Recommendation: S upport Chairman Gosar supports the amendment.
Endorsement and Key Vote Requests for Caucus Amendment Priorities...
Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK), P erry (R-PA) - Amendment. No. 43 - Prohibits the use of funds for enforcing the Obama Administration's EPA Methane Rule. Additional background: The Obama EPA methane rule is unnecessary; given methane is a product that industry is in the business of selling, not wasting, but also because it is duplicative, costly, and detrimental to our economy. By the Obama EPA's own numbers, methane emissions decreased while production increased over the same time period. Congress must act to block this job-killing regulation estimated to cost our economy $530 million annually. An identical amendment passed the House for the fiscal year 2018 bill. Last year, the amendment was supported and/or key voted by Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity and the American Energy Alliance.
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Pearce (R-NM), Marshall (R-KS) - Amendment No. 62 - Prevents funds from being used to carry out any rule-making on the status of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Additional background: The House has passed similar amendments numerous times previously. This summer, the Fish & Wildlife Service is expected to announce a decision on listing for the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. Previously, local landowners showed unprecedented support for LPC conservation by enrolling nearly 4 million acres in the plan and committing more than $26 million towards conservation. This type of commitment led U.S. District Judge Robert Junell to de-list the LPC in September of 2015.
Grothman (R-W I) - Amendment No. 56 - Prohibits funds made available by this Act to be used to implement or enforce the Obama Administration's 2015 EPA 's ozone rule. Additional background: On May 1, 2018, the EPA took action to comply with the Obama Administration's job-killing October 2015 Ozone Rule. 51 different areas and counties were classified as being in nonattainment. This action will cause harm to cities and counties by causing permitting delays, reducing transportation dollars and preventing new businesses from locating in areas designated as being in nonattainment. The amendment kills this rule that is non-attainable in many parts of the country, particularly the West.
Hice, Jody (R-GA) - Amendment No. 69 - States that no funds should be made available for Environmental Justice Small Grants issued by the Office of Environmental Justice. A dditional Background: The President's budget request in fiscal year 2018 recommended eliminating the Environmental Justice Program. The Republican Study Committee Budget has also proposed eliminating the Environmental Justice Program. The Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) was established within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1992. In recent years, the Environmental Justice Small Grants program has been used for purposes entirely unrelated to the office's stated mission, like funding education programs on urban gardening, creating healthy environments in nail salons, or the so-called negative consequences of automobile dependency. The amendment will allow the EPA to refocus roughly $70 million dollars of taxpayer funds toward the agency's core mission over the next decade.
Gosar (R-AZ) - Amendment No. 63 - Supports recreational shooting, K-12 education and responsible energy development by prohibiting funds for the Ironwood Forest National Monument that was unilaterally designated under the Antiquities Act. Additional background: The Arizona Mining Association, the Southern Arizona Business Coalition and two other industry groups asked interior to rescind this monument during the President's monument review. Asarco and Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Co. of Tucson have also asked to scrap the monument. President Clinton unilaterally created the Ironwood Forest National Monument in June 2000, locking up 128,917 acres of land, including a large amount of land that belongs to the Arizona State School Land Trust. This monument has caused harm to the common schools beneficiary, K-12 education. The monument proclamation explicitly prohibited future mineral and geothermal energy production. Further, the Ironwood Forest National Monument has enacted a complete ban on recreational shooting. If you look at the boundaries of Ironwood monument, it encircles the Silver Bell Mine and several other mining claims. This was clearly a political designation in order to prevent mining and that is the reason the monument was designated. If this were not the case, the monument would be significantly smaller and only protect a few artifacts. Asarco had invested $70 million prior to the monument designation in hopes to expand the mine. They will likely invest several hundred millions more, create jobs and grow the economy if the mine is no longer in the monument boundary. Countless other examples like this exist throughout the country. The Arizona Game and Fish department has expressed concerns regarding their ability to effectively manage the land that is incorporated in the monument. According to their June 1, 2017 response to this review of national monument designations, AZGFD has been unable to fully implement vital management activities such as: "fencing to protect wildlife habitats and/or restrict wildlife and fence removal... introduction, supplementation and/or translocations of native and/or naturalized species, predator control, Law Enforcement wildlife investigations and response to illegal wildlife activities. In November, 24 Members of Congress sent President Trump a letter recommending recession of this monument amongst other monument recommendations. The letter was endorsed by: the American Farm Bureau
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Federation, Americans for Responsible Recreation Access, the National Cattlemen's B eef Association and the Public Lands Council.
Rep. Biggs (R-AZ) Amendment. Amendment No. 1 - Reduces the BLM Land acquisition account by $2.4 million in order to transfer 1.48 million to the NPS Parks Maintenance Backlog. Additional Background: The bill provides $24 million above the President's budget request for the BLM land acquisition account. The current total federal estate already exceeds more than 635 million acres. The Department of the Interior has a total of roughly $16 billion worth of deferred maintenance. The National Park Service (NPS) has the largest share of that amount with an $11.6 billion maintenance backlog in 2017. A recorded vote was requested by the minority. Chairman Calvert supported on the floor. The recorded vote on this amendment is expected to occur in today's 2p.m vote series.
Abraham (R-LA), Westerman (R-AR), Crawford (R-AR), Harris (R-MD) - Amendment No. 66 - Prevents the enforcement of limitations or prohibitions on the use of genetically modified crops in commercial agricultural operations conducted on National Wildlife Refuges. Additional Background: The Fish & Wildlife Service regularly enters into Cooperative Agriculture Agreements with farmers to plant and raise crops farm fields that are on National Wildlife Refuge land, and to leave a portion of that crop standing over the winter in order to provide cover and forage for wildlife. In the spring, those farmers plow everything under and start over again. In 2014 Fish & Wildlife began to prevent farmers who enter into these agreements from planting GMO seed. This action was not based in fact or in rules, and it is harmful to both wildlife and to the farmers who are providing them food and cover. Wildlife groups like Ducks Unlimited support this amendment, and I ask for your support too.
Emmer (R-MN), Nolan (R-MN) - Amendment No. 55 - Prohibits funding from being used to implement a January 13, 2017 a 234,328 acre land grab and mineral withdrawal in in Northeast Minnesota. Additional background: A day before leaving office, the Obama Administration proposed a land grab that will cause significant harm to Minnesota communities in the form of 234,328 acre mineral withdrawal of National Forest System (NFS) lands, for a 20-year term, within the Rainy River Watershed on the Superior National Forest. 17,000 jobs, $3 billion for education, $1.5 billion in annual wages, $2.5 billion annually for our economy and a total of four billion tons of strategic-and-critical-mineral-containing ore - this is what is at risk if the Obama land grab is not overturned. For more information, click HERE, HERE and FIBRE.
Lamborn (R-CO) - Amendment No. 49 - Prohibits the use of funds to implement or enforce the threatened species or endangered species listing of any plant or wildlife that has not undergone a review as required by section 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Additional background: The amendment is straightforward. It simply ensures that the U S. Fish and Wildlife Service is following current law, specifically section 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act, by conducting a review of all threatened and endangered plants and wildlife at least once every 5 years. The amendment passed last year by voice vote.
Smith, Jason (R-MO), Gianforte (R-MT) - Amendment No. 70 - Prevents the payment of attorney's fees as part of any settlement the Federal Government enters into under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Additional Background: The amendment prevents federal agencies from using funds to pay legal fees under any lawsuit settlement regarding a case that arises under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. In recent years we have seen a sharp increase in a practice called "Sue and Settle". This happens when a federal agency accepts a lawsuit from an outside advocacy organization and then, rather than defend itself, proceeds to settle that lawsuit in a closed-door agreement. Through this process; the advocacy group, often motived by a radical agenda, as part of the settlement gets to dictates the priorities and duties of that agency resulting in new regulations through legally-binding, court-approved settlements. If that isn't bad enough, taxpayers are responsible for footing the legal bill for the attorneys of the radical
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organizations who filed suit. Between 2009-2012 the EPA chose not to defend itself in over 60 of these lawsuits with outside environmental advocacy groups. The resulting settlements were responsible for more than 100 new regulations and billions of dollars in compliance costs. This provision has passed the House in multiple Congresses.
Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK), Gohmert (R-TX), Gosar (R-AZ), Perry (R-PA), Gianforte (R-MT) Amendment No. 44 - Prohibits funds from implementing the Social Cost of Carbon rule. Additional background: The Obama Administration continuously used SCC valuation models, which can be easily manipulated, in order to attempt to justify new job-killing regulations. Although President Trump issued an executive order to disband the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, federal agencies continue to work on the Social Cost of Carbon valuation. Further, the president's executive order is open to inevitable legal challenges lobbed by extremist special interest groups. The House has a clear, strong record of opposition to the Social Cost of Carbon, voting at least 11 times to block, defund, or oppose the proposal. An identical amendment passed the House for the fiscal year 2018 bill. Last year, the amendment was supported and/or key voted by Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity and the American Energy Alliance.
Loudermilk (R-GA), Griffith (R-VA) - Amendment No. 47 - Prohibits funds from being used to regulate trailers under the Clean Air Act. Additional background: The Obama Administration overreached when EPA sought to regulate truck trailers as "self-propelled vehicles" under the Greenhouse Gas Phase 2 Rule (GHGP2.) The Obama Admin claimed that these engineering regulations will improve the fuel efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of tractor trailers. However, even if truck trailers were under the jurisdiction granted to the EPA by the Clean Air Act, these benefits only take place if the truck is traveling at highway speeds. According to the American Trucking Associations, at least half of all tractor-trailer usage occurs not on highways, but at lesser speeds around towns and cities. For these tractor trailers, those in compliance will have increased weight due to the engineering regulations, resulting in cargo loads being shifted to an increased number of trucks. Ultimately and ironically, this regulation leads to an increase in truck traffic and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The decision to modify truck trailer engineering should be voluntary based on whether the truck will be used more on highways or around towns and cities- it should not be mandatory.
Amendments Pending Debate Strongly Opposed by the Caucus:
Gallego (D-AZ) - Amendment No. 51 - Ensures none of the funds made available by this Act may be used to issue grazing permits or leases in contravention of BLM regulations. Additional Background: This amendment from July 2016 previously failed by a recorded vote. The amendment attacks ranchers and attempts to relitigate the Bundy matter.
Connolly (D-VA), Price, David (D-NC) - Amendment No. 57 - Prohibits funds from being used to change or modify the 2015 federal coal ash rule (80 Fed. Reg. 21301 (April 17, 2015). This job killing rile implemented by the Obama Administration has some serious flaws. On Wednesday, the EPA issued finalized the first set of revisions to the 2015 regulations, providing flexibility for States and $30M in annual cost savings. More Here. More information can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/coalash.
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