Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson discussed the impact on Idaho of the recent sage-grouse decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with Interior Assistant Secretary Tom Strickland.  Strickland testified today before the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Simpson is Ranking Republican Member, regarding the President’s FY 2011 budget request. Earlier… Read more »

“We intend to use every tool the Constitution provides us to stop the ‘Slaughter Solution’ that Speaker Pelosi is trying to achieve,” said Simpson. “The American people have a right to know how their representatives are voting on this health care legislation, they have a right to know what is in the bill, and they have a right to be represented. This scheme is unthinkable and discredits the Institution as we know it.” Read more »

This budget is not fiscally responsible over the long term, and the American people are saying that we need to quit spending money. It’s that simple. As I look over this budget, it strikes me that the administration is unwilling to make the tough decisions necessary in order to cut spending and reduce the national debt.” Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson questioned the Department of Energy today on its cleanup efforts at our nation’s major nuclear sites as part of its FY2011 budget request. Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Ines Triay testified before the Subcommittee. Read more »

Noting that Interior’s ruling is now facing a court challenge, the Delegation and Governor said that Secretary Salazar is to be commended for his determination—and he should stand by his decision concerning sage grouse. “We need to ensure that our collective attention to this important issue does not wane or is overshadowed by inaction in the coming months,” the Idahoans wrote. Read more »

“Right now, Speaker Pelosi and her Democrats are busy trying to ram health reform legislation through the House of Representatives against the will of the American people. This bill will raise your taxes, create a massive new entitlement program and do little to address the problems in our current health system. The frightening reality for the American taxpayer and anyone who will need… Read more »

“Unfortunately,” Congressman Simpson said, “the Budget Committee today started the health care reconciliation process with a partisan and largely ceremonial markup vote. This procedural maneuver will allow Democrats, now without enough votes to pass the bill in regular order, to pass it with only 50 votes in the Senate, rather than the 60 normally required for controversial pieces of legislation.” Read more »

During the hearing, Simpson asked Director Abbey what the BLM is doing to address the significant backlog in grazing permits. Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that sage-grouse is “warranted but precluded” from listing under the Endangered Species Act. Simpson expressed his concern that this decision would put an additional burden on the BLM, which is responsible for managing most of the current sage-grouse habitat, without providing additional resources for the agency to address its current backlog. Read more »

“We’re not talking here about trying to reduce arsenic from 100 parts per billion to ten, we’re talking about communities having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce it by two parts per billion. It should be up to rural communities to determine if twelve parts per billion is acceptable for their drinking water, or if they should tax people out of their homes in order to try to obtain EPA’s arsenic standard of ten parts per billion,” said Simpson. “Nobody cares more about the safety of a community’s drinking water, or is more eager to do the right thing to protect it, than the people who live, work and raise families there.” Read more »

“As the recession continues and unemployment stubbornly holds near the double digits, we must not forget about the vital contribution school teachers make to our nation. There are two pieces of legislation that I hope will come before the House of Representatives this session that will make targeted and effective changes to current law in support of teachers. I am urging my colleagues to… Read more »