Monday the House passed S. 365, the Budget Control Act of 2011.  Congressman Simpson supported this legislation, which is expected to be considered by the Senate Tuesday.

Last week the House debated H.R. 2584, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY12, which appropriates funding for the Department of Interior, the Forest Service, and the EPA, in addition to a number of independent agencies.  Congressman Simpson chairs the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and sponsored H.R. 2584.

The House also passed H.R. 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act, which expedites the construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline.  The pipeline requires a Presidential Permit, and the bill ensures that a decision is made to grant or deny the permit no later than November 1, 2011. Congressman Simpson supported H.R. 1938.

Simpson Supports Debt Reduction Plan
Forces balanced budget vote and over $2 trillion in savings
Congressman Mike Simpson, a senior Member on the House Budget Committee, joined his colleagues in passing the amended Budget Control Act of 2011 to avoid the possibility of defaulting on the debt.  The bill passed in the House 269-161.

“Does this legislation solve all our problems? No it does not,” said Simpson, “but we have to ask: does it move us in the right direction? Does it begin fixing the enormous fiscal imbalance in our federal government? And, does it bring some certainty to our markets? It does. That’s why I supported it.”

The legislation cuts $917 billion in spending and raises the debt ceiling by $900 billion, then requires that deeper cuts take place and a balanced budget amendment vote occurs before any further debt ceiling increase takes place.

“It is important to realize that the entire debate over federal spending and the debt has changed over the last seven months. One year ago, before Republicans gained the majority in the House, President Obama would have received a blank check from Congress to continue spending while raising the debt ceiling.” said Simpson. “I could have chosen any number of reasons to oppose the bill, but in the end it puts us on a path to fixing our debt crisis and boosts our economy by preventing the possibility of a default and ensuring Social Security checks, active military paychecks and veterans benefits go out on time. It does all this without raising taxes.”

Congressman Simpson had previously supported the Cut, Cap and Balance bill, which was the legislation preferred by House Republicans, but the bill did not have the support of the Senate or the White House. 

Simpson has been a cosponsor of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution since he came to Congress. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

In the News

Improve Public Lands Management, End Frivolous Lawsuits—Plug the Drain on Wasteful Spending of Taxpayer Dollars
By Congressman Mike Simpson, Beltway Beef, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, July 28, 2011

As every single rancher who lives west of the Mississippi River knows, our nation’s leading environmental laws have evolved from species and resource protection acts at their inception to land and water control acts today.  Regrettably, this evolution of well-intended legislation has resulted in a federal public land management regime that places the opinions of untrained judges above those of trained land managers.

For too long, Congress has sat idly by watching as the courts transform federal laws away from what Congress intended and toward an ideology that abhors multiple-uses and openly states its desire to move both livestock and anything with wheels off of public lands. It is time Congress restores balance to the management of public lands, and that is exactly what I am trying to do in the Interior and Environment Appropriations Act for next year.

As Chairman, I have tried to write a bill that restores some of that balance as early as this fall and creates an incentive for varied interests to negotiate new reforms to laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).

These laws are long overdue for update and reauthorization, yet those reforms are not viable because one side of the discussion, congressional Democrats and their allies, have no reason to come to the table. Simply put, the status quo works just fine for them because the status quo leads to increasingly restrictive management of public lands through the courts.

For those of us who are concerned about the constant drain of taxpayer dollars through endless litigation and the impact that litigation has on the ability of public land managers to do their job, the status quo is unacceptable and must change.

With that in mind, I would like to highlight just a few of the many provisions I have included in the Interior and Environment bill that I believe help improve management of public lands and restore balance to the way in which public lands are utilized and enjoyed. Those provisions include:

• A five year extension of a grazing rider that allows the BLM to extend existing grazing permits while they complete environmental work on 10-year renewals;

• A provision allowing the BLM to transfer permits under the same conditions without triggering the NEPA process;

• The elimination of funding for any new listings under the ESA or new designations of critical habitat;

• A provision exempting the process of trailing from NEPA requirements for the next five years;

• A provision requiring litigants to exhaust the administrative appeals process before litigating in federal courts on grazing issues;

• A provision requiring the EPA, Forest Service, and DOI to report to the Appropriations Committee detailed information on any EAJA payments and to make that information publicly available;

• Provision blocking the EPA from implementing new greenhouse gas emission regulations, prohibiting a change in the definition of navigable waterways, and clarifying that aquatic pesticides are not subject to duplicative regulation under the Clean Water Act.

• In addition, provisions added during full committee consideration of the bill include one that prevents the EPA from regulating animal emissions of ammonia under the Clean Air Act and another that stops the EPA from attempting to regulate farm dust.

I am well aware that my advocacy of these provisions will result in charges that I am “gutting the environment” or doing the bidding of “special interests.”

To the contrary, I want to protect the environment and the sustainability of our nation’s public lands, but I want to do so in a way that promotes the utilization of those lands for multiple uses and ends the costly and destructive consequences of managing federal lands through the courts.

Further, I hope that this bill serves notice that our nation’s underlying public land management bills must be reformed, reauthorized, and refocused on the actual management of public lands and the variety of uses they are expected to accommodate.

These bills must no longer be vehicles for litigious special interests to control land and water and promote an agenda that seeks an end to the use of public land for activities like grazing or motorized recreation.

Toward that end, I am working with House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings with the expectation that his committee will bring forward bills to reauthorize laws like the ESA in a way that restores balance to the management of our nation’s public lands, appropriately protects at-risk species and natural resources, and clarifies the role of the courts in future land and species management decisions.

It is my hope that NCBA and its members will be an active and forceful voice in the process of updating and reforming federal laws. I hope you’ll take every opportunity to provide me with your input and share that input with Chairman Hastings as well.