The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources or Natural Resources Committee (often referred to as simply Resources) is a Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. Originally called the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (1951), the name was changed to the Committee on Natural Resources in 1991. The name was shortened to the Committee on Resources in 1995 by the new chairman, Don Young (at the same time, the committee took over the duties of the now-defunct Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee). Following the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006, the name of the committee was changed back to its title used between 1991 and 1995.[1]
| Standing committee | |
|---|---|
Active United States House of Representatives 118th Congress | |
| History | |
| Formed | 1991 |
| Succeeded | Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs |
| Formerly known as | Committee on Resources |
| Leadership | |
| Chair | Bruce Westerman (R) Since January 3, 2023 |
| Ranking member | Raúl Grijalva (D) Since January 4, 2023 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 45 |
| Political parties | Majority (25)
|
| Jurisdiction | |
| Policy areas | Energy development, mining, mineral rights, wildlife, fisheries, public lands, oceans, Native Americans |
| Oversight authority | Department of Energy |
| Senate counterpart | Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources |
| Subcommittees | |
| Meeting place | |
| 1324 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 | |
| Website | |
| naturalresources.house.gov democrats-naturalresources.house.gov | |
| Rules | |
Jurisdiction
edit- Fisheries and wildlife, including research, restoration, refuges, and conservation.
- Forest reserves and national parks created from the public domain.
- Forfeiture of land grants and alien ownership, including alien ownership of mineral lands.
- Geological Survey.
- International fishing agreements.
- Interstate compacts relating to apportionment of waters for irrigation purposes.
- Irrigation and reclamation, including water supply for reclamation projects and easements of public lands for irrigation projects; and acquisition of private lands when necessary to complete irrigation projects.
- Native Americans generally, including the care and allotment of Native American lands and general and special measures relating to claims that are paid out of Native American funds.
- Insular areas of the United States generally (except those affecting the revenue and appropriations).
- Military parks and battlefields, national cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the Interior, parks within the District of Columbia, and the erection of monuments to the memory of individuals.
- Mineral land laws and claims and entries thereunder.
- Mineral resources of public lands.
- Mining interests generally.
- Mining schools and experimental stations.
- Marine affairs, including coastal zone management (except for measures relating to oil and other pollution of navigable waters).
- Oceanography.
- Petroleum conservation on public lands and conservation of the radium supply in the United States.
- Preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest on the public domain.
- Public lands generally, including entry, easements, and grazing thereon.
- Relations of the United States with Native Americans and Native American tribes.
- Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline (except ratemaking).[2][3]
Members, 118th Congress
edit| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 14 (Chair), H.Res. 15 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 79 (D), H.Res. 80 (R), H.Res. 164 (D)
Subcommittees
edit
In the 111th Congress, the number of subcommittees was reduced from 5 to 4. The Subcommittees on Insular Affairs and Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans were merged into the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife. In the 112th Congress, the number was again increased to 5, adding the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.
During the committee's official reorganization for the 113th Congress, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands was renamed the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation[4]
When former Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington retired from Congress, Rob Bishop of Utah took over as the committee's new chairman at the beginning of the 114th Congress. Congressman Bishop began the process of hiring new staff and reorganized the committee's structure as his predecessors had done.[5][6] The chairman eliminated the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs subcommittee and split its duties between the renamed Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs and Water, Power and Oceans subcommittees. The chairman also created a new Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, keeping the total number of subcommittees at five[7]
The chairman also transferred jurisdiction over the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act from the former Public Lands and Environmental Regulation and established a renamed the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.[7]
Current subcommittees
edit| Subcommittee | Chair[8] | Ranking Member[a] |
|---|---|---|
| Energy and Mineral Resources | Pete Stauber (R-MN) | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) |
| Federal Lands | Tom Tiffany (R-WI) | Joe Neguse (D-CO) |
| Indian and Insular Affairs | Harriet Hageman (R-WY) | Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) |
| Oversight and Investigations | Paul Gosar (R-AZ) | Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) |
| Water, Wildlife and Fisheries | Cliff Bentz (R-OR) | Jared Huffman (D-CA) |
Chairs
edit| Chair | Party | State | Start of service | End of service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Committee on Public Lands | ||||
| Andrew Gregg | Democratic-Republican | Pennsylvania | 1805 | 1806 |
| John Boyle | Democratic-Republican | Kentucky | 1806 | 1807 |
| Andrew Gregg | Democratic-Republican | Pennsylvania | 1807 | |
| John Boyle | Democratic-Republican | Kentucky | 1807 | 1808 |
| Jeremiah Morrow | Democratic-Republican | Ohio | 1808 | 1813 |
| Samuel McKee | Democratic-Republican | Kentucky | 1813 | 1815 |
| Thomas B. Robertson | Democratic-Republican | Louisiana | 1815 | 1818 |
| George Poindexter | Democratic-Republican | Mississippi | 1818 | 1819 |
| Richard C. Anderson | Democratic-Republican | Kentucky | 1819 | 1821 |
| Christopher Rankin | Jacksonian | Mississippi | 1821 | 1826 |
| John Scott | Anti-Jacksonian | Missouri | 1826 | 1827 |
| Jacob C. Isacks | Jacksonian | Tennessee | 1827 | 1830 |
| Charles A. Wickliffe | Jacksonian | Kentucky | 1830 | 1833 |
| Clement C. Clay | Democratic | Alabama | 1833 | 1835 |
| Ratliff Boon | Democratic | Indiana | 1835 | 1838 |
| Zadok Casey | Democratic | Illinois | 1838 | 1839 |
| Thomas Corwin | Whig | Ohio | 1839 | 1840 |
| Samson Mason | Whig | Ohio | 1840 | |
| Jeremiah Morrow | Whig | Ohio | 1840 | 1841 |
| William C. Johnson | Whig | Maryland | 1841 | |
| Jeremiah Morrow | Whig | Ohio | 1841 | 1842 |
| Reuben Chapman | Democratic | Alabama | 1842 | |
| Jeremiah Morrow | Whig | Ohio | 1842 | 1843 |
| John W. Davis | Democratic | Indiana | 1843 | 1845 |
| John A. McClernand | Democratic | Illinois | 1845 | 1847 |
| Jacob Collamer | Whig | Vermont | 1847 | 1849 |
| James B. Bowlin | Democratic | Missouri | 1849 | 1851 |
| Willard P. Hall | Democratic | Missouri | 1851 | 1853 |
| David T. Disney | Democratic | Ohio | 1853 | 1855 |
| Henry Bennett | Opposition | New York | 1855 | 1857 |
| Williamson R. W. Cobb | Democratic | Alabama | 1857 | 1859 |
| Eli Thayer | Republican | Massachusetts | 1859 | 1861 |
| John F. Potter | Republican | Wisconsin | 1861 | 1863 |
| George W. Julian | Republican | Indiana | 1863 | 1871 |
| John H. Ketcham | Republican | New York | 1871 | 1873 |
| Washington Townsend | Republican | Pennsylvania | 1873 | 1875 |
| Milton Sayler | Democratic | Ohio | 1875 | 1877 |
| William R. Morrison | Democratic | Illinois | 1877 | 1879 |
| George L. Converse | Democratic | Ohio | 1879 | 1881 |
| Thaddeus C. Pound | Republican | Wisconsin | 1881 | 1883 |
| Thomas R. Cobb | Democratic | Indiana | 1883 | 1887 |
| William S. Holman | Democratic | Indiana | 1887 | 1889 |
| Lewis E. Payson | Republican | Illinois | 1889 | 1891 |
| Thomas C. McRae | Democratic | Arkansas | 1891 | 1895 |
| John F. Lacey | Republican | Iowa | 1895 | 1907 |
| Franklin W. Mondell | Republican | Wyoming | 1907 | 1911 |
| Joseph T. Robinson | Democratic | Arkansas | 1911 | 1912 |
| Scott Ferris | Democratic | Oklahoma | 1912 | 1919 |
| Nicholas J. Sinnott | Republican | Oregon | 1919 | 1928 |
| Don B. Colton | Republican | Utah | 1928 | 1931 |
| John M. Evans | Democratic | Montana | 1931 | 1933 |
| René L. De Rouen | Democratic | Louisiana | 1933 | 1940 |
| James W. Robinson | Democratic | Utah | 1940 | 1943 |
| J. Hardin Peterson | Democratic | Florida | 1943 | 1947 |
| Richard J. Welch | Republican | California | 1947 | 1949 |
| Andrew L. Somers | Democratic | New York | 1949 | |
| J. Hardin Peterson | Democratic | Florida | 1949 | 1951 |
| Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs | ||||
| John R. Murdock | Democratic | Arizona | 1951 | 1953 |
| Arthur L. Miller | Republican | Nebraska | 1953 | 1955 |
| Clair Engle | Democratic | California | 1955 | 1959 |
| Wayne N. Aspinall | Democratic | Colorado | 1959 | 1973 |
| James A. Haley | Democratic | Florida | 1973 | 1977 |
| Mo Udall | Democratic | Arizona | 1977 | 1991 |
| Committee on Natural Resources | ||||
| George Miller | Democratic | California | 1991 | 1995 |
| Committee on Resources | ||||
| Don Young | Republican | Alaska | 1995 | 2001 |
| James Hansen | Republican | Utah | 2001 | 2003 |
| Richard Pombo | Republican | California | 2003 | 2007 |
| Committee on Natural Resources | ||||
| Nick Rahall | Democratic | West Virginia | 2007 | 2011 |
| Doc Hastings | Republican | Washington | 2011 | 2015 |
| Rob Bishop | Republican | Utah | 2015 | 2019 |
| Raúl Grijalva | Democratic | Arizona | 2019 | 2023 |
| Bruce Westerman | Republican | Arkansas | 2023 | present |
Historical membership rosters
edit117th Congress
edit| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 9 (Chair), H.Res. 10 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 62 (D), H.Res. 63 (R), H.Res. 92 (D), H.Res. 111 (D), H.Res. 475 (D), H.Res. 789 (Removing Gosar), H.Res. 1197 (R), H.Res. 1347 (D)
- Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair[10] | Ranking Member[11] |
|---|---|---|
| Energy and Mineral Resources | Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) | Pete Stauber (R-MN) |
| Indigenous Peoples of the United States | Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) | Don Young (R-AK) |
| National Parks, Forests and Public Lands | Joe Neguse (D-CO) | Russ Fulcher (R-ID) |
| Oversight and Investigations | Katie Porter (D-CA) | Blake Moore (R-UT) |
| Water, Oceans and Wildlife | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Cliff Bentz (R-OR) |
116th Congress
edit| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Sources: H.Res. 24 (Chair), H.Res. 25 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 73 (D), H.Res. 74 (R), H.Res. 125 (D), H.Res. 148 (D), H.Res. 793 (D), H.Res. 1072 (R), H.Res. 1135 (D)
- Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Energy and Mineral Resources | Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) | Paul Gosar (R-AZ) |
| Indigenous Peoples of the United States | Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) | Paul Cook (R-CA) |
| National Parks, Forests and Public Lands | Deb Haaland (D-NM) | Don Young (R-AK) |
| Oversight and Investigations | TJ Cox (D-CA) | Louie Gohmert (R-TX) |
| Water, Oceans and Wildlife | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Tom McClintock (R-CA) |
115th Congress
edit| Majority[12] | Minority[13] |
|---|---|
|
|
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ @RachelFrazin (January 31, 2023). "AOC joins the House Natural Resources Committee, and becomes its top Democrat on the Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Van Drew left the Democratic Party on December 19, 2019, to join Republicans.
References
edit- ^ "Incoming chairman pledges new agenda for House environment panel". Associated Press/Lodi News Record. December 8, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
- ^ "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives - 404". Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
- ^ McCarthy, Kevin (3 January 2017). "Text - H.Res.5 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Adopting rules for the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress". congress.gov. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "Rules for the Committee on Natural Resources" (PDF). Committee on Natural Resources Committee (PDF). January 23, 2013.
- ^ Bravender, Robin (January 7, 2015). "Staff shuffles abound across energy, enviro committees". Energy & Environment Daily. E&E Publishing, LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ Taylor, Phil (January 6, 2015). "New chairman overhauls committee staff". Energy & Environment Daily. E&E Publishing, LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ a b Subcommittee Changes
- Taylor, Phil (January 14, 2015). "Bishop creates new oversight panel, names GOP roster". Energy & Environment Daily. E&E Publishing, LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- "House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop Announces Republican Members for 114th Congress, New Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations". Committee on Natural Resources. January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ^ "Westerman Announces Subcommittee Chairs". Committee on Natural Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ Vu, Nancy (September 14, 2022). "Alaska's new member of Congress, Mary Peltola, is now on the House Natural Resources Committee — thanks to a resignation assist from Lori Trahan". Politico. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ Chair Grijalva Announces Vice Chairs, Subcommittee Chairs for 117th Congress, Looks Forward to Climate and Environmental Justice Collaboration
- ^ Westerman Announces Subcommittee Ranking Members
- ^ H.Res. 6, H.Res. 51
- ^ H.Res. 7, H.Res. 45, H.Res. 52, H.Res. 95
- ^ Appointed to committee in 2015, previously served from 2011 to 2013
- ^ Sablan is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats
External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States House Committee on Natural Resources.
- Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives (Archive)
- House Natural Resources Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.