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Energy, Environment and Public Lands
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Addressing issues relating to energy, the environment and public lands is an important part of my work in Congress.
Where I Stand
I believe we must balance the needs of a healthy environment with the needs of a vibrant economy. In recent years, the federal government has in too many instances veered away from common-sense environmental protection and instead pursued an ideological agenda. These policies destroy jobs and do little, if anything, to help the people, wildlife, or plants they purport to protect.
In Eastern North Carolina, we have seen these short-sighted policies on many levels. On the national level, unnecessarily restrictive policies have increased costs for all of us - particularly those who can least afford it. I am hopeful that the current administration will work with those of us in Congress who have been trying to restore some balance to federal policy related to American’s natural resources.
Legislative Action in the 115th Congress
Sponsored Legislation
H.R. 2032 - Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act: This bill would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of North Carolina, Currituck County, and the Corolla Wild Horse Fund to craft a new management plan to allow the herd of wild horses inhabiting the Outer Banks of North Carolina to grow to the size found by equine scientists to be necessary to maintain genetic viability. This legislation has passed the House and will go to the Senate for further consideration.
Cosponsored Legislation
H.R. 3608 - Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act: This bill would require publication on the Internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered species or threatened species.
H.R. 1873 – Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act: This bill would enhance the reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands by facilitating vegetation management on such lands.
H.R. 3131 - Endangered Species Litigation Reasonableness Act: This bill would amend the Endangered Species Act to replace the current standard for awarding court costs, including attorney fees, in citizen suits with the federal judicial code standard for awarding costs to a prevailing party.
H.R. 2098 - State, Tribal, and Local Species Transparency and Recovery Act: This bill would amend the Endangered Species Act to require the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce to provide to affected states, tribes and localities all data that is used as the basis of a determination on whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species before making a determination.
H.R. 637 – Stop EPA Overreach Act: This bill would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from exceeding its statutory authority in ways that were not contemplated by the Congress.
Signed Letters
Letter to the Trump administration urging them to use any and all tools to limit the harm of the Obama administration’s costly and burdensome Clean Power Plan (CPP), Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), and Ozone Standard of 70 parts per billion(ppb) rules.
Letter to House Appropriations Committee urging them to work in a bi-partisan, bi-cameral fashion to secure full funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for fiscal year (FY) 2018 and beyond.
Letter to House Appropriations Committee urging them to include language in the Fiscal Year 2018 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill to prohibit American taxpayers’ money from being sent to the UN’s Green Climate Fund.
Letter to the House Appropriations Committee urging them to provide adequate levels of funding in Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations legislation for marine fisheries data and management programs.
Letter to the House Appropriations Committee urging support for the National Sea Grant Program, which benefits Eastern North Carolina’s coastal economy and environment.
Letter to Secretary of Commerce expressing support for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which includes the North Carolina Estuarine Research Reserves in Dare and Onslow counties.
Letter to Secretary of Interior expressing concern over the loss of effective control of cormorants and urging action to remedy the situation.
Letter to the President requesting action to change the access rules governing the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument to guarantee the fishing rights of both recreational and commercial fishermen.
Letter to the Secretary of Interior expressing opposition to the secretarial order (#3350) to move forward with offshore oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean, and the subsequent issuance of five Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for Atlantic geophysical & geological (G&G) permit applications.