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Pombo for House Resources Chairman!

December 24, 2002

SITUATION: Committee chairmanships in the House of Representatives will be decided on by a group called the Republican Steering Committee, which consists of twenty-eight GOP House members (see list below).

TIME LINE: The Steering Committee will formally meet to vote on committee chairmen on January 9 or 10, 2003. HOWEVER, votes are informally being tallied now, and the lobbying is intense. Most observers predict that Steering Committee members will make up their minds between now and Christmas, with a few stragglers making their decisions between Christmas and New Years. So crunch time is RIGHT NOW.

STATUS: Advocates of private property rights must push for our people to be in leadership positions in this Congress, or else the GOP will support land grabs just as the Democrats frequently do.

The Resources Committee oversees many of the issues most important to private property rights and federal lands, including the Endangered Species Act, energy and mineral exploration, recreational access to federal lands, international environmental treaties, forest health, water rights, national parks and wildlife refuges and the Bureau of Land Management.

Congressman Richard Pombo has announced he is running for the Resources Committee chairmanship. Others are seeking this influential post also, but Pombo is the best of the bunch. Richard Pombo has been our very best advocate in Congress since the day he was sworn in to the House of Representatives ten years ago, and has earned our support in his bid to become chairman.

Within a few weeks after taking office back in 1993, Pombo established the Congressional Task Force on Private Property Rights (a later version of which became the Western Caucus). He then began challenging land acquisition funding, the National Biological Survey and other programs, which had been unquestioned sacred cows of the environmental movement.

Starting in 1995 and every year since, Pombo has held field hearings across the country and had over one hundred citizens testify to expose the scams and failures of the Endangered Species Act. He did battle with the Clinton Administration and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on many issues, from challenging the authority of United Nations land use designations to the National Heritage Rivers land grab proposal.

Pombo has been a consistent voice in support of compensating property owners when the government proposes to regulate land out of any reasonable use. Earlier in 2002, he stopped the National Heritage Area federal zoning bill dead in its tracks by insisting that property owners be notified when they fall into a proposed heritage area.

He has attended the last three international conferences that the animal rights and international enviro outfits use to promote their agenda, called the "CITES" conference. He successfully lobbied for resumption of trade in ivory and hides so that African countries can use their elephants and other animals as resources, and fought against restrictions in trade of well-managed tree harvests, circuses, and hunting.

Pombo has gained approval from the Resources Committee for two excellent bills to improve the Endangered Species Act. One would compensate property owners when the government takes away use of land for allegedly endangered species, and the other requires that solid scientific data be shown before a species can be listed. Pombo currently serves as a senior member of the Resources Committee and as Chairman of the Western Caucus. He can be counted on to lead the fight on our most important issues of concern to private property rights and multiple use of federal lands.

ACTION ITEM:

Listed below are the members of the Republican Steering Committee, who will vote on who will be chairman of the very important Resources Committee. CONTACT THEM and tell them, using the information above and anything else you would like to add, that Richard Pombo should be Chairman! If there are congressmen listed below from your home state, please make an EXTRA EFFORT to email, call and fax them!

Denny Hastert, Illinois, (202) 225-2976
Tom DeLay, Texas, (202) 225-5951
Roy Blunt, Missouri, (202) 225-6536
Eric Cantor, Virginia, (202) 225-2815
Deborah Pryce, Ohio, (202) 225-2015
Chris Cox, California, (202) 225-5611
Jack Kingston, Georgia, (202) 225-5831
John Doolittle, California, (202) 225-2511
Tom Reynolds, New York, (202) 225-5265
Tom Davis, Virginia, (202) 225-1492
Bill Young, Florida, (202) 225-5961
Billy Tauzin, Louisiana, (202) 225-4031
David Dreier, California, (202) 225-2305
Bill Thomas, California, (202) 225-2915
Adam Putnam, Florida, (202) 225-1252
Doc Hastings, Washington, (202) 225-5816
John Shaddeg, Arizona, (202) 225-3361
Joe Barton, Texas, (202) 225-2002
Tom Latham, Iowa, (202) 225-5476
Dave Camp, Michigan, (202) 225-3561
John McHugh, New York, (202) 225-4611
Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania, (202) 225-2011
Ralph Regula, Ohio, (202) 225-3876
Hal Rogers, Kentucky, (202) 225-4601
Mac Collins, Georgia, (202) 225-5901
Don Young, Alaska, (202) 225-5765
John Culberson, Texas, (202) 225-2571

Let’s get 2003 off to a great start with a Resources Committee chairman who will listen to us! PLEASE act now!

Mike Hardiman is one of the most knowledgeable and effective lobbyists in Washington, on property rights and resource use issues. He can be reached at hardimanmike@aol.com