Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on “American Energy Jobs: Opportunities for Skilled Trades Workers.” The hearing examined the well-paying jobs opportunities for technical and skilled workers that have been created by the recent American energy boom. Unemployment in the United States remains at 6.7 percent, whereas states like North Dakota with a… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following speech today at the Western Regional Forest Resources Association Spring Meeting in Pasco, WA. In the speech, Chairman Hastings talked about the House bill (H.R. 1526) that would put tens of thousands of Americans back to work, provide stable funding for counties to use for education and… Read more »

OP ED: Welders Make $150,000? Bring Back Shop Class Josh Mandel Wall Street Journal In American high schools, it is becoming increasingly hard to defend the vanishing of shop class from the curriculum. The trend began in the 1970s, when it became conventional wisdom that a four-year college degree was essential. As Forbes magazine reported in… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on “American Energy Jobs: Opportunities for Women and Minorities.” The energy sector provides stable, well-paying jobs with an average salary much higher than other sectors. The hearing examined the growing opportunities for women and minorities in the energy field and how their role will continue to… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement praising the Republican budget released today by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan: “The Republican budget is a responsible plan to cut spending, lower the debt, and ensure long-term job and economic growth. It prioritizes expanded American energy production and recognizes that new… Read more »

Domestic energy execs ask Congress for help in hiring vets, including changes to GI Bill By Fox News 2/26/14 U.S. energy executives asked Congress on Wednesday to consider reworking the GI Bill and to take other steps to better connect the legions of job-seeking military veterans with tens of thousands of high-paying jobs in their industry. The executives told a House subcommittee… Read more »

During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Obama once again talked about the need to create American jobs. However, we’ve heard that before. Despite the repeated promises, the most recent jobs report painted a much more realistic picture of the President’s efforts. The economy added only 74,000 jobs, far less than the expected 193,000, and saw over 300,000 Americans leave the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s Full Committee oversight hearing on “Obama Administration’s War on Coal: The Recent Report by the Office of the Inspector General.” “We’re here today to discuss the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General’s new report on the Office of Surface Mining… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings delivered the following statement on the House floor today in support of H.R. 2728, the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act: “Mr. Chairman, the Obama Administration is once again attempting to block new American energy production – keeping energy prices high and hurting middle-class families. The… Read more »

Shale oil and natural gas activity contributed over 1.7 million jobs in 2012 and will increase by over 45% to almost 2.5 million jobs in 2015. 500,000 non-oil and natural gas manufacturing jobs are supported by shale oil and natural gas.

The Obama Administration's proposed federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing would cost American jobs, decrease American energy production, increase energy prices, and harm economic growth.

Learn more about the bill here.