During the 113^th Congress, House Republicans have remained focused on creating new American jobs and growing the economy. Unfortunately, there are dozens of House-passed jobs bills, including several from the Natural Resources Committee, that remain stuck in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Collectively, these bills would create over a million new jobs, help families and small businesses by lowering gasoline and electricity prices, reduce our Nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and lower our national debt by generating over a billion dollars in new revenue.

“While American families struggle to find employment, put food on the table, and pay monthly bills, Harry Reid and the Democrat-controlled Senate continue to sit on the sidelines. Dozens of House-passed jobs bills have been lost in the black hole of the Senate,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04). “Our Nation’s natural resources, including energy, minerals, water, and timber, are necessary for a strong, competitive economy. Our Committee has passed numerous jobs bills, aimed at responsibly harnessing these natural resources and cutting red-tape, that deserve immediate action by the Senate.”

House Natural Resources Committee Jobs Bills Awaiting Senate Action:

• Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act
  H.R. 1526 would renew the federal government's commitment to manage federal forests for the benefit of rural schools and counties. This legislation would create over 200,000 direct and indirect jobs; provide stable funding for counties to use for education and infrastructure; save taxpayers nearly $400 million over 10 years; improve local management of our federal forests; and help reduce the risk of wildfires.

• Offshore Energy and Jobs Act
  H.R. 2231 would open new areas to offshore energy production that contain the greatest amount of oil and natural gas resources. It would generate $1.5 billion in new revenue over ten years according to the Congressional Budget Office and could create up to 1.2 million long-term jobs.

• Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act of 2013
  H.R. 1965 is a package of bills to protect and expand onshore American energy production and create new American jobs by streamlining government red-tape and regulations. The package includes:
  • Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, which would reform the leasing process for onshore oil and natural gas projects on federal lands, reform the process for energy permitting, and set clear rules for the development of U.S. oil shale resources.
  • Planning for American Energy Act, which would establish common sense steps to create an all-of-the-above American energy plan for using federal lands to meet our Nation's energy needs.
  • National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act, which would unlock the full potential of energy resources in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).
  • BLM Live Internet Auctions Act, which would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to conduct internet-based auctions for onshore leases.
  • Native American Energy Act, which would streamline burdensome and duplicative government regulations that are blocking Indian tribes from developing energy resources on their own land and creating new jobs.

• Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act
  H.R. 2728 would protect American jobs and American energy production by limiting the Obama Administration's ability to impose duplicative regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. According to a study by IHS, 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.

• National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act
  HR. 761 would allow the United States to more efficiently develop its strategic and critical minerals, such as rare earth elements, that are vital to job creation, American economic competitiveness, and national security. For every job in metals mining, an estimated 2.3 additional jobs are generated, and for every nonmetals mining job, an additional 1.6 jobs are created.

• Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act
  H.R. 1963 would remove outdated federal statutory barriers to conduit hydropower development at eleven Bureau of Reclamation projects in the inter-mountain west. This will create jobs and generate thousands of mega-watts of hydropower at no cost to taxpayers and will create revenue for local power providers and the federal government.

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