Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio was named by his fellow Democrats to be the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee Thursday after the rival candidate, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, withdrew his candidacy.
“I believe that for Oregon this could be really good,” said DeFazio, noting that the panel deals with a host of public land issues important to the state, including the contentious issue of managing federal forests in Oregon.
Since Democrats in the House are
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Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio was named by his fellow Democrats to be the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee Thursday after the rival candidate, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, withdrew his candidacy.
“I believe that for Oregon this could be really good,” said DeFazio, noting that the panel deals with a host of public land issues important to the state, including the contentious issue of managing federal forests in Oregon.
Since Democrats in the House are in the minority, their sway is limited. But DeFazio said he has a good relationship with the committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. Doc Hasting of Washington.
In his candidacy for the ranking spot — left vacant by the election of Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., to the Senate — Grijalva leaned heavily on the support of several environmentalists. And he charged that DeFazio wasn’t sufficiently supportive of strong environmental laws.
DeFazio scoffed at that and emphasized his own seniority over Grijalva on the committee. DeFazio won a 33-16 vote Wednesday of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and on Thursday, Grijalva dropped his bid to take the issue to the full House Democratic Caucus.
Perhaps the biggest issue that DeFazio will grapple with on the committee is legislation aimed at increasing the timber harvest on federal lands once owned by the Oregon & California Railroad.
DeFazio hopes to include the legislation in a broader federal lands bill being put together by Hastings and sent to the Senate. There, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is working on his own legislation regarding the O&C lands.
–Jeff Mapes