WEEKLY UPDATE ON WESTERN CAUCUS MEMBERS TAKING ACTION FOR RURAL AMERICA
CHAMPIONS OF RURAL AMERICA:
BORDER EPISODE
The 5th episode of our T.V. show, “Champions of Rural America,” is now available on YouTube.
This episode features the recent Western Caucus Field Tour to the U.S./ Mexican Border near Sierra Valley, Arizona. Topics include the environmental implications of the current immigration crisis and how farmers and ranchers on the border are impacted.
AMERICA’S WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ACT
Great steps to combat abuse of the Endangered Species Act are being taken.
This week, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Vice Chair and Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Bruce Westerman (AR-04) hosted a press conference covering the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act.
The Act encourages states and tribes to take a more active role in conserving their local species and provide reform to the Endangered Species Act.
“By strengthening relationships between states, tribes, private landowners and the federal government, we can empower them to implement proactive habitat conservation that will make a difference where it counts: on the ground across our abundant outdoors.”
– Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04)
APPROPRIATIONS ACT SERVING WESTERN AND RURAL AMERICA PASSED BY THE HOUSE
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 was passed by the House this week. This legislation includes Agriculture, Energy and Water.
These provisions included many wins for western and rural America including more investments into rural broadband, supporting U.S. uranium production, reducing the EPA’s budget and raising funds for wildfire mitigation, adding the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and more!
NEWSWEEK: OP-ED ON CCP OWNERSHIP OF U.S. FARMLAND
Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse had an op-ed published on Newsweek discussing alarming concerns of the Chinese Communist Party’s interest in buying U.S. Farmland.
In 2021 it was estimated that the CCP owned 40 million acres of U.S. Farmland, but the truth is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no idea just how much farmland the CCP owns on U.S. soil. This is alarming for our national security.