Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a motion (23-17) by Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05) to provide the Committee Chairman with authority to issue subpoenas related to two ongoing oversight investigations: 1) regarding the Secretary of the Interior’s decision and the process to rewrite a coal production regulation; and 2) regarding a Department of the Interior report that implied that peer reviewers from the National Academy of Engineers had endorsed an offshore oil and natural gas drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico.

These investigations have been conducted for over a year and specific document requests have been made to the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies.  Despite promises from President Obama of unprecedented transparency, the Department has failed to fully comply with a single deadline and continues to withhold the vast majority of requested material.

In making the motion, Congressman Lamborn said:

"This six-month drilling moratorium has adversely impacted tens of thousands of citizens through lost wages and jobs, cost business hundreds of thousands of dollars, and incurred litigation costs to defend the moratorium that the court has found to be arbitrary and capricious. The altering of this 30-Day Safety Report is an egregious example of disregarding science and merits a complete examination."

Congressman Lamborn makes a motion to provide the House Natural Resources Committee Chairman authority to issue subpoenas related to two ongoing oversight investigations.

To view short video, click here.

For atranscript of Congressman Lamborn's remarks today, please click here.

Further specific details on each of the oversight investigations and exchanges of letters with the Administration are publically accessible at http://naturalresources.house.gov/oversight.

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