As the Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I want to welcome you, invite you to learn more about the Caucus and encourage you to support our efforts.
2018 marks a significant accomplishment as the Western Caucus celebrates its 25 year anniversary. The Caucus has never been stronger in its quarter-century history and is a dominant force on Capitol Hill currently comprised of 79 bipartisan members from 33 different states and territories.
Initially, the Caucus was born in the West, out of concerns of undue federal interference with rural, agricultural, timber, water, mining and hunting values that had been a part of American society for centuries. The Caucus was founded to fight this federal overreach, promote rural values and preserve our uniquely American way of life. Over time, the Caucus has grown beyond the geographic West, allying with Members of Congress from all across the country who share our values, issues and vision of a stronger America.
Much of the Caucus’s efforts in 2017 were focused on rolling back job-killing regulations from the previous Administration as a result of eight years of overreach and a failure to follow the Rule of Law. The Caucus had a significant number of major wins including: blocking the Obama Administration’s power-grabbing BLM Planning 2.0 rule through public law, passing active forest management reforms through the House, preventing a new "dirt tax" on the hardrock mining industry, opening up ANWR for responsible energy production via law, ratifying legislation in the House to prevent a 425,000-acre Obama land grab in Minnesota, spearheading Congressional efforts to scrap the 10-million-acre Sage Grouse mineral withdrawal. Click HERE to see our 2017 Year in Review.
The Caucus has an aggressive agenda for 2018 and will be putting forth legislative packages to modernize the Endangered Species Act, codify important executive actions by the Administration, restore local control, strengthen the multiple-use doctrine and increase public access to federal lands as well as reduce energy burdens and other job-killing regulations. We are also coordinating closely with the Committees of jurisdiction and the Administration on a new infrastructure package that will create high-quality jobs and improve the quality of life in local communities. Ensuring affordable and safe domestic food production for American families are also important to the Caucus as part of the Farm Bill. Western Caucus Member Mike Conaway has made this legislation a priority launching a landing page to share information. The Caucus will also continue to push for adoption of active forest management reforms like those found in Rep. Westerman's H.R.2936 that was passed by the House of Representatives.
I am filled with optimism and excited to work with our Members, staff, committees, industry, the Administration and the American people to make 2018 the best year yet. My door is always open and I look forward to connecting with you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S.
Chairman, Congressional Western Caucus – (AZ-04)