This week, Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva, Ranking Member on the Congressional Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Landsand Environmental Regulation, announced his intention to seek the Ranking Member position of the full Natural Resources Committee in the 114th Congress upon Rep. Peter DeFazio departing to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Over the years, Grijalva, whose district is home to the 8th poorest metropolitan are in the country, has aggressively blocked job creating mining projects, and approval for the Keystone Pipeline.
Grijalva says he is seeking the Ranking Membership “as someone with the experience needed to effectively check threats to vital protections that are sure to come under the Republican-led Congress and Senate.” Grijalva stated that he would provide “the voice of reason needed to lead Natural Resources Democrats in the 114th Congress.”
Grijalva, who vied for the position upon Rep. Ed Markey’s departure and then withdrew his bid in the 113th Congress, had received support from national environmental groups, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and national Latino organizations, including a resolution passed by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) supporting his bid.
His track record includes the creation of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which has been used to block many projects that would bring jobs to his district. He also played a leading role in creating a permanent National Landscape Conservation System within the Department of Interior, and led efforts to impose a ban on uranium mining.