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Gavels for Sale: GOP Committee Chairs Call To Despite some platitudes promising bipartisan language when taking control of both the House and Senate, it’s clear that the Republicans will continue to offer Koch-funded, Tea Party extremism and partisan investigations. The GOP kicked off the 114th Congress by yet again governing by crisis with threats to shutdown the Department of Homeland Security over their opposition to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The Senate refuses to bring Loretta Lynch’s nomination for Attorney General to a vote for partisan reasons. As President Obama stated, the highly qualified candidate’s nomination, “will have been languishing on the Senate floor for longer than the seven previous attorneys general combined.” They proposed an anti-choice measure that was so extreme female Republicans revolted. The committee chairs that were selected by the GOP are also indicative of their direction for this Congress. This latest crop of chairs is often openly antagonistic to the very missions of the government agencies they oversee, and beholden to the industries they are charged with regulating. These chairs have already continued the model started by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who honed the GOP’s strategy of using chairmanships for partisan witch-hunts rather than legitimate congressional oversight. The most obvious example of this method is the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which is costing taxpayers millions even though seven prior investigations found no wrongdoing on the part of the administration. Diversity also didn’t seem to be a major factor during the selection process. All of the 40 current House, Senate, and joint committee chairs are white. You have to dive into the subcommittee level to find any legislators of color. And despite a record number of women winning last November, there are only two committees chaired by women: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in the Senate and Candice Miller (R-MI) in the House. Shortly after being named chair of the House Administration Committee, Miller – a six-term Congresswoman – announced that she would not seek reelection. Bloomberg noted that Miller’s committee is “known more for tending to granular details – overseeing federal elections, parking lots and cafeterias – than grabbing headlines.” SENATE The Senate committee chairs are mostly comprised of familiar faces with longstanding ties to the industries they are meant to regulate. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is once again taking the helm of the Committee on Environment and Public Works. The notorious global warming denier announced his plans to scuttle environmental regulations, which should please his largest donor: the oil and gas industry. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) – also coming back for his second go-around as chair of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee – has spent the last few years trying to undermine Dodd-Frank and consumer protection while being bankrolled by big banks. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has been hostile to both NASA and NOAA during his short tenure as head of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. As another climate change denier, Cruz argued that funding NASA earth science budget is inappropriate because they should only focus on exploring space. Environment & Public Works – Jim Inhofe Sen. James Inhofe took over as chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in the 114th session of Congress. He was previously chair of the same committee from 2003 to 2007. Known as the Senate’s chief climate change denier, Inofe even wrote a book titled “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.” Inhofe previously served as a member of the House of Representatives and as the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. INHOFE IS CHIEF CLIMATE DENIER IN SENATE Inhofe Was Previously Chairman Of The Environment & Public Works Committee From 2003 To 2007. According to the New Republic, “The Republican takeover of the Senate means that the chamber’s worst climate-change denier, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, will likely become the chair of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. […] It doesn’t take much guesswork to know the next chairman's priorities, and not only because Inhofe has written a book claiming that global warming is ‘the greatest hoax.’ Inhofe was already once chairman of the committee from 2003 to 2007.” [New Republic, 11/7/14] Inhofe: “Man-Made Global Warming Is The Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated On The American People.” According to the New York Times, “In a two-hour speech on July 28 on the Senate floor, Senator James M. Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who is chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said: ‘With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it.’ Mr. Inhofe convened a hearing on Tuesday that focused on the work of the small core of researchers who insist that there is no evidence for human-caused warming of any import. A spokesman for Mr. Inhofe, Michael Catanzaro, defended the hearing, saying its goal was ‘to strip away political factors and just get to the hard science.’” [New York Times, 8/5/03] • Inhofe Later Wrote A Book Titled “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.” According to Politico, “The 79-year-old former insurance executive has cited the Bible as proof that climate science is a fraud and urged the Justice Department to investigate academic researchers working on the subject. In 2012, he wrote the book ‘The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.’” [Politico, 11/10/14] Inhofe Invited Climate Skeptics To Hearings. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “Sen. James Inhofe, in his last hearing as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, blamed Hollywood and the news media Wednesday for ‘hyping’ the view that humans are causing global warming. […] The views of the witnesses at Wednesday's hearing held few surprises. Two of the witnesses, David Deming, a University of Oklahoma geophysicist, and Dan Gainor of the Business and Media Institute, have written opinion columns praising Inhofe's skepticism on global warming. A third witness, paleoclimate researcher Bob Carter of Australia's James Cook University, has penned scathing critiques of Europe's efforts to curb greenhouse gases.” [San Francisco Chronicle, 12/07/07] Inhofe: Senate Environment Committee Is “Wasting All Of Our Time On All That Silly Stuff, All The Hearings On Global Warming.” According to Greenwire, “The Senate's top global warming skeptic is confident he'll reclaim the gavel of the Environment and Public Works Committee next year, and he's got big plans in store. […] His top priority, he says, is to stop ‘wasting time’ on global warming hearings and get down to business on issues he says have been neglected, like overseeing U.S. EPA and passing major transportation and water infrastructure bills. ‘We haven't really been doing anything because they've been wasting all of our time on all that silly stuff, all the hearings on global warming and all that,’ Inhofe said.” [Greenwire via New York Times, 9/17/10] Inhofe And Heartland Institute Presented A Petition Demanding Congress Rein In “Rogue” EPA. According to a press release from the Heartland Institute, “The Heartland Institute has collected more than 15,000 signatures on a petition demanding Congress rein in a ‘rogue’ Environmental Protection Agency. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and The Heartland Institute will present the petitions to Congress at a public event in the Capitol Visitors Center.” [Heartland Institute Press Release, 11/21/12] • Heartland Is “The Primary American Organization Pushing Climate Change Skepticism.” According to the New York Times, “At gatherings of climate change skeptics on both sides of the Atlantic, Dr. Lindzen has been treated as a star. During a debate in Australia over carbon taxes, his work was cited repeatedly. When he appears at conferences of the Heartland Institute, the primary American organization pushing climate change skepticism, he is greeted by thunderous applause.” [New York Times, 4/30/12] INHOFE’S AGENDA AS CHAIRMAN Inhofe Promised To Use Congressional Review Act To Scuttle Regulations. According to Slate, “After Senate leadership elections on Thursday, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe—a top opponent of legislation intended to curb climate change and the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—explained the steps his caucus will take. […] So Congressional Republicans will look to block new EPA regulations, using the Congressional Review Act. Inhofe said they will also look to use the normal legislative process to overturn older regulations.” [Slate, 11/24/14] Inhofe Said He Plans To “Fight Changes In The Enforcement Of The Endangered Species Act.” According to the Tulsa World, “Inhofe's resistance to climate regulations, especially as they relate to carbon emissions, have gotten the most publicity, but his animosity is much broader. He has promised to fight changes in the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, the definition of federally controlled water and even fuel storage.” [Tulsa World, 12/29/14] Inhofe After U.S.-China Climate Deal Announced: “I Will Do Everything In My Power To Rein In And Shed Light On The EPA’s Unchecked Regulations.” According to the Washington Post, “GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe
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