Labrador named chairman of House natural resources panel

Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador has been named chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

The subcommittee has oversight and investigative authority over all activities, policies and programs within the jurisdiction of the full Natural Resources Committee. That includes the Department of Interior and shared jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service.

Its portfolio ranges from public lands to national parks, mining, fisheries, relations with American Indian tribes, irrigation and reclamation and coastal management.

“I am honored to lead this subcommittee and help hold federal agencies accountable,” Labrador said in a news release. “Idaho and the West have suffered under misguided and overreaching policies that hurt rural communities and our natural resource economy. I look forward to providing common-sense Idaho leadership, improving policy implementation and making sure our tax dollars are spent appropriately and wisely.”

Labrador recently was elected to a fourth term representing Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. He also serves on the House Judiciary Committee, where he is vice-chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.

“As a Westerner, Congressman Labrador understands the importance of natural resource issues to our states, communities and economy,” said Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah. “I can count on him to shine a bright light on a broad range of federal actions. The subcommittee’s work will help the full committee ensure the executive branch is properly implementing the laws of the United States and doing so fairly and efficiently, and helping to uncover waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds.”