Interior Department Misses Deadline for Document Request
March 29, 2010
Press Release
On February 26th, now more than one month ago, Western Caucus Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01), House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) and other Western Caucus members sent Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar a letter requesting the additional missing pages of an internal DOI document that contained detailed information about the Administration's plans to designate as many as 14 new national monuments and lock up as much as 13 million acres in states throughout the West.
The February letter requested that the Members be in receipt of the missing documents no later than March 26, 2010. Unfortunately, the deadline has passed and there is still no word from Secretary Salazar.
"Since the President and his Cabinet have routinely stated that transparency is among the Administration's highest priorities, fulfilling this document request should have been no problem. In fact, the President has gone so far as to call transparency the ‘touchstone' of his presidency. With the DOI's latest failure to complete this document request, I would hardly say Secretary Salazar is living up to the President's standards," said Bishop. "The DOI must be forthcoming with the information we have requested, and if there is nothing to hide as they claim, then why the delay? Sadly, this is what we have come to expect from the DOI, and frankly, the American people deserve better."
When asked about the leaked DOI memo, Secretary Salazar stated during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that, "There's no hidden agenda on the part of my department."
"If there is no hidden agenda then why do these documents, which are public information, remain under lock and key? Unfortunately for Secretary Salazar, this is where the rubber meets the road, and once again, his rhetoric fails to match reality," Bishop concluded.
The letter requested the following information be delivered by March 26th:
1. All pages of the "Internal Draft" document of which we obtained only pages numbered 15 to 21.
2. With regard to the "brainstorming," a copy of any documents distributed at or in preparation for the meetings, a list of all participants or invitees, any notes taken at the meeting (s), and any memoranda, work product or follow up documents from the meeting(s). All records, electronic or otherwise, of meetings or discussions with private groups, individuals or other persons or entities that are not employees of the Department of the Interior where potential national monument designations were discussed. All notes, agendas, memoranda or documents from those meetings.
3. All documents related to the Secretary's initiative to compile a list of potential national monument designations since July 1, 2009, including, but not limited to, maps.
4. Any communication with any person or entity outside of the Department of the Interior related to the Secretary's initiative since July 1, 2009.
The February letter requested that the Members be in receipt of the missing documents no later than March 26, 2010. Unfortunately, the deadline has passed and there is still no word from Secretary Salazar.
"Since the President and his Cabinet have routinely stated that transparency is among the Administration's highest priorities, fulfilling this document request should have been no problem. In fact, the President has gone so far as to call transparency the ‘touchstone' of his presidency. With the DOI's latest failure to complete this document request, I would hardly say Secretary Salazar is living up to the President's standards," said Bishop. "The DOI must be forthcoming with the information we have requested, and if there is nothing to hide as they claim, then why the delay? Sadly, this is what we have come to expect from the DOI, and frankly, the American people deserve better."
When asked about the leaked DOI memo, Secretary Salazar stated during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that, "There's no hidden agenda on the part of my department."
"If there is no hidden agenda then why do these documents, which are public information, remain under lock and key? Unfortunately for Secretary Salazar, this is where the rubber meets the road, and once again, his rhetoric fails to match reality," Bishop concluded.
The letter requested the following information be delivered by March 26th:
1. All pages of the "Internal Draft" document of which we obtained only pages numbered 15 to 21.
2. With regard to the "brainstorming," a copy of any documents distributed at or in preparation for the meetings, a list of all participants or invitees, any notes taken at the meeting (s), and any memoranda, work product or follow up documents from the meeting(s). All records, electronic or otherwise, of meetings or discussions with private groups, individuals or other persons or entities that are not employees of the Department of the Interior where potential national monument designations were discussed. All notes, agendas, memoranda or documents from those meetings.
3. All documents related to the Secretary's initiative to compile a list of potential national monument designations since July 1, 2009, including, but not limited to, maps.
4. Any communication with any person or entity outside of the Department of the Interior related to the Secretary's initiative since July 1, 2009.
Issues: