Amodei Assigned to Serve on Natural Resources Committee

With the city of Fernley still hoping for the passage of a lands bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representative by Rep. Mark Amodei, the city welcomed news last week that Amodei was granted a waiver by House leadership to sit on the Natural Resources Committee.

The waiver allows Amodei to serve on the Natural Resources Committee as well as the House Committee on Appropriations.

“I think that’s very beneficial considering how landlocked we are and as we move forward,” Nick Vander Poel, the city’s lobbyist, said during the Dec. meeting of the Fernley City Council.

A bill sponsored by Amodei in the U.S. House of Representatives that would give Fernley the right to purchase more than 12,000 acres of federal land within the city was passed through the Committee on Natural Resources on Nov. 20, but didn’t make it into the government funding bill and must be re-introduced next year.

“I see a really good opportunity for that to go through a lot quicker under his guidance serving on that committee,” Vander Poel said,

Amodei said it’s imperative for Nevada to have strong representation on the Natural Resources Committee, given Nevada's wealth of natural resources and the fact that 85% of the state is federally owned.

“Securing a waiver from leadership is no easy task, especially when you are chairing a key Appropriations Subcommittee, such as Homeland Security,” Amodei said. "There is no stronger position to advance Nevada’s needs than serving as the Vice Chair on the Appropriations Interior Subcommittee while also being a member of the Natural Resources Committee. I look forward to hitting the ground running regarding federal land management policy in the 119^th Congress.”

The House Committee on Natural Resources considers legislation about American energy production, mineral lands and mining, fisheries and wildlife, public lands, oceans, Native Americans, irrigation and reclamation.

Amodei is the only Republican member of the Nevada Congressional delegation. He served on the House Natural Resources Committee in the 112th and 113th Congress, helping pass Nevada lands bills and introducing the National Strategic and Critical Mineral Production Act. He has served for more than 10 years on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.