BRC Urges Congress to Stop the Taxpayer Funded Abuse of the Legal System
Congress to investigate, "Taxpayer-Funded Litigation" Hearing tomorrow.
Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,
The House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a Full Committee Oversight Hearing on "Taxpayer-Funded Litigation: Benefitting Lawyers and Harming Species, Jobs and Schools."
See announcement below.
The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) has been abused by environmental groups for many years. BRC is strongly urging Congress to stop the taxpayer-funded abuse of the legal system. The EAJA is being used by anti-access groups as a way to expand their closure agenda, and the agencies can't even tell us how much money has been paid out via EAJA claims.
BRC applauds Chairman Hastings for pursuing this issue.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact us.
Brian Hawthorne Ric Foster
Public Lands Policy Director Public Lands Department Manager
BlueRibbon Coalition BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102 208-237-1008 ext 107
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Full Committee Oversight Hearing on "Taxpayer-Funded Litigation: Benefitting Lawyers and Harming Species, Jobs and Schools"
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:
• "Taxpayer-Funded Litigation: Benefitting Lawyers and Harming Species, Jobs and Schools"
WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:
Panel I
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
United States Senator
Alabama
The Honorable Cynthia Lummis
Member, House of Representatives
Wyoming (At - Large)
Panel II
The Honorable Jerry Patterson
Commissioner
Texas General Land Office
Austin, Texas
John Stokes
Facilities Development Project Coordinator
San Diego Unified School District
San Diego, California
Daniel Rohlf
Professor
Lewis and Clark Law School
Portland, Oregon
Kent Holsinger
Attorney
Holsinger Law
Denver, Colorado
BACKGROUND:
This hearing follows a number of transparency request letters (3/19/12) and (5/31/12) sent by Chairman Hastings to help determine the cost and impact of taxpayer-funded attorneys fees and time spent on Endangered Species Act (ESA) litigation. The goal of the ESA is to conserve key domestic species, yet it's increasingly being used by special interest groups to file lawsuits - or file petitions threatening lawsuits - to drive federal agencies to make agenda-driven decisions not based on verifiable data or sound science or priority, but to block economic and job-creating activities. With a one percent recovery rate, and hundreds of more species being forced onto the ESA list, federal taxpayers and existing endangered species deserve better. Transparency and accountability are helping shed light on how ESA is being abused by litigation and the facts distorted by advocacy groups.
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:
Committee on Natural Resources
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC
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Taxpayer Funded Eco Suits On Doc's Radar
Moderator: Grumpy
-
Grumpy
- Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
- Posts: 6049
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
- Location: Kennewick, WA
Taxpayer Funded Eco Suits On Doc's Radar
Dave
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
-
Grumpy
- Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
- Posts: 6049
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
- Location: Kennewick, WA
This should be on the Committee website live, and archived for those of us not able to watch.
Dave
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
-
Grumpy
- Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
- Posts: 6049
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
- Location: Kennewick, WA
For Immediate Release, June 27, 2012
Contact: Bill Snape, (202) 536-9351
Hastings Relies on False Information in Attacks on Endangered Species Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity today called on Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) to correct false information about attorney fees collected in cases involving the Endangered Species Act. A June 19 statement posted on the House Natural Resources Committee’s website incorrectly claims that U.S. Department of Justice documents showed the Center had collected more than $2 million in attorney fees from fiscal year 2009 to present. In fact, the amount the Center received was $553,000 — about 3.6 percent of the total attorney fees paid out by the government on Endangered Species Act cases, according to the Justice Department figures.
In his latest attack on the Endangered Species Act, Hastings is trying to claim that environmental groups are getting rich from lawsuits designed to protect our most imperiled plants and animals from extinction.
“The government’s own figures simply don’t bear out the tired, debunked story that Representative Hastings is peddling,â€
Contact: Bill Snape, (202) 536-9351
Hastings Relies on False Information in Attacks on Endangered Species Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity today called on Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) to correct false information about attorney fees collected in cases involving the Endangered Species Act. A June 19 statement posted on the House Natural Resources Committee’s website incorrectly claims that U.S. Department of Justice documents showed the Center had collected more than $2 million in attorney fees from fiscal year 2009 to present. In fact, the amount the Center received was $553,000 — about 3.6 percent of the total attorney fees paid out by the government on Endangered Species Act cases, according to the Justice Department figures.
In his latest attack on the Endangered Species Act, Hastings is trying to claim that environmental groups are getting rich from lawsuits designed to protect our most imperiled plants and animals from extinction.
“The government’s own figures simply don’t bear out the tired, debunked story that Representative Hastings is peddling,â€
Dave
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.
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