Hill Heat

The purpose of the business meeting is to consider the nominations and legislation on the below agenda.

Nominees

• PN. 806-2, William Hague, of Washington, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular, International, and Ocean Affairs, vice Carmen G. Cantor, resigned. Reported favorably on party lines 11-9, McCormick aye by proxy.
• PN. 806-5, Kevin Lilly, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, vice Shannon Aneal Estenoz, resigned. Reported favorably with Sen. Heinrich joining Republicans in favor 12-8, McCormick aye by proxy.
• PN. 852-3, Kaveh Farzad, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (International Affairs), vice Andrew Eilperin Light, resigned. Reported favorably on party lines 11-9, McCormick aye by proxy.

Hague is a long-time AT&T executive and major campaign donor to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Kevin Lilly is the acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the Interior Department—a position that oversees both the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lilly is a Texas wealth manager with no conservation experience. He holds the acting position illegally.

Lilly resigned his position as the chair of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in order to join the Trump administration as a political appointee. Lilly founded Avalon Advisors, the “largest privately owned wealth management firm in Texas,” according to Southwestern University.

Farzad serves as Managing Director for Global Public Affairs and as Director at FGS Global. During the first Trump administration, he served as the Arabian Peninsula and West Africa Lead at the U.S. Department of Energy, as Chief Speechwriter and Communications Advisor to the U.S. Embassy of the Holy See and as Public Affairs Specialist for the Bureau of Energy Resources at the U.S. Department of State. He was previously a Senior Communications Officer at the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Sens. Heinrich and Hickenlooper attended to provide a quorum despite the absence of Sen. McCormick (R-Pa.).

According to Organ Mountain News, Heinrich said Lilly “had taken his calls, listened to his concerns and demonstrated a willingness to work with him.”

“For that reason, I will vote to report his nomination,” Heinrich said.

Legislation

• S. 365/H.R. 1729, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado. (Mr. Bennet/Rep. Neguse).
• S. 764, to provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation management areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes. (Mr. Bennet).
• S. 791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes. (Mr. Van Hollen).
• S. 888, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, and for other purposes. (Mr. Wyden).
• S. 945, to amend the Smith River National Recreation Area Act to include certain additions to the Smith River National Recreation Area, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain wild rivers in the State of Oregon, and for other purposes. (Mr. Merkley).
• S. 1088, to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, and for other purposes. (Mrs. Shaheen).
• S. 1175, to amend section 6903 of title 31, United States Code, to provide for additional population tiers, and for other purposes. (Mr. Daines).
• S. 1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, and for other purposes. (Mr. Hickenlooper).
• S. 1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws. (Ms. Cortez Masto).
• S. 1413, to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. (Mr. Padilla).
• S. 1476, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Gila River system in the State of New Mexico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes. (Mr. Heinrich).
• S. 1737, to designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, and for other purposes. (Mrs. Murray).
• S. 1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. (Mr. Schiff).
• S. 2554, to provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes. (Ms. Murkowski).
• S. 2754/H.R. 5911, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the City of Ouray, Colorado, certain land managed by the Forest Service, together with a reservoir. (Mr. Bennet/Rep. Hurd).
• S. 3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, and for other purposes. (Mr. Padilla).
• S. 3725, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to expand the capacity and reach of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc. (doing business as “Lewis & Clark Regional Water System”), in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. (Mr. Thune).
• S. 3732, to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, and for other purposes. (Mr. Gallego).
• H.R. 249, to redesignate certain facilities at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Rep. Pallone).