Michael (Mike) K. Simpson is serving his twelfth term in the House of Representatives for Idaho’s Second Congressional District.
Mike serves on the House Appropriations Committee. He is the Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. He also serves on the Interior and Environment Subcommittee. These committees have jurisdiction over funding for a number of programs critical to Idaho, including the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, our National Parks, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Smithsonian Institute.
Bringing Common Sense to Environmental Policies
As a life-long Idahoan, I am deeply concerned about protecting our environment to ensure that we continue to have clean air to breathe and water to drink, as well as guaranteeing long-term sustainability of ecosystems, habitats, and species. If we take care of our environment, future generations of Idahoans will be able to enjoy the same benefits that we sometimes take for granted today.
I believe that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an important role to play in protecting public health, but like many Idahoans, I am deeply concerned that, under the Obama Administration, the EPA has drastically expanded its regulatory authority. The EPA spent years pumping out new regulations every week, without Congress’s consent, that impacted nearly every facet of Americans’ lives—from whom you could hire to remodel your house to what kind of car you could drive. It is past time for the EPA to get back to their original mandate of protecting clean air and water, not making up new rules and regulations without oversight from Congress and the American people.
As a member of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the EPA, I am working to bring some common sense back to our nation’s environmental policies. We must continue our oversight duties in order to shine some light on how the EPA has been spending the dramatic increases in funding that it has received in recent years and look at whether their regulations and actions are appropriate, given the regulatory authority provided by Congress. I strongly believe that government should be responsive to the people, not force on them policies that they don’t support.
As Congress considers legislation on a wide range of issues, including changes to our energy policies, efforts to protect our watersheds, or plans to manage our natural resources, I will continue to work to strike the right balance with policies that impact our public lands, environment, economy, and the ability of Idahoans to utilize and enjoy the lands around them.