U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Thursday, March 19 for her monthly report. Congresswoman Hageman discussed the ongoing war in Iran, the partial government shutdown, her legislation designed to end the Roadless Rule and her legislation designed to cut upfront costs for coal producers.

(0:00) Good morning Star Valley, Kemmerer and Bridger Valley. Thanks for starting your day with the weekday wake up on the SBI Radio Network. (0:08) Heard about you all over town actually.

(0:11) 8.33 this morning on the SBI Radio Network heading into the guest interview segment for this morning and U.S. (0:17) Representative Harriet Hageman joins us today with her monthly report on what’s happening around DC and (0:23) everything across the nation of course as well. Representative, good morning. How are you doing today? (0:29) Good morning, and I’m doing wonderfully.

Hey, thank you so much for your time as always, you know (0:33) I do want to start a little light-hearted if we could we always jump right into some some serious big issues (0:38) But it is the first day of March Madness today representative, and I know that the the president (0:44) It’s always kind of a thing for the the current sitting president to release who they have for their bracket (0:48) Is that something you do? Do you do you get into the bracket and have you picked a champion for March Madness? (0:54) My champion is the University of Wyoming (0:58) Yes (0:58) Love it (1:01) Every time I don’t have to look at anybody else (1:04) Love it absolutely well congresswoman. Let’s get into some of the things happening right now of course one of the big things going on (1:11) Is the war in Iran? (1:13) Maybe just give us your current thoughts and and and where you see things going with with the situation in Iran (1:21) Well, I think they’ve been going very very well, and obviously we’re keeping up (1:26) I don’t we’re getting briefings back here as well (1:29) And then just what’s been reported in the news and clearly they are doing everything that we are doing everything that we can to basically (1:37) Change the dynamic of what has been going on in the Middle East for the last almost 50 years (1:42) I think that this is a long time in the coming (1:45) Many people have accused the president of starting a war and it is my position that he’s finally ending one (1:51) from the moment that the ayatollahs (1:53) Took power in in 1979 they have been screeching death to America (1:59) I and then they have pursued that agenda. I remember the (2:05) 1979 revolution very very well their first move was to take Americans hostage for (2:11) 440 some days (2:13) And then you look at the the bombing in Beirut (2:16) I can still see the pictures from the magazines after that after that horrific terrorist attack (2:23) so they are a malign influence in the Middle East and I think that we finally have a chance for stability and (2:30) certainty and freedom (2:32) For the Iranian people as well, and I think that it is again something that should have happened a long time ago (2:39) But I think we’re finally getting rid of what has been just an absolutely horrific regime (2:44) controlling in (2:46) dictatorship and (2:47) Controlling and the mass killings and the attacks on Israel.

I’m hoping all of that will now end (2:53) Congresswoman one of the one of the things that seems to be a little different this time around compared to other conflicts in the Middle (2:59) East is what happens when when America is done with the attacks and (3:05) The president saying he doesn’t want to be part of the rebuild process (3:09) How do you see that working out when it when it all does come to a close? (3:12) To try and help Iran get the right people in place (3:16) So one of the things that I think is very (3:18) Significant in terms of what we are doing is we are attempting to preserve the infrastructure that they are going to need to generate (3:25) Revenue to rebuild so even on the island while they have taken out a port of quite a bit of the of the (3:34) defensive or the military (3:37) Installation they did not hit the oil wells and the and the oil infrastructure the oil field (3:43) So I think that that is a very important thing because they are going to need to have the funds to rebuild and that’s the way (3:49) That they can do it. I think that what happened in Venezuela (3:52) I think that was a precursor to what the president was planning to do in Iran (3:57) I think they’re doing everything that they can to rapidly (4:01) Restart and and bolster that oil industry in Venezuela (4:05) Not only for the people of Venezuela (4:07) So they can finally move forward in a much better way than they have had for the last couple of decades with Chavez and Maduro (4:15) And I am also hoping that they will be able to export as well (4:20) I did read that they’re hoping that they can be back up over 50% of production by the end of the year (4:26) Which would be an absolute miracle (4:28) I think it is one of the reasons that the president brought in all the oil companies as soon as the situation in Venezuela (4:34) Unfolded because he wants the private industry to go back in there and invest in their infrastructure and their ability to produce (4:41) Much needed fuel for around the world. So I also think that the Middle Eastern countries themselves are going to step up (4:48) Because they didn’t like around the Iranian leadership either whether it’s Saudi Arabia or Jordan or the UAE (4:54) They didn’t they were not (4:56) Close allies of the Iranian leadership because the Iranian leadership (5:00) Created such instability in the entire region.

So hopefully they will step forward and invest in the reconstruction (5:09) Congresswoman Harriet Hageman on the weekday wake up this morning congresswoman. Let’s talk about the the ongoing partial government shutdown and (5:16) Give us the latest negotiations that are happening in DC. And do you see this coming to a conclusion anytime soon? (5:22) Well, it never should have happened in the first place (5:24) We had already negotiated the deal between both the House and the Senate and the Democrats and the Republicans for fully funding the government (5:32) and then the Democrats balked because of the (5:35) Immigration enforcement that has been going on around the country and I think most specifically in Minnesota (5:40) So we passed that house has voted twice now to fund the fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (5:48) Including the TSA the Coast Guard and FEMA and the Democrats in the Senate are continuing to block it.

So that’s the situation (5:56) I do (5:57) understand that there have been some discussions about whether to peel off certain agencies and fund those and I think that the (6:04) There’s there’s quite a bit of opposition to that. We need to fund the into the agency in its entirety and (6:11) So we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days. We just finished our last vote for the week (6:16) So I’m heading back to Wyoming, but the house has done his job yet again to fund the agencies (6:22) And hopefully there will be some cooler heads pervade prevail in the Senate (6:27) Congresswoman, I understand you also introduced some legislation last month that would nullify the roadless rule which goes clear back to the Clinton administration (6:34) For those who are unfamiliar with the roadless rule.

Tell us what this is and why you would like to see it go away (6:41) So one of the very last things that Bill Clinton did on his way out of office in January 2001 was (6:48) Put it in place what’s called the roadless rule and it relates to our Forest Service lands (6:53) What it was designed to do and what it has done is it has it’s blocked access management and use (7:01) To 58.5 million acres of National Forest Service lands (7:04) Our National Forest Service was created by the Organic Act of (7:09) 1897 and it was put within the Department of Agriculture not the Department of Interior and our Forest Service lands were always to be managed and (7:17) Providing commodities a continuous supply of timber a continuous supply of water to be used for grazing (7:23) multiple use etc (7:24) so when there’s a hundred ninety two million acres in total of the National Forest within the National Forest Service and (7:32) So the roadless rule (7:35) Really basically put off limits well over one-third of all of our National Forests and it’s been absolutely (7:41) Catastrophic in the intervening 25 years for example nine of the ten most (7:47) Catastrophic forest fires that we have suffered in our National Forests have occurred in the lot since the roadless rule was adopted (7:54) Even our own National Forests in the state of Wyoming such as the Bighorn National Forest is way (8:01) You know overstocked in terms of a monolithic forest that is very unhealthy, you know the fire that occurred in (8:08) 2024 in the Bighorn Mountains that fire burned (8:12) 25,000 acres in three hours and that’ll give you an idea of the fuel load (8:17) That we have in that particular National Forest and others around the country (8:21) you’ve seen the insect infestations that that have devastated and decimated our National Forest as (8:28) Again, the the catastrophic forest fires. This is not the way our forests were supposed to be managed (8:33) This is not what the intent was when they were the National Forest Service was created (8:37) so the for the Forest Service under Brooke Rollins is actually (8:44) Repealing the roadless rule, but I don’t want another administration to come in and do what the Clinton administration did (8:50) So I have introduced a bill to also repeal the roadless rule so that it cannot go into effect with the future (8:57) Administration (8:59) Congresswoman, let’s talk coal for a little bit (9:01) Of course huge in Wyoming and earlier this month (9:04) You also introduced some legislation that would reform bonus bids to try and help cut up front costs for production (9:11) Tell us more about this (9:13) So yes, Duke. This is a very important bill for the health and well-being of our coal companies (9:18) There is a bonus bid requirement that right now is front loaded (9:22) So our coal companies when they seek to expand their operations, they have to (9:28) Pay the federal government millions actually tens of millions of dollars in order to expand their operations (9:34) But it can take as many as 10 or 12 years to actually earn that revenue back (9:39) So with the front-end loading that we have with our this bonus bid requirement (9:44) It is actually hindering our ability to expand our operations (9:49) And we’re being told by our coal companies that despite the fact that we have hundreds of years of reserves (9:55) Just in Wyoming alone being the largest coal producer (9:57) We are getting to the point where we are potentially going to be having a shortage of coal (10:03) Production because the companies just simply cannot afford these various federal requirements that they have (10:09) So I am not changing the amount that the coal companies will have to pay to the federal government for these bonus bids (10:16) But I am spreading it out over a longer period of time rather than the first five years (10:21) I am doing it so that they can match that they can match their revenue with their their cost outlays and payment of these bonus (10:27) Bids so rather than a five-year front-end loading we can do it over a ten-year period which would better matter match their income stream (10:35) And allow them to continue to expand without going broke (10:39) And of course this all has to in the long term has to do with energy production (10:43) I’m assuming right to try and keep up with the oh, yeah growing demand (10:48) And it is a growing demand across the country and one other thing that I think is very important with these terrible storms that we’ve (10:54) Had in the Midwest and East Coast this year these blizzards and storms (10:58) 100% of the energy that has been consumed to keep the lights on in the houses warm has been either coal oil or gas or (11:06) uranium nuclear (11:07) So wind and solar cannot they do not work at the time that you most need them (11:14) And that’s just a fact of life (11:16) That’s just the way the feasibility and the technology that is available so coal demand is increasing with data centers (11:24) And AI and just what we need to power our economy (11:29) That’s us congresswoman Harriet Hageman of Wyoming this morning congresswoman as always really do appreciate your time anything else (11:35) You’d like to mention while we have you today (11:38) Well Duke, I’m still getting around the state doing town halls last week.

I did five in five different counties (11:44) I was in Wyoming during that horrific windstorm (11:46) Last Thursday so experience that with everyone else (11:50) I’m hoping and praying that we can get some moisture across our beautiful state (11:54) Start growing the grass and getting our fields prepared for planting so I look forward to being back in Wyoming (12:01) I appreciate all your listeners, and and what you do in keeping your listeners informed (12:06) So thank you very much, and we’ll talk to you soon absolutely that’s us congresswoman Harriet Hageman of Wyoming this morning (12:12) It’s the weekday wake up on SVI radio