{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=13&itemid=1567", "Grijalva Letter Calls on Interior Sec. Jewell, Agriculture Sec. Vilsack to Halt Extraction on Federal Lands Until Visitors Can Return", "2013-10-03", "2013", "2013-10", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Ra\u00fal Grijalva", "G000551", "grijalva.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Grijalva sent a letter (text below) to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Oct. 3 urging the end of mining, drilling and other extractive activities on federal lands until employees and visitors are no longer locked out. The letter highlights the risk of environmental damage, the shortage of manpower available to respond to emergencies, and the economic damage being done to small businesses \u2013 such as concessionaires and outdoor guides \u2013 currently unable to access the public lands on which they rely for income.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t^^^\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tOct. 3, 2013\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe Honorable Sally Jewell\r\n\r\n\tSecretary of the Interior\r\n\r\n\tDepartment of the Interior\r\n\r\n\t1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe Honorable Tom Vilsack\r\n\r\n\tSecretary of Agriculture\r\n\r\n\tDepartment of Agriculture\r\n\r\n\tWashington, D.C. 20250\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tDear Secretary Jewell and Secretary Vilsack,\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tDespite the federal government shutdown making national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges\r\n\r\n\tand many other important sites unavailable to the public, oil and gas drilling and other extraction\r\n\r\n\tactivities continue on our federal public lands. The lack of oversight of these potentially\r\n\r\n\thazardous activities greatly concerns me, especially because of the scarcity of manpower to\r\n\r\n\trespond to emergencies, pollution issues or other rapid response needs.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tI am equally concerned about the many businesses that rely on our public lands. Concessionaires\r\n\r\n\tthat operate facilities within our public parks and other federal lands have been locked out by the\r\n\r\n\tshutdown. So have river and trail guides who rely on public lands and waterways to make a\r\n\r\n\tliving. Small businesses cannot afford to be cut off from their main - in some cases sole - source\r\n\r\n\tof income.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThis disparity greatly disturbs me, as does the ongoing environmental risk to sensitive outdoor\r\n\r\n\tareas. I urgently request the immediate cessation of mining, drilling and other extractive\r\n\r\n\tactivities on our federal public lands until we end the shutdown and cease the lockout of federal\r\n\r\n\temployees and visitors.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tVery respectfully,\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tRep. Raul M. Grijalva\r\n\r\n\tRanking Member, House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=13&itemid=1567"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.592995598912239, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}