House Natural Resources Committee GOP membership set for 113th Congress

Four new faces, and an old one, will join the Republican majority on the House Natural Resources Committee when the 113th Congress opens next month.

Newly-elected U.S. Representatives Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Steve Daines of Montana, Doug LaMalfa of California, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Chris Stewart of Utah will join the panel.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., will also re-join the committee after an absence during the current Congress.

It is not likely that any of the new members of the committee will change its existing orientation toward support of more lenient regulation of energy extraction activities. A look at the websites of all five of the newly-chosen GOP members indicates at least some degree of sympathy to that viewpoint.

The panel's chairman will continue to be Rep. Richard N. "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash.

The Democratic minority on the Natural Resources Committee in the new Congress may also include some new faces. However, a spokesman for the committee's Democratic members said the question of who will represent the party on the committee when it convenes in January is not yet determined.

It is not likely, however, that current ranking minority member Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., will be displaced from that slot.

The Natural Resources Committee will include 26 Republicans and 21 Democrats when the new Congress convenes next month.