VIDEO: Rep. Deb Haaland helps lead first #ActOnClimate hearing

Thursday, February 7, 2019

By Acee Agoyo

In her new role as vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) helped lead a hearing into climate change on Wednesday.

The hearing marked the first time the committee took on the topic in a decade. Haaland, who is one of the first two Native women in Congress , spoke about the impact of climate change on America's youngest citizens.

"I almost want to apologize to you and the youth of this world who go to bed every night worrying about what will happen to our communities because of climate change," said Haaland, a Pueblo of Laguna citizen who raised her daughter as a single mother.

Climate change is a reality today, not tomorrow. All month long, @NRDems and I are holding hearings to #ActOnClimate. Our air, water, and livelihoods depend on our will to act now. pic.twitter.com/MGAMHQGCuF
— Congresswoman Deb Haaland (@RepDebHaaland) February 7, 2019

Democrats are continuing to focus on the issue with additional #ActOnClimate hearings in the coming days. The schedule includes the very first hearing of the new Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on Tuesday, February 12.

The subcommittee was established to focus on issues affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. That's a major change from the days of Republican rule, when Indian issues were grouped with those of U.S. territories that don't enjoy the same government-to-government relationship and trust and treaty obligations.

In addition to serving as vice chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, Haaland chairs the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. In that role, she will be leading an #ActOnClimate hearing on Wednesday, February 13.

Witnesses for both hearings have yet to be announced.

House Committee on Natural Resources Notice

Full Committee Hearing: Climate Change: Impacts and the Need to Act (February 6, 2019)