News Releases for February 2002
February 22, 2002
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Hoeven To Push North Dakota Issues In Washington, D.C.
Governor chairs NGA Natural Resource Committee; will meet with officials and congressmen on agricultural, energy and military-assets policy.
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven will be in Washington, D.C. over the weekend and early next week to attend the National Governors Association (NGA) winter meeting. Hoeven will chair the NGA Natural Resource Committee meeting, and meet with members of Congress and the Bush Administration to promote a range of agricultural, grassland, energy and military issues critical to North Dakota.
Hoeven will also have an opportunity to meet with President Bush and Cabinet officials during a two-hour session at the White House Monday afternoon.
“We have an opportunity on this trip to make our voice heard in the nation’s capital on a host of issues critical to North Dakota’s future,” Hoeven said. “Our goal is to advance policies and positions in three major areas: agriculture, a multi-source energy policy and our military bases.”
Chuck Conner, special assistant to the president for agriculture, and Senator E. Benjamin Nelson, D-NE, will address the NGA Natural Resources Committee on Agriculture - The 2002 Farm Bill. William F. Martin, chairman of Washington Policy & Analysis, an international energy and economic consulting firm, and Susan F. Tierney, a senior consultant with Lexecon, a Cambridge, Mass. consulting firm, will address the topic of Energy Challenges for the States.
Hoeven will also participate in a natural resource Roundtable Discussion with Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman Sunday for western governors. He also has a private meeting with Veneman and her chief of staff, Dale Moore Monday.
Topics of discussion with Veneman include:
- the 2002 Farm Bill
- the Bush Administration’s recent decision not to impose tariff sanctions on the Canadian Wheat Board
- assistance for the buffalo industry, and
- changes to the U.S. Forest Service’s management plan for the Dakota National Grasslands
Hoeven and North Dakota Adjutant General Michael Haugen will also meet Monday with U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James Roche to urge retention of military bases and other military assets in North Dakota.
“We have a full schedule and a broad-ranging agenda,” Hoeven said. “We intend to make clear that we’re determined to be closely involved in all these major decisions affecting North Dakota.”
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