79–008 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–364 

RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING 

THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO TRANSMIT, RESPECTIVELY, CERTAIN DOCUMENTS AND OTHER INFORMATION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO THE EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE REVIEW 

OF DESIGNATIONS UNDER THE ANTIQUITIES ACT 

OCTOBER 23, 2017.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

ADVERSE REPORT 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H. Res. 555] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

resolution (H. Res. 555) of inquiry requesting the President and directing the Secretary of the Interior to transmit, respectively, certain documents and other information to the House of Representatives relating to the executive order on the review of designations 

under the Antiquities Act, having considered the same, report unfavorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the resolution as amended not be agreed to. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following: 

That the President is requested, and the Secretary of the 

Interior is directed, to transmit, to the extent that such 

documents are in the possession of the President or the 

Secretary, (in a manner appropriate to classified information, if the President determines appropriate) to the House 

of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date 

of the adoption of this resolution, copies of every document, 

map, survey, report, record, memorandum, call log, correspondence (electronic and otherwise), and other communication or any portion of any such communication, that 

refers or relates to the executive order on the review of 

designations under the Antiquities Act (Executive Order 

13792, April, 26, 2017), including the following: 

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(1) All documents and communications relating to 

the Secretary of the Interior’s review of all Presidential designations or expansions of designations 

under the Antiquities Act made since January 1, 1996, 

as described in the executive order. 

(2) All documents and communications relating to 

the Secretary of the Interior’s review of all Presidential designations where the Secretary determined 

that the designation or expansion was made without 

adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders, as described in the executive 

order. 

(3) All documents and communications relating to 

the interim and final reports to the President, including any recommendations for Presidential actions, legislative proposals, or other actions recommended by 

the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the policy set 

forth in section 1 of the executive order. 

(4) Any meeting or communication that occurred between Secretary Ryan Zinke and President Trump, or 

their representatives, relating to the recommendations 

or reports required by the executive order. 

(5) Any meeting or communication that occurred between Secretary Ryan Zinke, or his representatives, 

and energy and mining companies, or their representatives, relating to the recommendations or reports required by the executive order. 

(6) Any meeting or communication that occurred between Secretary Ryan Zinke, or his representatives, 

and LGBTQ and minority communities, or their representatives, relating to the recommendations or reports required by the executive order. 

(7) Any documents and communications relating to 

travel costs of Secretary Zinke and his staff for the 

purposes of the review under the executive order. 

(8) Any meeting or communication that occurred between Secretary Ryan Zinke, or his representatives, 

and Native American tribes, or their representatives, 

relating to the recommendations or reports required 

by the executive order. 

(9) Any document including applicable ethics waivers for Department of the Interior employees working 

on the review, as described in the executive order, 

whether granted or denied. 

(10) Any documents that, on their face, contain economic analyses of national monument designations, as 

described in the executive order. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H. Res. 555 is to request the President and direct 

the Secretary of the Interior to transmit, respectively, certain documents and other information to the House of Representatives relating to the executive order on the review of designations under the 

Antiquities Act. 

3 

1 Charles Johnson, John V. Sullivan, Thomas J. Wickham, Jr., House Practice: A Guide to the 

Rules, Precedents, and Procedures of the House (115th Congress, 1st Session), p. 850. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H. Res. 555 is a resolution of inquiry that requests the President 

and directs the Secretary of the Interior to transmit to the House 

of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the adoption of the 

resolution by the full House, copies of every document, map, survey, report, record, memorandum, call log, correspondence (electronic and otherwise), and other communication or any portion of 

any such communication, that refers or relates to the executive 

order on the review of designations under the Antiquities Act (Executive Order 13792, April 26, 2017), including: (1) documents and 

communications relating to the Secretary of the Interior’s review of 

all Presidential designations or expansions of designations under 

the Antiquities Act made since January 1, 1996, as described in the 

executive order; (2) all documents and communications relating to 

the Secretary of the Interior’s review of all Presidential designations where the Secretary determined that the designation or expansion was made without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders, as described in the executive order; 

(3) all documents and communications relating to the interim and 

final reports to the President, including any recommendations for 

Presidential actions, legislative proposals, or other actions recommended by the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the policy 

set forth in section 1 of the executive order; and (4) any meeting 

or communication that occurred between Secretary Ryan Zinke and 

President Trump, or their representatives, relating to the recommendations or reports required by the executive order. 

Under clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee must act on such a resolution within 

14 legislative days of its introduction or a privileged motion to discharge the Committee will be in order in the House of Representatives. 

Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution of inquiry is one method used by the House to obtain information from 

the executive branch. According to volume 7, chapter 24, section 8 

of Deschler’s Procedure, it is a ‘‘simple resolution making a direct 

request or demand of the President or the head of an executive department to furnish the House of Representatives with specific factual information in the possession of the executive branch.’’ The 

rules of the House of Representatives contain no specific provision 

for enforcing resolutions of inquiry.1

COMMITTEE ACTION

H. Res. 555 was introduced by Congressman Rau ́l M. Grijalva 

(D–AZ) on October 4, 2017, and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. No hearing was held on the measure. On October 

11, 2017, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the 

resolution. Congressman Rob Bishop offered an amendment in the 

nature of a substitute designated 035; it was adopted by a unanimous roll call vote of 40 ayes and 0 nays, as follows: 

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Insert offset folio 5 here HR364.001

Date: 10-11-17 

Committee on Natural Resources 

U.S. House of Representatives 

!15th Congress 

Recorded Vote#: 2 

Meeting on I Amendment on: FC Mark Up on Bishop ANS _ 035 to H.Res. 555 (Rep. Raul Grijalva), Of inquiry 

requesting the President and directing the Secretary of the Interior to transmit~ respectively, certain documents and 

other infonnation to the House of Representatives relating to the executive order on the review of designations under 

the Antiquities Act. 

MEMBERS Yes No Pres MEMBERS Yes No Pres 

Mr. Bishop, UT, Chairman X Mr.Cook,CA X 

Mr. Grijalva, AZ. Ranking Member X Mr. Soto,FL X 

Mr. Young, AK, Chairman Emeritus X Mr. Westerman, AR X 

Mrs. Napolitano, CA X Afr. A1cEachin, VA X 

Mr. Gohmcrt, TX, Vice Chairman X Mr. Graves, LA X 

M<. Bordal!o, Guam X Mr. Brown, MD X 

Mr. Lamborn, CO X Mr.Hice,GA X 

Mr. Costa, CA X Mr. Clay, MO X 

Mr. Wittman, VA X Mrs. Radewagen, AS X 

Mr. Sablan, CNMI X Mr. Gomez, CA X 

Mr. McClintock, CA X Mr. LaHood, IL X 

Ms. Tsongas. MA X Mr. Webster, FL X 

Mr. Pearce, NM X Mr. Bergman, MI X 

Mr. Huffman, CA Ms. Cheney, WY 

Mr. Thompson, PA X Mr. Johnson, LA 

Mr. Lowenthal, CA X Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, PR X 

Mr. Gosar, AZ X Mr. Gianforte, MT X 

Mr. Beyer, VA X 

Mr. Labrador, ID 

;.\irs, Torres, CA X 

Mr. Tipton, CO X 

Mr. Gallego, AZ X 

Mr. LaMalfa, CA X 

Ms. Hanahusa, Iff X 

Mr. Denham, CA 

Ms. Barragim, CA X TOTAL: 40 0 
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The resolution was then ordered unfavorably reported to the 

House of Representatives by a roll call vote of 23 to 17, as follows: 

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Insert offset folio 7 here HR364.002

Date: 10-11-17 

Committee on Natural Resources 

U.S. House of Representatives 

!15th Congress 

Recorded Vote #: 3 

Meeting on I Amendment on: FC Mark Up on Unfavorably Reporting H. Res. 555 (Rep. Raul Grijalva), Of inquiry 

requesting the President and directing the Secretary of the Interior to transmit, respectively, certain documents and 

other information to the House of Representatives relating to the executive order on the review of designations under 

the Antiquities Act. 

MEMBERS Yes No Pres MEMBERS Yes No Pres 

Mr. Bishop, UT, Chairman X Mr. Cook,CA X 

l\lfr. Grijalva, AZ, Ranking Member X Mr. Soto, FL X 

Mr. Young, AK, Chairman Emeritus X Mr. Westerman, AR X 

Mrs. Napolitano. CA X Mr. McEachin, VA X 

Mr. Gohmert, TX, Vice Chairman X Mr. Graves, LA X 

Ms. Bordallo. Guam X Mr. Brovvn, MD X 

Mr. Lamborn, CO X Mr. Hice,GA X 

Mr. Costa, CA X Mr. Clay, MO X 

Mr. Wittman, VA X Mrs. Radewagen, AS X 

Mr. Sablan, CN/\.1! X Mr. Gomez, C4 X 

Mr. McClintock, CA X Mr. LaHood, IL X 

Ms. Tsongas. MA X Mr. Webster, FL X 

Mr. Pearce, NM X Mr. Bergman, Ml X 

Mr. Huffman, CA Ms. Cheney, WY X 

Mr. Thompson, PA X Mr. Johnson, LA X 

A1r. Lowenthal, CA X Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, PR X 

Mr. Gosar, AZ X Mr. Gianforte, MT X 

Mr. Beyer, VA X 

Mr. Labrador, ID 

Mrs. Torres, CA X 

Mr. Tipton, CO X 

Mr. Gallego, AZ X 

Mr. LaMalfa, CA X 

Ms. Hanabusa. f!I X 

Mr. Denham, CA 

Ms. Barragim, CA X TOTAL: 23 17 
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COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

ACT

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 308(a) and 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 

not received a cost estimate for the bill from the Director of the 

Congressional Budget Office. However, the Committee estimates 

that this resolution of inquiry would not result in any significant 

costs. In addition, the Committee does not believe it the resolution 

would result in new or increased budget authority, entitlement authority or tax expenditures or revenues. Finally, the Committee 

has not received an estimate of federal mandates prepared by the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 

of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, but the Committee believes 

that no federal mandates are included in this resolution. 

2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to request the President and direct the Secretary of 

the Interior to transmit, respectively, certain documents and other 

information to the House of Representatives relating to the executive order on the review of designations under the Antiquities Act. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This resolution does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 

limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under 

clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 

Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This resolution contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. This resolution does not contain any directed rule makings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This resolution does not establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government known to 

be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included 

in any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified 

in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public 

Law 95–220, as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to 

other programs. 

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PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This resolution is not intended to preempt any State, local or 

tribal law. 

(9) 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

For months, Committee Democrats have sought information regarding reports associated with executive order 13792—Presidents 

Trump’s sweeping review of 27 national monuments created since 

1996 under the Antiquities Act. Letters and requests for information have gone unanswered. 

Interior Secretary Zinke toured several of the listed monuments, 

but consistently failed to provide a detailed agenda of his tours, including the stakeholders with whom he met. This lack of transparency is hypocritical and troubling; there is no reason for the 

White House or the Department to keep the report or its methodology secret. 

Secretary Zinke has failed to deliver on his promise of an ‘‘open 

review process’’ by not providing more information about his agenda, analysis, and full scope of findings from his national monument 

tours and meetings. During the 60-day comment period, more than 

2.8 million responses were submitted and revealed that a large majority of Americans are supportive of maintaining or expanding current national monument boundaries. The Secretary has indicated 

he plans to ignore those comments so the public deserves to know 

what information he does plan to rely on. 

Due to the lack of information and transparency, Ranking Member Grijalva, along with 25 original cosponsors, introduced the resolution of inquiry (ROI)—H. Res. 555 requesting the release of all 

administration supporting documents, reports, maps, surveys, communications, and correspondence relating to the president’s executive order. 

At markup, Committee Democrats filed amendments to expand 

the scope of the ROI, seeking even more detailed information about 

the Secretary’s travel and meeting schedule. As the review seeks 

to shrink several national monuments that protect Native American sacred sites, Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee Ranking Member Torres offered an amendment to request information about the administration’s engagement with tribal governments during the course of the review. 

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member 

McEachin offered an amendment to request information about 

meetings with diverse constituencies, including representatives of 

the LGBTQ and other minority communities. Energy and Mineral 

Resources Ranking Member Lowenthal offered an amendment to 

request information about any meetings with energy and mining 

companies. 

In light of recent reports about potential illegal travel by the Secretary, Representative Napolitano offered an amendment seeking 

further information about travel costs associated with the review. 

Reports of the Trump administration’s disregard for ethics guidelines for former lobbyists working in the federal government led 

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Representative Gallego to offer an amendment seeking information 

about ethics waivers for Department of the Interior employees 

working on the review. Lastly, given the fact that national monuments help drive economic growth in local communities by increasing local tourism and outdoor recreation, Representative Gomez introduced an amendment seeking any economic analysis used to develop the report. 

All of the amendments were incorporated into the amendment in 

the nature of a substitute offered by Chairman Bishop, which was 

supported by every Member of the Committee. 

However, instead of taking this request for transparency seriously, Committee Republicans ultimately chose to order the ROI reported unfavorably. 

Whether this resolution comes before the full House for consideration is now completely in the hands of Committee Republicans 

who control the measure. Committee Republicans should demand 

transparency from the Trump administration as vociferously and 

relentlessly as they did from the Obama administration. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA

Ranking Member, Committee 

on Natural Resources. 

DARREN SOTO. 

JARED HUFFMAN. 

A. DONALD MCEACHIN. 

MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO. 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL. 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO. 

NIKI TSONGAS. 

RUBEN GALLEGO. 

COLLEEN HANABUSA. 

JIMMY GOMEZ. 

NANETTE DIAZ BARRAG ́ AN. 

Æ