New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland received more support this week to be named Interior secretary under a Biden administration.
House Natural Resources Chair, Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, in a letter to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus urged her appointment. He declined to seek the position saying he felt “most useful” in his leadership at the Natural Resources Committee, according to report by POLITICO’s Morning Energy Report.
He instead called Rep. Haaland the “best person” to head Interior.
“It is well past time that an Indigenous person brings history full circle at the Department of Interior,” he wrote. “As her colleague on the Natural Resources Committee, I have seen first-hand the passion and dedication she puts into these issues at the forefront of the Interior Department from tackling the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women to crafting thoughtful solutions to combating the climate crisis using America’s public lands.”
Haaland, who won election in November of 2018 and assumed office in January of last year, also received the support of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
“There is a unique opportunity at this time to have a highly competent person take the reins at the Department of Interior that understands all of its dynamics and does not have to be educated on the depth of their meaning,” the letter said.
Haaland also served as head of the Democratic party in New Mexico.
Source: POLITICO
