The White Oak Resilience Act

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Bill ID: 119/hr/2405
Last Updated: April 5, 2025

Sponsored by

Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]

ID: B001282

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5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

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Bill Summary

(sigh) Oh joy, another bill that's about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. Let's get this over with.

**Main Purpose & Objectives**

The White Oak Resilience Act (HR 2405) is a laughable attempt to restore white oak forests in the United States. The main purpose is to create a coalition of federal, state, tribal, and local governments, as well as private organizations, to coordinate restoration efforts. Because, you know, that's exactly what we need – another bureaucratic behemoth to "coordinate" things.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law**

The bill establishes the White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition, which will be responsible for coordinating restoration efforts and making policy recommendations. It also authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish pilot programs in national forests and provides funding for these projects. Oh, and it creates a non-regulatory program (because we all know how well those work) to promote white oak regeneration.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders**

The usual suspects: federal agencies (Agriculture and Interior), state governments, tribal organizations, local governments, private landowners, and environmental groups. You know, the same people who will be fighting over funding and resources while the actual restoration efforts languish.

**Potential Impact & Implications**

Let's be real – this bill is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It's a token effort to address the decline of white oak forests, which are crucial for ecosystems and wildlife habitats. The pilot programs might yield some minor successes, but the overall impact will be negligible.

The real disease here is the corruption and incompetence that plagues our government. This bill is just a symptom – a desperate attempt to look like they're doing something while actually accomplishing nothing. It's a classic case of "legislative theater," where politicians pretend to care about an issue while secretly serving their own interests.

The only people who will truly benefit from this bill are the lobbyists and special interest groups who will be lining up for funding and contracts. The rest of us will just get more empty promises and bureaucratic red tape.

Diagnosis: Terminal case of bureaucratic incompetence, with a side of corruption and special interest pandering. Prognosis: Grim.

Related Topics

Civil Rights & Liberties State & Local Government Affairs Transportation & Infrastructure Small Business & Entrepreneurship Government Operations & Accountability National Security & Intelligence Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement Federal Budget & Appropriations Congressional Rules & Procedures
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đź’° Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$63,750
20 donors
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Donor Network - Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]

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Total contributions: $63,750

Top Donors - Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]

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Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.

Introduction

Low 55.4%
Pages: 350-352

— 318 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 121. U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, “FY 1905–2021 National Summary Cut and Sold Data Graphs,” https://www.fs.usda.gov/forestmanagement/documents/sold-harvest/documents/1905-2021_Natl_ Summary_Graph_wHarvestAcres.pdf (accessed December 16, 2022), and U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, “Forest Products Cut and Sold from the National Forests and Grasslands,” https://www.fs.usda. gov/forestmanagement/products/cut-sold/index.shtml (accessed December 16, 2022). 122. Donald J. Trump, “Promoting Active Management of America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands to Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk,” Executive Order 13855, December 21, 2018, https://www. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201800866/pdf/DCPD-201800866.pdf (accessed December 16, 2022). 123. Ibid. 124. Ibid. 125. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/ (accessed December 16, 2022). 126. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, “History of the Dietary Guidelines,” https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/ about-dietary-guidelines/history-dietary-guidelines (accessed December 16, 2022). 127. Daren Bakst, “Extreme Environmental Agenda Hijacks Dietary Guidelines: Comment to the Advisory Committee,” The Daily Signal, July 17, 2014, https://www.dailysignal.com/2014/07/17/extreme-environmental- agenda-hijacks-dietary-guidelines-comment-advisory-committee/ (accessed December 16, 2022). 128. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, S. 3307, 111th Cong., 2nd Sess., https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th- congress/senate-bill/3307/text (accessed December 16, 2022), and Dietary Guidelines for Americans, “Current Dietary Guidelines,” https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/usda-hhs-development-dietary-guidelines (accessed December 16, 2022). — 319 — 11 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Lindsey M. Burke MISSION Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Depart- ment of Education should be eliminated. When power is exercised, it should empower students and families, not government. In our pluralistic society, fami- lies and students should be free to choose from a diverse set of school options and learning environments that best fit their needs. Our postsecondary institutions should also reflect such diversity, with room for not only “traditional” liberal arts colleges and research universities but also faith-based institutions, career schools, military academies, and lifelong learning programs. Elementary and secondary education policy should follow the path outlined by Milton Friedman in 1955, wherein education is publicly funded but education decisions are made by families. Ultimately, every parent should have the option to direct his or her child’s share of education funding through an education sav- ings account (ESA), funded overwhelmingly by state and local taxpayers, which would empower parents to choose a set of education options that meet their child's unique needs. States are eager to lead in K–12 education. For decades, they have acted inde- pendently of the federal government to pioneer a variety of constructive reforms and school choice programs. For example, in 2011, Arizona first piloted ESAs, which provide families roughly 90 percent of what the state would have spent on that child in public school to be used instead on education options such as private school tuition, online courses, and tutoring. In 2022, Arizona expanded the program to be available to all families.

Introduction

Low 52.2%
Pages: 455-457

— 422 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Resetting science advisory boards to expand opportunities for a diversity of scientific viewpoints free of potential conflicts of interest. l Restoring the guidance portal to ensure that regulatory and subregulatory standards are clear to affected entities. l Working with Assistant Administrators to implement major reforms in media offices. Day One Executive Order. To initiate the review and reorganization, a Day One executive order should be drafted for the incoming President with explicit language requiring reconsideration of the agency’s structure with reference to fulfilling its mission to create a better environmental tomorrow with clean air, safe water, healthy soil, and thriving communities. The order should set up “pause and review” teams to assess the following: l Major Rules and Guidance Materials. Identify existing rules to be stayed and reproposed and initiate rule development in appropriate media offices. l Pending Petitions. Grant new petitions for rule reconsideration and stays of rules. l Grants. Stop all grants to advocacy groups and review which potential federal investments will lead to tangible environmental improvements. l Legal Settlements. Reassess any “sue and settle” cases and develop a new policy to establish standard review and oversight, including public notification and participation. l Employee Review. Determine the opportunity to downsize by terminating the newest hires in low-value programs and identify relocation opportunities for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions. l Budget Review. Develop a tiered-down approach to cut costs, reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, and eliminate duplicative programs. EPA should not conduct any ongoing or planned activity for which there is not clear and current congressional authorization, and it should communicate this shift in the President’s first budget request. l Risk Management Policy. Revise guidance documents that control regulations such as the social cost of carbon; discount rates; timing of

Introduction

Low 52.2%
Pages: 455-457

— 422 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Resetting science advisory boards to expand opportunities for a diversity of scientific viewpoints free of potential conflicts of interest. l Restoring the guidance portal to ensure that regulatory and subregulatory standards are clear to affected entities. l Working with Assistant Administrators to implement major reforms in media offices. Day One Executive Order. To initiate the review and reorganization, a Day One executive order should be drafted for the incoming President with explicit language requiring reconsideration of the agency’s structure with reference to fulfilling its mission to create a better environmental tomorrow with clean air, safe water, healthy soil, and thriving communities. The order should set up “pause and review” teams to assess the following: l Major Rules and Guidance Materials. Identify existing rules to be stayed and reproposed and initiate rule development in appropriate media offices. l Pending Petitions. Grant new petitions for rule reconsideration and stays of rules. l Grants. Stop all grants to advocacy groups and review which potential federal investments will lead to tangible environmental improvements. l Legal Settlements. Reassess any “sue and settle” cases and develop a new policy to establish standard review and oversight, including public notification and participation. l Employee Review. Determine the opportunity to downsize by terminating the newest hires in low-value programs and identify relocation opportunities for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions. l Budget Review. Develop a tiered-down approach to cut costs, reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, and eliminate duplicative programs. EPA should not conduct any ongoing or planned activity for which there is not clear and current congressional authorization, and it should communicate this shift in the President’s first budget request. l Risk Management Policy. Revise guidance documents that control regulations such as the social cost of carbon; discount rates; timing of — 423 — Environmental Protection Agency regulatory review (before options are selected); causality of health effects; low-dose risk estimation (linear no-threshold analysis); and employment loss analysis. Personnel The majority of the political appointee team must be assembled, vetted, and ready to deploy before Day One. To the extent provided by the Federal Vacan- cies Reform Act,15 appointees in consideration for Senate-confirmed positions (excluding the Administrator) should be prepared to serve as a Deputy or Principal Deputy to get into the agency on Day One while their nomination and affiliated confirmation processes proceeds. In addition to a deputy slated for the Assistant Administrator role, each office will need a political chief of staff, senior advisers designated to run suboffices, and energized assistants. Teams should be balanced with technical knowledge, legal expertise, and political exposure. Ideally, they should also be geographically diverse. Appointee positions should also extend to all the regional offices and specialty labs. OFFICE OF AIR AND RADIATION (OAR) OAR develops national programs, policies, and regulations to control air pollution and radiation exposure. In recent decades, OAR and its statutory respon- sibilities under the Clean Air Act have been reimagined in an attempt to expand the reach of the federal government. The U.S. Supreme Court has stopped and stricken several actions from OAR under liberal Administrations, citing a lack of requisite legal support. A reformed OAR should focus on EPA’s mission of limiting and minimizing criteria and hazardous air pollutants in partnership with the states. Cross-Cutting Reforms. OAR consists of four suboffices with two located in Washington, D.C.; one in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and one at Research Triangle Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. The following reforms should be implemented across all OAR offices: l Issue a rule to ensure consistent and transparent consideration of costs. l When doing cost-benefit analysis, use appropriate discount rates, focus on the benefits of reducing the pollutant targeted by Congress, identify “co-benefits” separately, and acknowledge the uncertainties involved in quantifying benefits. l Review and revise Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) cost guidance to ensure that calculations are accurate and reflect the actual regulatory burden, including costs of air rules implementation and compliance.

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.