Rep. Greg Gianforte, who assaulted a reporter the day before the Montana special election that he won, was welcomed Tuesday to the House Natural Resources Committee, where he said he looks forward to repealing regulations.
“I look forward to working on repealing unnecessary regulations that threaten good-paying Montana jobs and delivering comprehensive forest reform that puts our timber workers back to work, reduces the risk of wildfires and improves the health of our forests,” the Montana Republican said.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the committee, welcomed him aboard.
“Greg brings western values and a wealth of knowledge to the committee and I look forward to working with him during the 115th Congress,” he said. “Together we will tackle issues that are important to the way of life to Montanans and Americans all across the country.”
Gianforte will serve on the committee’s federal lands subcommittee as well as the water, power and ocean subcommittee.
Earlier this month, Gianforte pled guilty to assaulting Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian, in May on the eve of the election as Jacobs tried to get him to comment on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of healthcare legislation at a campaign event. Gianforte was sentenced to community service and mandatory anger management classes, but he did not have to do jail time.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included an inaccurate account of Gianforte’s encounter with Ben Jacobs. It has been corrected. We regret the error.
