Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings (born February 7, 1941) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 4th congressional district from 1995 until his retirement in 2015.

[12] Hastings served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987, where he was selected by his colleagues to be Assistant Majority Leader and Republican Caucus Chairman.

[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] "Top priorities must be creating jobs, getting our economy back on track, and stopping reckless spending that has left our nation with the largest deficit in history," wrote Hastings in response to Project Vote Smart.

[2] Hastings has served as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources since January 2011 and is a proponent of increasing domestic production of oil and gas, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

[31] Hastings has been given an 'A' grade by Liz Cheney's Keep America Safe PAC[32] He earned a 95.15% lifetime rating, as of 2010, from the American Conservative Union.

[26] Hastings was instrumental in 2002 in building the case that led to the expulsion of Congressman James Traficant (I-OH) from the United States Congress.

[34] In 1996, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his firm had as many as 36 contacts with Hastings' office, resulting in as many as 85.57 billed hours regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Preston Gates, Microsoft's law and lobbying firm, also contributed to Washington Democrats during that cycle, including to Seattle's Jim McDermott.

Democrats cast this a partisan move, while Republicans pointed out that such a change in staff is the norm with the naming of a new committee chairman.

Hastings came under fire during his chairmanship of the Ethics Committee, due to claims by Democrats of inaction regarding then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The subcommittee's subsequent report led to Rangel's loss of the chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and censure by the House in 2010.

[citation needed] In 1967, Hastings married his wife, Claire, in Sacramento, California; the couple has three children: Kirsten, Petrina, and Colin, and has 8 grandchildren.