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Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the chairwoman for yielding. I want to begin with some much deserved thank yous I want to thank the speaker this house, this deal would not have come together without his leadership and support. I particularly want to thank my Chairwoman Kay Granger and Ranking Member DeLauro for their work and their leadership and putting a package together they can get across this floor in a bipartisan manner. And I'd be remissed not to thank my negotiating part counterparts, Ranking Member Quigley and Senator Schatz and Ranking Member Hyde Smith on the Senate side of the rotunda. They were just terrific to work with in every way. And finally, and always, we have outstanding staff. We all know what that and this bill wouldn't be here without their hard work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Chair for yielding time.

I rise in strong support of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024, particularly the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill. As Chairman of that subcommittee, I worked hard to ensure the bill includes many House Republican priorities.

At a total of $58.2 billion, the bill advances our national security, our energy security, and our economic competitiveness in a fiscally responsible manner.

To support our nuclear deterrent, the bill funds the National Nuclear Security Administration at $24.1 billion, an increase of almost $2 billion above fiscal year 2023. Specifically, the bill fully funds all major weapons and infrastructure modernization activities, including the W-93 warhead, the nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile, a variant of the B61 gravity bomb, and the restart of plutonium pit production capability.