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Thank you, Chairman Diaz-Balart, and thank you to Ranking Member Frankel, Ranking Member DeLauro, and all our members. We continue full committee markups today with the Fiscal Year 2027 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs bill. This legislation makes a clear statement about American leadership. We will engage where it matters. We will invest where it counts. And we will demand accountability for every dollar spent. On a world stage where challenges are growing and competitors are threatening the global order, this bill ensures the United States is not passive – it is prepared, it is focused, and it is leading.

I am pleased to present the Fiscal Year 2027 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs appropriations bill to the full committee for consideration and approval. Let me start by thanking Chairman Cole for his invaluable leadership of the Appropriations Committee and for his commitment to ensuring that Congress upholds its responsibility to provide the tools necessary to safeguard our national security.

This afternoon I’d like to welcome the 17th Administrator of the EPA, Lee Zeldin. Administrator Zeldin, welcome back. We are here to discuss the FY 2027 President’s budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency.

I would like to welcome Administrator Isaacman to our Subcommittee. We are pleased to have him here today at a critical and exciting time for NASA. Administrator, I want to first extend my congratulations to NASA for the success of the Artemis II mission.

I would like to welcome everyone to this morning’s hearing. I would also like to welcome a new member to the Appropriations Committee and to CJS, Representative Jefferson Shreve. I know he will be a strong voice for Indiana on the committee, and I look forward to working with him. Thank you to our Subcommittee members and to Secretary Lutnick for joining us to discuss the Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.