Simpson Remarks During Floor Consideration of H.R. 8998, The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025
I am pleased to begin consideration of H.R. 8998, the fiscal year 2025 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
First, I want to commend Chairman Cole for his leadership of the Appropriations Committee and for his continued support for the Interior bill.
I’d also like to thank Ranking Member Pingree for her partnership, as well as Ranking Member DeLauro and the Subcommittee Members for their work on this bill.
H.R. 8998 provides $38.48 billion in new non-defense discretionary spending – which is $72 million below the fiscal year 2024 level and $4.4 billion below the President’s Budget Request. The bill also rescinds $55 million provided to the Presidio Trust through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Cutting funding is never easy, but with the national debt totaling nearly $35 trillion and inflation at an unacceptable level, we had to make tough choices in this bill to rein in unnecessary discretionary spending.
This legislation prioritizes critical needs and addresses specific interests and concerns brought to our attention through more than 8,800 Member requests.
H.R. 8998 fully funds the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program – estimated at $600 million – and includes over $330 million to permanently address Federal wildland firefighter pay and capacity.
The permanent pay fix included in this bill will improve firefighter recruitment and retention and provide financial certainty to the men and women protecting our communities from catastrophic wildfire.
It also signals our commitment to upholding the Federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities by providing $2.81 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a 14.5 percent increase, and $1.47 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education, a 7.5 percent increase.
This includes robust funding for Law Enforcement programs, including an additional $13.5 million for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Initiative.
The bill also provides over $8.5 billion for the Indian Health Service and fully funds current services for key healthcare programs and covers the increased Contract Support Cost estimates resulting from the recent Supreme Court decision.
To address these priorities while right sizing the agencies under our jurisdiction, the bill reduces funding for most other accounts in the bill.
For example, EPA is cut 20 percent below the enacted level, with reductions targeted at operating programs and regulatory activities.
The bill still includes Community Project Funding for clean and drinking water infrastructure projects in 285 Members’ districts.
The requested amounts greatly exceeded the funding available for projects, but we did our best to provide some funding for all eligible projects given the impact these dollars will have in communities across the country.
In terms of policy, the bill takes critical steps to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by the EPA and promote domestic energy production. Such efforts include:
- Halting heavy-handed, job killing EPA regulations;
- Limiting abuse of the Endangered Species Act and ensuring continued access to our public lands;
- Expanding access to hardrock and critical minerals; and
- Requiring oil and gas lease sales and limiting fees on producers.
These policies will help boost our national security, reduce energy costs, and create American jobs.
Madam, this bill permanently fixes wildland firefighter pay, helps manage our public lands wisely, upholds our commitments to Indian country, and restores the fiscal responsibility necessary to get our economy back on track.
I urge its adoption and I reserve the balance of my time.
