Simpson Remarks at FY25 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Bill Subcommittee Markup

I am pleased to be here this morning marking up the fiscal year 2025 Interior Appropriations Act with Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree, and the Members of the Subcommittee.

Chairman Cole, we are glad to welcome you back to the Interior Subcommittee in your role as full committee chair.  As the first Native American to ever chair the Appropriations Committee, you’ve made it your legacy in Congress to advocate for Indian Country.

I have no doubt that you will continue advancing this critical bipartisan effort as Chairman.  There is no one better for the job and we appreciate the work you have done to get us to this point in the appropriations process.

I also want to recognize Ranking Member Pingree.  She has been a wonderful partner and I appreciate her commitment to the Subcommittee’s issues.  I look forward to continuing our work together to move the Interior bill forward.

Lastly, I want to thank the Members and staff on both sides of the aisle for their work and contributions to the bill.

The fiscal year 2025 Interior bill provides $38.48 billion in spending which is $72 million below the enacted level and $4.4 billion below the President’s request.

I have consistently said that I refuse to balance the budget on the backs of Tribes, so I am proud that this bill makes strong investments to further the Federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities.

The bill provides a 14.5 percent increase for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a 7.5 percent increase for the Bureau of Indian Education.  This includes robust funding for Law Enforcement programs, including an additional $13.5 million for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Initiative.

The Indian Health Service is also increased by $1.6 billion to fully fund current services for key healthcare programs and cover Contract Support Cost estimates.

The bill also provides 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.

To meet our allocation while prioritizing these critical programs, the bill right sizes funding for most other appropriations.  For example, EPA is cut 20 percent below the enacted level, with reductions targeted at operating programs and regulatory activities. 

The bill also includes Community Project Funding for EPA clean and drinking water infrastructure projects.  While requests greatly exceeded the funding available for projects, we did our best to provide some funding for all eligible projects given the impact these dollars will have in communities across the country. 

Lastly, in terms of policy, provisions in the bill will rein in the Administration’s regulatory agenda and promote domestic energy production by:

• 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.

In closing, I am pleased that this bill focuses spending where it is needed most, makes great strides to address critical needs across Indian Country, and permanently fixes wildland firefighter pay. And that it restrains the Administration’s burdensome regulatory agenda to ensure access to our public lands.

I look forward to working with Ranking Member Pingree and the other Members to move the Interior bill towards enactment. 

Now, I’d like to recognize Ranking Member Pingree for her remarks.