Simpson Remarks at FY27 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Bill Subcommittee Markup (As Prepared for Delivery)

Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be here marking up the Fiscal Year 2027 Interior Appropriations bill with Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree, and the Members of the Subcommittee. I’d like to thank Chairman Cole for his leadership of the Committee and getting us to this point in the appropriations process.

I also want to recognize Ranking Member DeLauro and Ranking Member Pingree. Ranking Member Pingree consistently demonstrates her commitment to the important issues of this Subcommittee, and I appreciate her continued partnership. 

With Ranking Member Pingree’s support, the Subcommittee was able to hold a number of timely and informative hearings on the FY27 budget request, and one very educational roundtable. I look forward to continuing our work together to move the Interior bill forward.

Finally, I extend my thanks to the Members and staff on both sides of the aisle for their work and contributions to the bill. The FY27 Interior bill reflects our commitment to our nation’s natural resources, unleashing American energy dominance, and our commitment to our trust and treaty obligations to Indian Tribes. The recommendation totals $38.9 billion.

This bill prioritizes investments in the health, safety, education, and economic well-being of our Tribal communities. I have consistently said that I refuse to balance the budget on the backs of Tribes, and we continue that commitment with the choices we make in this bill.       

The bill provides $8.7 billion for the Indian Health Service for FY27 and $6.1 billion in advance appropriations for FY28, $1.5 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education, and $3.2 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including $774.8 million for public safety and justice programs to support law enforcement in Indian Country, a $204.8 million increase over the FY26 enacted level. This includes $33 million for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Initiative, an issue that continues to be very important to me. 

This bill also fully funds must-pay costs for our Tribes, including contract support costs and section 105 (L) leases, which saw significant increases for FY27. Despite the increase, the total funding in this bill for Indian Country builds on the same strong investment we proposed in our FY26 House bill. 

We continue to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which provides payments to nearly every State in the country for certain tax-exempt federal lands.  

The bill also supports the Administration’s proposal to streamline firefighting activities throughout the Department of the Interior through the establishment of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. 

The bill continues support for federal wildland firefighters and provides additional funding to support firefighter pay, helping improve recruitment and retention, and giving financial certainty to the men and women protecting our communities from catastrophic wildfires. Given these priorities, the bill makes fiscally responsible reductions to most other appropriations. 

For example, the EPA is cut by nearly $1.8 billion – or 20 percent – below the enacted level.  The bill continues to fund grants that go directly to States and Tribes for water infrastructure projects and to help fulfill their delegated authority under federal laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.  These programs are important for issuing permits for continued development and economic growth. 

The bill also includes Community Project Funding for almost 1,200 EPA clean and drinking water infrastructure projects for 316 members.  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, the bill echoes this Administration’s efforts to roll back costly regulatory overreach and promote domestic energy production by: 

• Providing the funding requested by the Administration for onshore oil and gas development and offshore critical mineral leasing; 
• Limiting the prior Administration’s attempts to abuse the Endangered Species Act and ensuring continued access to our public lands; and
• Expanding access to hardrock and critical minerals.

In closing, I am proud of the work reflected in this bill to balance competing priorities, while focusing spending where it is needed most – to address critical needs across Indian Country, protect our federal lands from wildfire, and unleash American energy and domestic mineral development. I look forward to working with Ranking Member Pingree and the other Members to move the Interior bill toward enactment.