Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

I am pleased to begin consideration of H.R. 4821, the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

Before I get into the bill, I want to commend Chairwoman Granger for her steadfast leadership of the Appropriations Committee and her ongoing support. I'd also like to thank the Ranking Member of the Full Committee, Ms. Delauro, for her important work on this legislation and other things.

I'd also like to thank Ranking Member Pingree for her partnership and the Subcommittee Members for their work on this bill. Although, Ms. Pingree and I might have some differences of opinion on this bill.

H.R. 4821 provides $25.4 billion in new non-defense discretionary spending – which is $13.4 billion or 35 percent below the Fiscal Year 2023 level.

Thank you to the Members of the Committee for the opportunity to discuss H.R. 4821, the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior and Environment appropriations bill.

H.R. 4821 provides $25.4 billion in new non-defense discretionary spending – which is $13.4 billion or 35 percent below the Fiscal Year 2023 level. The bill also rescinds $9.4 billion in funding provided to EPA, the Presidio Trust, and the Council on Environmental Quality through the Inflation Reduction Act.

In drafting this bill, we worked very hard to rein in federal spending while prioritizing critical needs within our reduced allocation.

The bill fully funds Payments in Lieu of Taxes – estimated at $515 million – and provides an additional $1.6 billion to fund essential wildfire activities without using irresponsible budgetary gimmicks.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5860, a bill that keeps the government open until November 17^th.

While I would rather be here speaking on the floor about final appropriations bills, I want members to understand why passing this short-term funding bill today is so important.

First, I want to explain how we find ourselves in this situation.

Just nine months ago, when Republicans took back the Majority in the House, our commitment was to Regular Order for appropriations.

No more omnibus measures released in the dead of night. No more Christmas Eve votes on thousands of pages of text that Members of Congress had not read.

Unfortunately, there were a few stumbling blocks as we sought to change the process.

For example, the Administration's budget request was more than a month late. It then took months for the President to come to the table on the debt ceiling negotiations.

I am pleased to be here with my colleagues to present the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior bill.

I'd like to thank the Chairwoman for her strong support and leadership of the Committee. I appreciate the commitment and dedication it has taken to get us to this important step in the appropriations process.

I also want to recognize Ranking Member DeLauro and Ranking Member Pingree for their work on this bill. While we may not agree on some items in this bill, and there might be a little difference of opinion, I appreciate her commitment to the Subcommittee's issues, and I look forward to continuing to work with her over the coming months as we move the bill forward.

I want to thank Chairman Simpson for presenting the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill. I appreciate what he has done to take meaningful steps to reduce spending on lower priority programs and direct funding where it is needed most.

The bill prioritizes many important areas, such as preventing and combating wildfires and meeting our commitment to tribes.

In order to do this within the allocation, the bill: