Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Enacted Full-Year Legislation
H.R. 2471 - Omnibus
Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration
Defense
Commerce, Justice, and Science
Energy and Water Development
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 4502, a package of seven fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills that will be considered by the House this week.
I wish the circumstances were different and I could support this important piece of legislation that funds critical programs.
Unfortunately, after months of committee hearings and markups, this year's bills have too many fatal flaws.
First, there is no agreement between Republicans and Democrats on the topline spending level for appropriations.
Thank you, Chairman McGovern and Ranking Member Cole, for allowing me to testify on H.R. 4502, a package of seven fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills.
I wish the circumstances were different and I were here speaking in favor of this important piece of legislation.
Unfortunately, there is not bipartisan support, so I am here to ask the Rules Committee to allow amendments to H.R. 4502, so that it can be improved.
Madam Chair, thank you for yielding.
The revised spending allocations presented today contain only technical corrections to the initial allocations, which were adopted on a party-line vote two weeks ago.
Because there are no substantive changes from the initial allocations, I must once again oppose them.
They do not change the topline spending levels for any of the subcommittee bills – even though Members on my side of the aisle have consistently asked for bipartisan cooperation on funding levels.
WASHINGTON – Today, the full committee met to consider the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills for the subcommittees on Interior and Environment and State and Foreign Operations. Committee Republicans were unable to support the bills due to the total spending level and controversial policy provisions that are in the bills.
First, I want to recognize Chairwoman Pingree and Ranking Member Joyce for their work on putting this Interior and Environment bill together.
As a result of their efforts, this bill addresses priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle and does many good things for the conservation of our natural resources.
Even though the bill funds many shared priorities, I have concerns about our path forward.
The bill eliminates several long-standing, common-sense provisions that have had bipartisan support for many years.
Madam Chair, thank you for yielding.
These spending allocations will increase discretionary spending by hundreds of billions of dollars to an all-time high of $1.5 trillion.
This nearly 9% increase above fiscal year 2021 comes at a time of record-high deficits and debt:
WASHINGTON – Today, the subcommittees on Interior and Environment and State and Foreign Operations met to consider their appropriations bills for fiscal year 2022. The measures were reported out to the full committee with concerns raised by Republicans.
Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), the lead Republican for the Appropriations Committee, said of the measures, "As we continue through subcommittee markups, Republicans continue to point out significant problems with the bills – from irresponsible spending levels to partisan policy proposals that divide us.
I want to congratulate the chair on presenting this Interior and Environment bill today, her first as subcommittee chair.
I also want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Joyce, for his continued leadership on this subcommittee.
As a result of the chair and ranking member's efforts together, this bill addresses priorities for Members on both sides of the aisle and does many good things for the conservation of our natural resources.
The bill prioritizes funding to maintain our national parks and supports efforts to stop the trafficking of endangered species.
