Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this omnibus appropriations agreement.

This agreement reflects a truly bipartisan compromise that fulfills Congress' most basic responsibility: to fund the operations of the Federal Government.

As the ranking member of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I am thrilled to be supporting our subcommittee's section of the bill. I want to remind everyone that in July, our bill died on the floor. It was underfunded, and it was loaded with partisan riders that harmed the environment and failed to meet the needs of the American people.

This is not a perfect bill, but it is a remarkable improvement. This bill provides critical resources to important programs ranging from clean air and water, natural resources, to Native Americans and the arts. For the first time in 5 years, the Environmental Protection Agency is not being cut.

The agreement provides $93 million in increased support to the National Park Service programs, and it funds the National Parks Centennial Initiative. Democrats and Republicans are equally committed to fund Native American programs, which received an increase of 5 percent over 2015, important increases for education, health, and tribal government programs.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is reauthorized for 3 years and funded at $450 million, the highest level of funding since 2010. The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities are funded at the President's request, which is terrific.

The real victory that is here for the American people is that this agreement removes policy riders that were bad for the environment, bad for our air and our water, and bad for our families. Those riders are gone from this bill, and that is a victory.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Calvert for a very positive working relationship this year, and I appreciate the courtesy and the respect the gentleman and the Republican staff have shown me and my staff. The Democratic Appropriations staff worked incredibly hard to protect our priorities in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support.

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