Letter to the Honorable Richard Shelby, Chairman for the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, and the Honorable Patrick Leahy, Vice Chairman for the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations - Forty Senators Push Senate Appropriations Leaders to Reject Dangerous Environmental Riders

Letter

Dear Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy:

Thank you for your work on FY 2019 appropriations bills. We are grateful that the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill was largely free of unrelated policy riders that would have had deleterious consequences for public health and the environment. As you know, the inclusion of such unrelated policy riders has undermined the Senate's ability over the years to pass appropriations bills. We appreciate Chairman Shelby's recent statements that we need to "go to regular order" and "not load the bills up with riders." We stand by the Chairman's remarks that Members should demonstrate "discipline to not offer amendments just to cripple the bill." To help maintain regular order and to ensure bipartisan support, we urge you to keep the FY 2019 appropriations bills free of controversial anti-environmental policy riders.

Sincerely,