National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. JOYCE of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member for the time and opportunity to speak today as the ranking member on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
I also want to thank the chair of the subcommittee, my friend and fellow Great Lakes advocate, Congresswoman Betty McCollum. We have worked tirelessly over the past month to negotiate a reasonable compromise in order to be able to deliver the product before you today and avoid a government shutdown.
While it is not the bill I would have written and there are things in here that I might not necessarily agree with, I do believe that there is more in this bill that unites us than divides us.
The bill increases America's investment in our own abundant energy and mineral resources. It fully funds the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program which is so critical to counties with Federal lands. It also invests $1.8 billion for maintenance and construction of our Nation's parks and our other public lands.
This agreement also provides for a 29 percent increase to fight devastating wildfires that threaten our communities.
This agreement provides an additional $392 million for healthcare, law enforcement, and related programs to honor our country's sacred trust and treaty obligations to the American Indians and Alaska Natives.
I am deeply proud of our nonpartisan efforts in support of these important programs. But just as important as the targeted funding increases are the longstanding policy provisions we have fought to hold on to and the new poison pills that we have successfully fought to eliminate.
For example, we have succeeded in continuing two provisions blocking the Green New Deal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. We have successfully blocked an attempt to limit reorganization of the Department of the Interior and relocation of the BLM and EPA offices.
Finally, as a lifelong Ohioan, I want to highlight the work we did to protect the Great Lakes, one of the greatest natural resources and economic powerhouses in the United States. They hold 95 percent of the United States' fresh surface water. The lakes also support over 1.5 million jobs and provide $62 billion in wages, annually.
Protecting the Great Lakes is not a red issue or a blue issue. Many Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle understand the important role the lakes play in our lives and the need to protect them.
My colleague Betty McCollum has been a great partner to work with in my fight to protect the Great Lakes, and I am happy to report the conference agreement includes $320 million--a $20 million increase--for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which helps us provide and address invasive species like Asian carp, reduce phosphorus runoff that causes harmful algal blooms, and protect and preserve the Great Lakes for future generations.
In closing, I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger for their leadership and the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their extremely hard work to get the annual appropriations bills over the finish line once again.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.
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