National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2020, and particularly division C, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Madam Speaker, before I get into the details of the bill, I would like to thank several Members involved in this effort: my chairwoman, Marcy Kaptur, and our Senate partners, Lamar Alexander and Dianne Feinstein. The four of us have now worked several Energy and Water conferences together, and I continue to appreciate the collegiality and determination to advance national and constituent interests that my colleagues bring to the discussions.

Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank our full committee leadership, Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger here in the House and Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy in the Senate, for their leadership and support throughout this year's process.

As ranking member of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, I believe this fiscal year 2020 Energy and Water bill is a good bill, and I am pleased that so many House Republican priorities are included in this final bill.

First and foremost, the bill strongly supports our national nuclear security programs, providing a total $16.7 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including weapons activities, defense nuclear nonproliferation, and naval reactors.

Weapons activities specifically is funded at $12.5 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion above fiscal year 2019. Within this amount, the bill fully funds the maintenance and modernization of our nuclear weapons systems, including each nuclear weapon life extension, alteration, and modification program, as well as activities to rebuild production capabilities for strategic materials, such as plutonium pits.

Next, the bill includes substantial investments in our Nation's water resources infrastructure. The Corps of Engineers is funded at a total of $7.65 billion, an increase of $651 million above last year.

Within this amount, an estimated $1.63 billion is for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund activities. That level exceeds the annual HMTF target. In fact, it represents 91.5 percent of the estimated revenues, compared to the revenue fiscal year 2020 target of 80 percent established in WRRDA in 2014.

Finally, one of my personal priorities, the bill promotes innovation and growth in nuclear energy, funding research, development, and demonstration activities at $1.3 billion, an increase of $160 million above fiscal year 2019.

Within this amount, the bill establishes a new advanced nuclear reactor demonstration program. The goal is to build two demonstration reactors by the mid-2020s, in a move towards commercializing the next generation of carbon-free nuclear energy technology to be deployed here in the United States and around the globe.

I am also pleased to see several provisions included in other divisions of this bill. Specifically, the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill includes many important policies and funding provisions to ensure that sage grouse remain off the endangered species list.

The agreement could not be more important for rural counties thanks to full funding for PILT and 2 years of SRS funding.

This agreement is historic because it will be the first time the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior will have access to budget cap adjustments for wildfire fighting. This allows wildfires finally to receive equal treatment with other natural disasters and allows our land management agencies to focus on prevention efforts to get ahead of the issue.

In the Agriculture Appropriations bill, this agreement delivers vital research funding for potatoes, grain, and other commodities, and it signals an important step forward for the sheep station in Dubois, Idaho, and acknowledges the diverse stakeholders who seek to collaborate and grow future research at the station. I am eager to continue the momentum to build capacity at Dubois.

Finally, and probably most importantly, I thank the staff of all of our subcommittees, but particularly the ones I work with on Interior and Energy and Water. They do a tremendous job for us. They are here on weekends. They are here during holidays and other times behind the scenes, actually putting together these bills. This is a job we could not do without their support.

All in all, this appropriations package, including the Energy and Water division, is a strong bill that incorporates many priorities, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source