Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in reluctant opposition to H.R. 4502, the seven-bill fiscal year 2022 appropriations package that includes the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill. I had hoped to be able to support the appropriations bill this year. Unfortunately, the overall funding framework for these bills lacks bipartisan support. The House framework includes massive increases for non-defense programs and shortchanges our national security needs.

Taken in isolation, there are many things in the Energy and Water bill that House Republicans could support. For example, strong support for the Corps of Engineers, including specific community project funding and additional programmatic funding, is a bipartisan priority.

Of great importance to me, of course, is the Department of Energy's nuclear energy program. I appreciate Chairwoman Kaptur's efforts to address many of my priorities within this account.

In particular, I am pleased to see increased funding to continue three demonstration projects under the Advanced Small Modular Reactor and Advanced Reactors Demonstration programs, as well as continued work on microreactors, including the MARVEL program.

Also notable is the support for ensuring a supply of high-assay, low- enriched uranium, or HALEU, that will be the fuel that will be used by many of the next generation of reactors. The Department of Energy will serve as an essential, temporary source of HALEU until the commercial market can be established.

While I support the focus on demonstrating new technologies, I am disappointed to see that the bill does not also continue support for the Versatile Test Reactor. The VTR will be a valuable domestic testing facility for many advanced technologies. Continuing work now, even if at a slower pace than was originally planned, will allow us to benefit from collaboration with one of the demonstration projects.

I was pleased to join Congressman Weber in offering an amendment to highlight the importance of the VTR, and I urge the full House to adopt it. I look forward to working with my colleagues to support progress on the VTR as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the bill before us underfunds our national security needs. An increase of less than 1 percent for weapons activities does not even keep up with inflation. And while the budget request was itself insufficient, the bill before us does not even meet the budget request for certain stockpile sustainment and major modification programs. We must uphold our Nation's strong national deterrence posture, and to do that we must adequately fund the activities necessary to maintain a safe, reliable, and effective stockpile.

In closing, I would like to thank Chairwoman Kaptur for putting together this year's Energy and Water bill in her typical cooperative style. It is clear that she and the majority staff worked hard to address individual Members' priorities from both sides of the aisle, and I thank her for that consideration.

I would also like to thank Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger of the full committee for their leadership and support of the important programs in this bill.

I look forward to working together as the bill moves through the legislative process to develop a final Energy and Water bill that reflects a balanced set of priorities that can be supported by Members on both sides of the aisle.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Tenney).

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Mr. SIMPSON.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I support this amendment and hope that Members will vote for it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I support this amendment, and I encourage my colleagues to support it also. I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment No. 151, which seeks to provide an additional $650,000 to the U.S. Geological Survey to accelerate updating the seismic hazard model for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The corresponding offset would come from a small portion of the increase to transition the U.S. Geological Survey fleet to zero emission vehicles, which falls under the same account.

The National Seismic Hazard Model describes the potential impacts of earthquakes nationwide and serves as the basis for seismic provisions in building codes. While the U.S. Geological Survey office last updated the model for the 48 contiguous States in 2018, it has not updated the models for Alaska since 2007, for Hawaii since 1998, and for Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands since 2003.

The U.S. Geological Survey has begun updating the models for Alaska and Hawaii, which will be released with the next update of the National Seismic Hazard Model in 2023. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to update the models for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That is the reason this amendment will provide the initial funds needed to permit the U.S. Geological Survey to complete Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands update within 3 years, by 2024.

In Puerto Rico we know firsthand the devastating impact earthquakes can have, as we saw last year in the southern part of the island where most of the schools were destroyed as well as infrastructure. Updating the hazard model is, therefore, urgent and crucial to saving lives and ensuring that we have the necessary tools to prepare for future seismic events.

Mr. Speaker, that is the reason I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, we support the amendment and would encourage our colleagues to vote for it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SIMPSON.

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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