Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I offer amendment No. 39 to H.R. 4821, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill for 2024.
Amendment No. 39 will reduce funding for the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Programs and Management account by $17 million. My amendment will then reallocate $10 million for increased oversight of the EPA. It will also provide for spending cuts to the EPA of $2 million.
The EPA's role is to protect human health and the environment through research and development. Yet, it seems it is often more focused on burdensome bureaucratic red tape than on the American people and its businesses.
Stringent EPA regulations burden businesses with compliance costs, leading to job losses, higher prices for the customer, and reduced economic competitiveness, particularly in industries such as manufacturing, energy, and agriculture.
For example, in my own district, re-pavement of a key road has been delayed for 18 months at the cost of nearly $750 million. These roads are heavily trafficked and in desperate need of repair.
This delay is due to EPA's requirement of an extensive environmental impact study, even though the road was paved over a decade ago and this is a simple re-pavement project to revitalize the community. This is a ridiculous delay of the inevitable.
The EPA needs to begin prioritizing these communities over the bureaucratic overreach with overbearing regulations.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support amendment No. 39, which would decrease the EPA's overall funding account and reallocate a portion of these funds to increase oversight, transparency, and accountability.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I reiterate that my amendment reduces funding for the overbearing EPA, increases funding of EPA oversight, and cuts spending by $2 million.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source