Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment that would reduce Deputy Assistant Administrator Jake Li's salary to $1.

Mr. Li oversees all pesticide programs at the Biden EPA. The Biden EPA has consistently politicized crop reduction tools, creating uncertainty for farmers.

In their most recent attack on farmers and ranchers, the Biden EPA released a new herbicide strategy at the request of the radical climate cult lobby. This program would force farmers to implement costly mitigation measures, likely forcing them out of production entirely.

According to the Biden administration's own estimates, this program could cost more than $5 billion for all corn acres in Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska alone. This is just one more example of how the Biden administration puts the leftwing political agenda ahead of farmers who grow food to feed America and the world.

Madam Chair, please join me in supporting this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Madam Chairwoman, I rise in support of my amendment that would prohibit funding for the Solar for All program.

During an Agriculture Committee hearing earlier this year, the EPA Administrator told me that the EPA does not incentivize solar panels. This program clearly demonstrates he was not being truthful in his testimony.

Under the Biden administration's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the EPA has announced a $7 billion subsidy for solar panels. China completely controls the solar panel industry, and we should not be using taxpayer money to subsidize our adversaries in the name of a leftwing political ideology.

According to the EPA's own website, solar panels contain hazardous materials that are harmful to humans.

In my home State of Illinois, a school roof lit on fire due to excessive heat generated by solar panels on the roof.

The Biden administration needs to stop prioritizing the left's radical climate agenda over the energy needs of the American people.

Please join me in supporting this amendment.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. I would like to remind my friends on the other side that China controls the mining of rare earth minerals used to produce solar panels.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, in April, EPA Administrator Regan testified before the House Agriculture Committee and told me the EPA doesn't incentivize solar panels, that they are a regulatory agency. His statement to the committee was blatantly false.

The EPA does incentivize solar panels, which is why I introduced an amendment to strip all funding from the EPA's Solar for All program.

The Biden administration wants to cover rich, fertile farmland that we use to grow food with Chinese solar panels.

Mr. Chair, I support this amendment because we must send a message to the EPA to leave the farmers alone and never mislead Congress when testifying.

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