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

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment which would restrict funds at the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies from being used to finalize any rule or regulation that have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.

Under the current administration, the regulatory landscape has never been worse. Regulatory agencies within the Department of the Interior have been able to exert an extraordinary amount of power and influence with very little oversight and very little authority to do so.

My amendment seeks to change this by requiring that any major rule proposed by these agencies be approved by both Houses of Congress before they can take effect. This means that the elected Representatives of the American people here in the people's House would have a direct say in shaping the regulations that affect our natural resources and our public lands and that have a tremendous impact on our everyday lives.

It means that the individuals who are closest to their constituents, who understand the needs and concerns of their communities, will be at the forefront of decisionmaking as our Founding Fathers intended.

By including my amendment into the Interior-Environment appropriations bill, we send a very powerful message that we are committed to accountable and transparent governance. We are standing up for the principle that significant regulatory decisions should not be made behind closed doors but rather in the open Halls of Congress where the voices of the American people can be heard.

Since President Biden took office, the regulatory climate has added hundreds of billions with a b of dollars in fresh regulatory costs which are eventually passed down to consumers--our constituents.

We have seen the Biden administration's waters of the U.S. regulation create confusion and uncertainty for landowners, farmers, and businesses across the Nation, not to mention how expensive these regulations have been. As American families and businesses continue to suffer under the economic crisis caused by the disastrous Biden policies, this administration has decided to move the country back towards more costly and burdensome WOTUS regulations of the past-- needlessly in the process raising housing costs by hundreds of millions of dollars when it is already in a housing crisis.

Under this administration, we have seen a proposed greenhouse gas emission standard for heavy-duty vehicles directly impacting our Nation's trucking by forcing costly, unachievable mandates on enterprise fleets with thousands of trucks to small mom-and-pop family businesses.

We have seen the regulatory overreach regarding mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure management systems and permitting requirements for livestock emissions under the Clean Air Act. I could go on and on and on. It is clear that overreach under this administration has been extreme and it has gone too far.

It is simple. Congress should have oversight over the EPA and other agencies like this because this agency was established through executive action rather than explicit congressional authorization.

Let me say that for the people in the back and the people at home. The EPA is not even a congressionally authorized agency, and yet we fund it.

By subjecting the EPA to congressional oversight, we ensure that decisions made by the agency are accountable to the elected Representatives of the people. This oversight allows for a more transparent and balanced approach to environmental regulation allowing for a thorough examination of policies and their potential impacts on various stakeholders.

My amendment has the potential to reshape the way our government operates and ensure that the power of decisionmaking is in the hands of those who are elected to represent the interests of the American people. It is time to become transparent and accountable to the people whom we serve.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, I agree with my colleague on the other side of the aisle. We want to exert more transparency and more accountability. That is what we are doing here. This amendment furthers our ability to do just that, to hold Members of Congress accountable for the actions that are impacting our constituents' everyday lives. That is exactly what we are designed to do. That is Article I authority.

We cede that authority to an unelected, nameless, and faceless bureaucrat through the regulatory regime. These agencies have run away with their rulemaking authority so that Congress has very little power to roll back or claw back.

This amendment is a commonsense amendment. Earlier this year, the same language was passed in a bipartisan manner, so there is no excuse as to why both Republicans and Democrats cannot support these commonsense, accountable, and transparent measures on behalf of the American people.

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

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source