Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. 8997, and that I may include tabular material on the same.
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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to bring the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, to the floor today.

The bill provides a total of $59.2 billion to advance our commitment to national security, energy security, and economic competitiveness.

The bill delivers strong support for our national defense and provides $25.5 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The bill prioritizes nuclear weapons activities, fully funding all major stockpile modernization activities and providing additional funds for plutonium pit production and the nuclear sea- launched cruise missile.

At the Department of Energy, the bill supports programs that advance our Nation's energy security and ensure America remains at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation. This includes strong funding for nuclear energy, including additional funds specifically for nuclear demonstration projects; the Office of Science, including fusion energy sciences; and the full spectrum of mining production technologies to reduce our reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals.

The bill also includes a number of provisions to protect American resources and intellectual property from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries.

Funding for the Corps of Engineers totals $9.96 billion, including full funding of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund activities and the highest priority, ongoing Inland Waterways Trust Fund construction projects to ensure the safe and efficient flow of commerce.

Funding for the Bureau of Reclamation totals $1.93 billion, prioritized to projects that increase water supply and support drought resilience. This is a strong bill that builds on the work we started in fiscal year 2024.

Mr. Chair, I urge Members to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), the distinguished chairman of the full committee.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia), a member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee.

Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Chair, I am proud to support this very solid Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025. It is a good bill that will secure our nuclear triad, protect our domestic energy supplies, and pressure the Biden administration to refill our Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

I thank Chairman Cole and especially Chairman Fleischmann, as well as the committee staff, for their hard work on this bill and pulling this forward to the floor.

I am particularly satisfied that this legislation includes my provision to block a rule that was established by the Department of Energy to actually weaken environmental oversight for battery electric storage systems, or BESS facilities.

These BESS sites are essentially giant lithium batteries lined up, side-by-side, and stacked on top of each other, in many cases, and connected to the larger power grid. They are not necessarily, Mr. Chair, bad things.

While energy storage systems are essential for a modern power grid, especially in areas like in my district in southern California where we have high winds and high fire risk and high loads, these BESS facilities could potentially pose dangers for communities if not properly planned, if not properly engineered and constructed, and if put in locations that pose significant harm to our communities and our environment.

In a recent hearing, the San Bernardino fire chief testified that if these BESS sites are not perfectly constructed, they can actually create fires that are extremely difficult and almost impossible to extinguish.

My provision simply says that the Department of Energy needs to stop trying to cut corners and to do the homework before installing these energy storage systems in our communities.

Let me be clear. This isn't an anti-storage provision. It is a provision to ensure that the communities have a voice, and that the government isn't running with scissors during the development of these facilities.

I can tell you in L.A. County, they have made some very bad choices recently when it comes to these BESS facilities. You don't have to look any further than the community of Acton, right in the middle of my district, to understand the risks associated with rushing these energy storage projects.

Acton is a small community, Mr. Chair, right in the middle of the Angeles Forest where L.A. County is forcing, effectively, this BESS facility to be constructed.

Let me paint a picture of where this location is. In their infinite wisdom, L.A. County decided to put this BESS facility smack dab on top of the most active part of the San Andreas Fault. It is right in the middle of some of the most combustible wildlands and poses a significant wildfire risk.

Within a par 5 of this location, there is a large electrical substation that would be basically knocked out, which supplies all of the power to L.A. County or most of the power to L.A. County, if this were to have any issues.

Within a par 5, there is a freeway that is a main corridor going to the high desert. There is a railroad. There is a reservoir, which is drinking water for the high desert and about a third of my district. There are high-voltage transmission lines going overhead. If the facility catches on fire, those will be knocked out. There is a Brightline West planned nearby, a new rail line, as well as California's high-speed rail, right by this BESS facility in L.A. County.

In the end, the community had no input. They had no voice. The government was running with scissors, and the L.A. County officials were able to put this BESS facility in a location that, frankly, is probably the absolute worst location that they could have chosen.

I thank the chairman for this good bill overall. It does a lot of amazing things. I especially want to make sure that I reiterate that these battery storage facilities are good, they are necessary, but they need to be done right. We can't be cutting corners on these very unique technologies.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the underlying bill.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1370, I offer amendments en bloc.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, this bipartisan en bloc amendment was developed in coordination with the minority. It contains noncontroversial amendments addressing important issues at the agencies funded in this bill that have been agreed to by both sides.

Mr. Chairman, I support the adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the State of Washington (Mr. Newhouse), who is a member of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Duarte).

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, while I appreciate my colleague's interest on these issues, my view is steadfast and the same as it was last year when a similar amendment was offered.

Threats to the United States have changed and technology has advanced, but our ICBM capability has not kept up. The W87-1 modification program will replace the W78 warhead, which is one of the oldest in the stockpile.

This program will improve warhead security, safety, and use control. This amendment puts at risk our ability as a Nation to respond to increasing threats from our adversaries. I strongly oppose the amendment and I strongly urge my colleagues to do the same.

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, I rise to oppose the gentleman's amendment.

In my view, the elimination of this funding would hurt Federal oversight of the billions in loans the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program has already given. These funds are primarily used for portfolio management and financial oversight. No new loan authorities are provided in this bill.

ATVM loans will be repaid for many years in the future. Eliminating this funding puts the ability of the government to receive these payments in jeopardy. We must ensure proper oversight of taxpayer funding.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, much like the gentleman's last amendment, I respectfully think the result of his amendment would be the opposite of his intent.

There is no new loan authority provided in this bill. Existing title 17 loans, however, will be repaid for many years in the future. Eliminating the funding in this bill puts the ability of the government to receive these repayments in jeopardy. In my view, we must ensure proper oversight of this taxpayer funding. For these reasons, I must respectfully oppose the amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Madam Chair, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment would cut funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, which supports hundreds of cost-shared projects, partnering with private industry to bring needed jobs to this depressed region.

The underlying energy and water bill maintains funding for the ARC at the fiscal year 2024 level of $200 million, which was the same as the fiscal 2023 enacted level.

These communities cannot afford to lose the millions of dollars in private investment this commission leverages.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) the distinguished chair emeritus of the Appropriations Committee.

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, while I appreciate my colleague's interest in keeping the Federal spending in check, I would note that the 12 bills reported by the Appropriations Committee collectively adhere to the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

How funds are allocated within that top line may be different than it was in previous years, but cutting these regional commissions won't actually reduce overall spending. It would just result in spending somewhere else, maybe even somewhere more objectionable to my colleague.

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, this regional commission helps distressed communities across Alaska with basic infrastructure, like water and sewage systems and power generation. For similar reasons as the previous amendments, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, my objections to this amendment mirror my objections to the previous amendments to cut funding for regional commissions. I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, for the same reasons as the previous amendments, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, for the same reasons with the previous amendments, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I share some of my colleague's concern about excess spending in EERE. EERE received over $16 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, of which there are billions in unobligated balances remaining. These reasons are exactly why, and my colleague from Texas alluded to this in his amendment, we reduced EERE spending by $1.5 billion below fiscal year 2024.

In fact, the House bill has reduced funding for EERE below the fiscal 2016 level. However, respectfully, my colleague's amendment goes too far in my view by eliminating funding for EERE.

I am actually a supporter of EERE. The work that they do advances research and development on renewable technologies, advanced manufacturing, and battery improvement. That includes essential work on critical minerals that will help lay the groundwork for technologies that will reduce our reliance on foreign supplies.

I think that is an issue we all can support.

I support strategic reductions to EERE, but I am not in favor of eliminating the account and walking away from its ongoing work.

Mr. Chair, for those reasons I must oppose my colleague's amendment, I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.

Mr. Chair, I respectfully rise to oppose the amendment. While I completely understand some of the frustrations my colleagues may experience with some of the dealings with the executive branch, I don't believe reducing salaries to $1 is likely to solve the problem. I think it may create a more challenging environment.

Mr. Chair, I respectfully ask for a ``no'' vote.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is responsible for managing more than $25 billion for large-scale pilot programs and demonstrations across numerous energy technologies. It is our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer funds, which is why the House bill includes no funding for the office to conduct new demonstrations.

Instead, the only funds provided to the office in this bill are for staff to provide project management oversight. My colleague's amendment, respectfully, would prohibit funds for that oversight function, preventing the office from ensuring programs are being properly administered.

That would directly impact the success of important programs within the office's jurisdiction, like the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and the small modular reactor program. These programs, which have strong bipartisan support, are essential to ensuring our Nation's energy security and regaining U.S. leadership in nuclear energy.

We can't abandon our oversight responsibilities and risk the success of programs like these. For these reasons, I must oppose the amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Chair, I respect my colleague, Mr. Fleischmann, tremendously. It is one of those few times we will have to agree to disagree, but I think it is so important that we make a statement here.

There are some good things that office does, but they do so many things that we don't agree with. This is the conundrum that we always find ourselves in in Congress. In order to get a modicum of good things done, we have to vote for the whole package and the whole thing moves forward, and so many of those initiatives are not good, and that is the problem here.

Let's do this right. I believe in nuclear. I believe solar can have a role. I don't believe wind can do well, especially out in the ocean, but the point is, let the marketplace of ideas be the ones that dictate what we should do here. This office does so much that it shouldn't do, yet we are told we have to vote for this because they do a few things we agree with. I respectfully disagree.

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

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

Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Chair, just quickly to wrap it up, we are less energy independent now than we were 4 years ago. I agree we should look at nuclear, look at carbon capture, look at all these things, but don't make us more dependent on other countries.

The wind turbines they want to build in our beautiful oceans are going to make us more dependent on energy from foreign countries. What we are forcing on the American public with the EVs, the electric vehicles, will make us more dependent on China.

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

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Van Drew) having assumed the chair, Mr. Norman, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 8997) making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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