Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment No. 233 to the FY 2026 Defense Appropriations bill. I thank Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum for including it in the Amendments En Bloc No. 3.

Our world is facing numerous water challenges. Climate change is making those challenges worse.

Our military is not exempt. The Defense Department has previously identified water services failures as a growing risk, as they impact a military facility's ability to execute missions and maintain warfighter readiness. That is where my amendment comes in.

My amendment would increase funding for ongoing research and work being done by the Army, with the help of some leading institutions of higher education like the one in my district, Marquette University.

These partnerships with the Department of Defense (DoD), Marquette, and other institutions of higher education are being used to study technology and other solutions to water challenges facing our military and our service members that can also benefit our communities like improved sensing/monitoring of water pollution, and advanced water/ wastewater treatment technologies to facilitate reuse of pollution- impacted water resources.

Thus, collaboration between DoD and civilian researchers on water contamination and resilience issues has the potential for many benefits, including positive public health impacts.

With these additional funds, we can help unleash researchers to explore water sustainment and resiliency technologies that increase readiness and safety of military personnel in contingency bases and at military installations, that can address and improve water efficiency, and improve the conservation of water resources, and the resiliency of water infrastructure.

I urge support for my amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source