Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I rise first with an acknowledgement that, due to the efforts of the ranking member and chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Energy Development and Related Agencies, this bill could have been far worse. That is not the bar that we should set for ourselves.

I am particularly concerned about the 17 percent cut in the funding for the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation within NNSA.

This cut comes on top of last year's continuing resolution, where this office was cut by 7 percent and was only one of a few accounts to see its budget reduced by that bill.

The Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation is involved in critical nuclear security work, which is actively keeping us safe, from securing nuclear material worldwide to verifying that other countries and various rogue actors are not developing nuclear weapons.

It would be nice if we lived in a world where a miraculous Golden Dome could keep us safe from nuclear weapons, but we do not. We depend on being able to detect and enforce violations of nonproliferation agreements.

This bill leaves wide open opportunities for countries like Iran and other nefarious actors to more easily get their hands on the materials needed to build nuclear weapons. With tensions mounting in the Middle East and the internet containing significant bomb-making instructions which are much more accessible to terrorist groups, this is not the time when America can afford to step back.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

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