Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill. It is the product of a genuine bipartisan compromise, something that was once common in this body but has since fallen out of fashion.

I am eager to share all the great things that are in this bill, but before I do, I must take a moment to express my profound gratitude to the devoted public servants who worked tirelessly to make this happen.

They are Ranking Members Grace Meng, Marcy Kaptur, and Chellie Pingree on the Appropriations Committee, who led these negotiations and secured crucial funding for key programs. Subcommittee staff, especially Bob Bonner, Rita Culp, Scott McKee, Adam Wilson, Nora Faye, Jamie Wise, Faye Cobb, Jocelyn Hunn, Michael Schmeltz, and Ippo Dellatolas worked through the holidays to craft this legislation. I send a shout-out to Chris Bigelow, the appropriations staff director.

Of course, I thank our Republican counterparts on the committee under the leadership of my dear friend, Chairman Cole.

When we began this process, we set out three goals: protect Democratic priorities, eliminate any poison pills, and reassert Congress' power of the purse. I am pleased to report that this package accomplishes all three.

It protects funding for key Democratic priorities, and it rejects draconian cuts proposed by the Trump administration. It invests in programs at the Department of Energy that will bring down energy costs and utility bills, which are core drivers of the ongoing affordability crisis, programs that President Trump proposed to cut or eliminate, despite the cost-of-living crisis he has led us into.

This package promotes community safety, increasing funding for Violence Against Women Act grants by $7 million, supporting victims of abuse who otherwise would have nowhere to turn.

It rejects efforts by the Trump administration to eviscerate scientific research funding, providing $4.8 billion more for the National Science Foundation than the White House proposed.

The agreement also rejects the Office of Management and Budget's illegal efforts to undermine America's dominance in scientific innovation across the entire government by protecting the indirect costs that research institutions depend on to do groundbreaking work with the Department of Energy, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. This is something Chairman Cole and I have worked on in the past with regard to the NIH, and it is critical for us to expand it to other agencies in this package.

The bill provides funding to protect our national parks, natural resources, endangered species, and public lands, rejecting $9.5 billion in proposed cuts in the Interior bill. It protects our environment while restraining polluters, providing $8.8 billion in funding for the EPA, nearly double the budget proposed by the White House.

Additionally, there is not a single poison pill policy rider in this bill. I know my friend, the chairman, and I may disagree on what constitutes a poison pill, but it is a testament to the good faith of these negotiations that both sides agreed to drop provisions the other found truly objectionable.

I know some of my Democratic colleagues may be reticent to support a funding package for an administration that has been rife with abuse since the day they took office. I understand their concerns, and I share them. However, abandoning the appropriations process only empowers the President and the Office of Management and Budget to continue manipulating Federal spending as a partisan weapon. If we give up on appropriations, there are only two alternatives: a permanent shutdown or endless stopgaps with funding on autopilot. Neither is a viable option.

Stopgap measures afford the administration broader discretion over the budget and cede our authority over Federal spending. The more ambiguity we afford them, the more they will exploit it. One of the best ways to rein in this reckless administration is by providing precise spending levels for specific projects that they are bound by law to carry out.

That is exactly what this bill does.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Kaptur), the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Pingree), the distinguished ranking member of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Meng), the distinguished ranking member of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. McCollum), the distinguished ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Dean), a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I extend my thanks to Chairman Cole, an incredible partner in working on all 12 appropriations bills.

The Appropriations Committee is the lifeblood of the government. It is a place where you can only achieve work on behalf of the American people through bipartisan, bicameral legislation. Without it, we know what happens: the catastrophe with the continuing resolutions that go on forever, or the government shuts down. That is not a path to success on behalf of the people of this country.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to say that it is the lifeblood of our government. Those of us who serve on the Appropriations Committee know that. I will be bold in saying that, quite frankly, if they left these things to us, we would get them done. In this regard, we have. We are through six bills. We have six more to go. We are going to get this done, and we are going to meet the January 30 deadline.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of this bill. I am proud of the process that produced it.

We have shown good faith, bipartisan negotiation is still possible in an era of increasing polarization, and the kind of constructive conversations that produced this package continue with regard to the remaining six funding bills. The negotiations are ongoing. We haven't stopped the conversations in order for us to meet that January 30 deadline, and I remain confident that we can meet the deadline and avoid another continuing resolution.

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