Conference Report On H.R. 2996, Department Of The Interior, Environment, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. CALVERT. I thank the gentleman. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Dicks and Ranking Member Simpson for their courtesy and openness in the process of putting together this legislation. However, I reluctantly rise today in opposition to the fiscal year 2010 Interior appropriations conference report.

While Americans are cutting their budgets, the Democratic leadership continues the spending frenzy with an increase of $4.7 billion--that's 17 percent, as was mentioned earlier--over the 2009 levels for the Interior appropriations bill. This increased spending is on top of the $11 billion included in Interior programs in the stimulus package. That's an increase of $15.7 billion in 1 year.

This bill does fund certain vital initiatives, such as hazardous fuels reduction, the so-called FLAME Act which was mentioned, in areas that face the highest risk of catastrophic wildfire. Funds to ensure that firefighters have the resources they need to battle fires and diesel emission reduction grants to improve air quality are also included.

Unfortunately, the bill simply spends too much money with too little in return. For example, it includes $750,000 for yet another study to look at the science behind the federally imposed pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California. While I certainly have no objections to yet another study, I do believe that it may very well take a number of months to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to merely confirm what I think we already know: that after 4 years of water restrictions in the delta, the delta smelt remains close to extinction, all while farmers and families continue to suffer.

The Democratic leadership in this Congress continues to sit on its hands while the flaws and shortcuts of the Endangered Species Act have tied the hands of judges and water resource planners, creating a man-made drought that is killing jobs in California. Rather than addressing an issue that is creating 40 percent unemployment in some parts of the Central Valley, the majority has ignored yet another opportunity to resolve the problem and, instead, is focused on yet another job killer: cap-and-trade climate change language.

The bill includes $385 million for climate change initiatives, and earlier this week, Energy Secretary Chu suggested at a Senate hearing that the U.S. is falling behind countries like China in developing green energy because Congress has failed to pass the cap-and-trade legislation. The last time I checked, China has not implemented a cap-and-trade, nor has any intention to enter into a regulatory regime on cap-and-trade, so I was a bit surprised to hear the Secretary point to them as the gold standard.

I believe the statements from the Secretary, like the bill before us, reflect a key policy difference. While my friends on the other side of the aisle prefer to achieve results by expanding government, increasing spending, regulating everything, I believe we can achieve results by implementing policies that give hardworking Americans the freedom and basic tools that will enable them to unleash their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit.

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