Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2584, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. McGOVERN. I want to thank the ranking member, the gen tle lady from New York, for yielding me the time.
I rise today to oppose this rule and the underlying legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I have two children, ages 13 and 10, and one of our favorite things to do as a family is to go hiking. We have hiked all over this great country. We have a love and a respect for our open spaces and for our environment. Unfortunately, the Republicans' fiscal year 2012 Interior appropriations bill throws that into grave danger.
This Interior appropriations bill represents an unprecedented departure from our Nation's decades-long bipartisan commitment to protecting our shared environment, magnificent natural resources and our cherished cultural treasures. It's a shame that my Republican colleagues prioritize tax breaks and incentives for highly profitable oil companies over the Grand Canyon, the Cape Cod National Seashore, State parks, and even public health.
Mr. Speaker, I could be here all day talking about the harmful cuts and misplaced priorities that are included in this bill: from the more than 25 policy riders that do not belong in an appropriations bill, that do everything from gutting the Endangered Species Act to allowing uranium drilling by foreign companies alongside the Grand Canyon, to the harsh cuts in EPA funding that will result in millions of Americans being exposed to dirtier air and dirtier water.
I give my Republican colleagues credit. They have left no stone unturned in their environmental assault. Unfortunately, though, that stone will be covered in toxic algae, coal ash, and polluted water if they have their way.
One of the most egregious cuts in this bill is to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been one of the greatest conservation success stories over the past 50 years, protecting thousands and thousands of acres of land at the Federal and State levels. States rely on this funding and demonstrate their commitment to its value by providing matching funding for State park and recreational purposes. Not only that, but the Land and Water Conservation Fund has a dedicated source of funding derived from oil and gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf and is authorized to accumulate $900 million annually from its dedicated sources. Nonetheless, my Republican friends forget all of this and still slash the Land and Water Conservation Fund funding by 78 percent from the current fiscal year. This represents the lowest level of funding in the 45-year history of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. What's most troubling is that, in the committee report, my Republican colleagues acknowledge the enormous value of the Land and Water Conservation Fund but then go right ahead and decimate its budget.
The bill also cuts clean water and safe drinking water grant programs by nearly 40 percent, threatening Americans' ability to access clean water and adding to the already significant backlog of safe drinking water infrastructure projects.
Look, I know it's politically popular to demonize the EPA right now, and at times I've had my own strong disagreements with the EPA on certain issues, but this Interior appropriations bill is not the way to meaningfully address any of those disagreements. This bill puts the priorities of special interests and scoring cheap political points over public health and our natural resources. It's as simple as that.
Mr. Speaker, I realize that these are tough budgetary times, but what troubles me about the Republicans' approach to this appropriations process is that so many of their cuts are aimed at programs that will lower the standard of living and lessen the quality of life for a majority of Americans. This appropriations process should be about lifting people up, not putting people down, and it should be about a decent respect for our environment, and certainly a respect for our environment over corporate special interests.
When we talk about protecting our environment, we're talking about quality of life issues that impact every single person in this country. This bill undermines our historic bipartisan commitment to our environment.
I would urge my colleagues to reject this rule and reject the underlying bill.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source