Amendments Forbidding Defense Dollars From Being Spent on Coal Earmark and Green Energy Mandates Adopted

Press Conference

An amendment authored by Congressman McClintock and a bi-partisan amendment co-authored with Congressman Jared Huffman have been adopted by the House of Representatives to H.R. 2685 - FY16 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

The Huffman-McClintock amendment strikes an unnecessary, expensive and wasteful half-century old earmark that requires the U.S. military base in Kaiserslautern, Germany to buy an expensive specific type of coal from Pennsylvania. The provision has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and the amendment frees up funds that the military needs to defend the nation.

The 36 other U.S. military installations in Germany operate effectively, and at a cost savings, without being forced into the same arrangement as Kaiserslautern. The Huffman-McClintock amendment was adopted by a bipartisan vote of 252 -- 179.

The House also adopted a separate amendment authored by Congressman McClintock to save an estimated $7 billion by stopping expenditures for the Administration's "green energy" programs.

"At a time when we are defending the nation both from external threats and a steadily mounting national debt, there is no excuse for wasting money in the defense budget," Congressman McClintock said. "It is gratifying that the House is ending this wasteful spending, no matter how long-standing or well-intentioned it may be."

H.R. 2685 - FY16 Department of Defense Appropriations Act was passed by the House by a vote of 278 - 149 and next goes to the Senate.

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