Ranking Member DeLauro Remarks: FY 27 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee Markup

-- Remarks As Delivered -- 

Thank you Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member Pingree. And Chairman Cole, always good to be with you.

I also want to thank the Committee staff, Rita Culp and Tyler Coe on the Minority, and Maggie Earle, Sarah Peery, Andrea Sparks-Ibanga, and Lucy Alford on the Majority. Thank you so much your hard work, always.

I am opposed to the bill we are considering today because it puts the interests of corporate polluters over those of working families. It saddles vulnerable Americans with higher costs for energy and utilities, while severely weakening environmental protections. And it does nothing to push back against the administration raiding funds meant for the arts and humanities to pay for President Trump’s “Triumphal Arch.” It just makes me reflect on centuries ago in France where there was a monarch who said, “Let them eat cake.” And so for the American people, it is about letting them eat cake.

This bill cuts the EPA’s overall budget by 20 percent, substantially scaling back the agency’s ability to prevent pollution, punish polluters, and keep our communities clean. Specifically, it cuts enforcement under the EPA nearly in half.

Earlier this week we learned that the Trump administration is rolling back restrictions on “forever chemicals” in our drinking water. These are contaminants that we know are harmful to human beings. And yet, the Trump administration has decided that allowing corporations to continue polluting is more important than protecting the health of our communities. Gutting the enforcement budget for the EPA will only allow more pollution to take place.

This bill also includes numerous policy riders that impede the EPA’s ability to enforce regulations under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other laws governing hazardous waste. Clean air and clean water are basic necessities that every American is entitled to. They are not exclusive luxuries reserved only for a privileged few.

Not only will our communities be left to live in a dirtier environment under this bill, but they will have to pay higher prices for it as well. 

This bill slashes water infrastructure funding by $576 million, including an $86 million cut to states for infrastructure projects that support clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems. Eliminating these funds will saddle our communities with these additional costs.

This bill also continues the President’s bizarre war on wind power by imposing additional fees on offshore wind projects, disincentivizing the production of new energy sources. Generating more energy is key to bringing down costs, and clean energy is the future. But this bill seems designed to keep us stuck in the past, even as our global competitors race ahead.

The bill slashes funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by $72 million each – a 35 percent cut. It has been said that robust investment in the arts is the mark of any advanced society. The use of public funds for private ends, however, is the mark of a civilization in decline. This bill gives the administration a pass for taking Humanities funding from our communities in order to pay for an Arch, a ballroom, a reflecting pool—vanity projects that President Trump admits are being built for himself.

At a time when the American people are struggling to make ends meet, this bill makes the problem worse. It does nothing to bring down costs, while allowing the billionaires and big corporations, who have profited by polluting our communities, to get even richer. Meanwhile, the air we breathe and the water we drink gets less and less safe.

I encourage my colleagues to oppose this bill. As the ranking member pointed out, we did come to a good conclusion last go around. We are all on this planet together, and we ought to take better care of it. I encourage my friends across the aisle to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan bill that protects the environment, keeps our communities safe and healthy, and helps bring down costs for working families. 

Thank you, and I yield back.