McCollum statement at markup of 2016 Interior Appropriations bill

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I want to begin by commending our Chairman for the sincere and collaborative manner in which he has carried out his duties while laboring under an inadequate allocation.  Chairman Calvert chaired 14 budget hearings where we received testimony from nearly 150 witnesses.  I greatly appreciated the Chairman’s willingness to hear from so many agency and citizen voices.

Let me also express my appreciation to the subcommittee staff on the minority and majority sides for their hard work during another difficult budget year.

Unfortunately, the inadequate 302(b) allocation given to the Interior and Environment Subcommittee has set this bill up for failure.  The subcommittee’s 302(b) allocation for FY 2016 is $246 million below the FY 2015 enacted level.   When added to the cuts of the past five years, the bill before us today is more than $2 billion below  the FY 2010 enacted level.  In fact, when adjusted for inflation, this bill invests less than what was appropriated in 2005.  It’s time to dispel the notion that these budget cuts have only resulted in a little belt-tightening.

Years of cuts and flat funding means we are going backwards and causing real harm to the environment, undermining efforts to preserve America’s natural and cultural heritage, and failing to meet our commitments to the social and economic well-being of Native Americans.

Members of the subcommittee spent two full days listening to testimony from tribal leaders and others in the Native American community. We heard compelling testimony of the unmet needs in Indian Country, especially in the areas of education and health. Whether it be health, education, or economic status, Native Americans rank below every other group of Americans in the level of benefits they receive. Yet, because of this bill’s inadequate allocation, many Native American programs received far less funding than requested.

Last year, attendance at our national parks was at a record high. And with the upcoming Centennial of the National Park Service in 2016, visitation is expected to increase. But what will visitors find when they come to the 2016 Centennial celebration?  Under this bill, less than 16% of the funds requested for the NPS Centennial are provided.  And, by underfunding the Centennial Challenge, this bill misses the opportunity to allow the American public to support their parks through matching donations.

The NPS Civil Rights Initiative fares only slightly better, with just 19% of the request funded. The pattern of shortchanging conservation of our nation is continued with the Land and Water Conservation Fund program, where funding is cut by more than 25% below the FY 2015 enacted level.

Wildlife programs are underfunded, with cuts or flat-funding to programs that assist in the recovery of species or help prevent their listing in the first place. I am especially troubled by the majority’s decision to cut the Endangered Species Act Listing Program by 50%.  By slashing funding for the endangered species program, this bill ensures that the Fish and Wildlife Service will fail to make listing determinations within the mandated timeframe. Then, such delays will be used as fodder to undermine this landmark environmental law.

However, the most significant and devastating cuts are again targeted at the Environmental Protection Agency. This bill cuts the EPA by $718 million from the FY 2015 enacted level, a 9% cut. This would be on top of the nearly 20% cut the agency has received over the past four years. The air every American breathes and the water every American family drinks are all at risk by the funding cuts and policy attacks in this bill. The consequences of abandoning public health and environmental protection will be negatively felt in communities across this nation.

This bill cuts the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Revolving Funds by more than half a billion dollars! The revolving funds are a partnership that protects America’s drinking water, prevents sewage from contaminating our water, and creates jobs in communities all across the country. Slashing the state revolving funds means local communities have to choose between risking public health or forcing them to raise taxes the federal hole this bill causes.

Wildland Fire burns up 12% or $3.5 billion of the subcommittee’s allocation and without some relief these numbers will only continue to grow. Just last week, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior released their latest summer fire forecast which showed that fire costs are likely to exceed the FY 2015 enacted level by nearly $300 million. In just the past three years we have had to make up a total billion dollar funding shortfall that forced agencies to borrow funds from other accounts to pay for fire costs.

We know the answer to the problem.  Many of us are cosponsors of Mr. Simpson’s bill to treat a portion of these wildfire costs as the disaster they are.

As problematic as the funding decisions in this bill are, what is even more troubling are the 24 problem legislative riders and funding limitations contained in the bill, with six of these being new this year. These provisions don’t belong in the bill.  They only serve to undermine our nation’s bedrock environmental laws, endanger public health and safety, and deny the impact that climate change is having on our planet.

Mr. Chairman, we have heard the testimony and we know the needs. Congress needs to get serious about fixing the Budget Control Act’s irresponsible caps.  And the sooner the better. As it now stands, the numbers and the riders in the Interior and Environment bill are not workable or sustainable and they do not have my support.

I intend to continue to work with Chairman Calvert to improve this bill in the hope that at the end of this process we can have a legislative product with bipartisan support.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.