Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the 2025 Interior and Environment Funding Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding, and my thanks go to Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Pingree, and to the subcommittee staff for their extraordinary work on this bill, especially Rita Culp and Jocelyn Hunn.

The departments and agencies funded in the Interior and Environment bill ensure our air is safe to breathe, and that our water is safe to drink; that our National Parks and other public lands are protected and accessible to the American people; and that our nation’s unique and iconic flora, fauna, landscapes, and ecosystems are preserved for our health, safety, and enjoyment, for generations to come.

But, rather than making sound investments to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, preserve our National Parks, and ensure the environment we all share and live in remains clean and protected, the majority’s bill benefits the most egregious polluters and climate science deniers, jeopardizes public health and safety, hinders our responses to the climate crisis, and endangers rural and low-income communities.

The majority cuts the EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds by $678 million. This is funding for water we drink and bathe and cook with – a basic life necessity that we have a clear obligation to protect for the American people.

And, the bill zeroes-out funds for environmental justice, worsening the impacts of environmental discrimination for rural and poor communities. Every American deserves to live in a healthy, clean, and safe environment, but this bill abandons those who are most affected by environmental destruction and climate change.

By cutting efforts to reduce carbon emissions, slashing community resiliency programs, and requiring fossil fuels lease sales on public lands while prohibiting clean energy projects, the bill unwinds our response to climate change and promotes dirty energy, taking the side of fossil fuel companies and those who deny the scientific reality rather than address the escalating risk to our economy and national security presented by the changing climate and growing number of extreme weather events.

The impacts of climate change are deadly and costly and can be felt in communities around the world – including in each of our districts. We cannot put our heads in the sand and act like climate change will go away.

I have proudly worked across the aisle to protect our environment and public lands for Americans past, present and future, and I am immensely disappointed to see the majority abandon their obligation to conserving America’s lands and natural resources.

I believe that National Parks are America’s best idea, but sharp cuts to the National Park Service mean fewer seasonal employees and furloughing existing permanent employees, making it more difficult and cumbersome for our constituents to visit and enjoy our nation’s crown jewels. Cuts to the Smithsonian Institution will likewise curb Americans’ access to the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.

To top it all off, the majority has included some 83 new policy riders that put endangered species at risk, damage the environment, and obstruct clean energy development; hinder the work of the Environmental Protection Agency; and discriminate against millions of Americans.

I would like to read a portion of a letter from 69 environmental organizations, led by the League of Conservation Voters and Trust for Public Land. They say, and I quote, “This bill is riddled with so many outrageous policy attacks on our environment that it is impractical to list them individually. Similarly extreme riders were removed from the final FY24 Interior Appropriations bill just a few months ago; by going down this path again, we fear Congress is wasting valuable time that could be better spent producing bipartisan legislation that has a realistic chance of becoming law. We urge you to reject this proposal, which is equal parts damaging and unrealistic.” End quote.

The ramifications of this bill would reach every corner of the country. This bill damages our public lands, promotes dirty energy, jeopardizes biodiversity, and obstructs our response to the climate crisis. I cannot support this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to vote against it.

Democrats are at the table. We are ready to pass legislation that protects our environment, our public lands, and the health and safety of the American people – and, it is my hope that we can work together to see that the funding needed to address rising contract support costs is made mandatory.

I implore the majority to join us. It is time to govern.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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