Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Funding Bill

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

Thank you, Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Pingree, and my thanks to the subcommittee staff for your 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 maintained and accessible to the American people; and that our nation’s unique and iconic flora, fauna, landscapes and ecosystems are preserved for the sake of our health, safety, and enjoyment, for generations to come.

But, rather than making sound investments to protect the air and water we consume, preserve our National Parks, and ensure the environment we all share and live in remains clean and protected, the majority’s bill takes the side of polluters and climate science deniers, jeopardizing public health and safety, hindering our responses to the climate crisis, and endangering rural and low-income communities.

The majority cuts the EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds by $678 million. This is water we drink and bathe and cook with – a basic life necessity that we have a simple 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 head 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 commitment to conserving America’s lands and natural resources.

I do 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 curb clean energy development; hinder the work of the Environmental Protection Agency; and discriminate against millions of Americans.

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.

Democrats are at the table and ready to pass legislation that protects our environment, our public lands, and the health and safety of the American people. I implore the majority to join us. It is time to govern.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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