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

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Ranking Member of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Appropriations Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2025 bill:

Thank you, Chairman Cole, for yielding and thank you Chairman Simpson for your work on the subcommittee this year.

Climate change is a clear and present danger, and experts agree that we must take bold action to avoid major, irreversible catastrophe. It seems like every year when we meet to mark up this bill there’s a new record broken for extreme heat. June marked the 13th consecutive month of record-shattering temperatures across the globe. So, I am greatly disappointed and frustrated by the bill before us that completely disregards the reality of a warming planet and ignores the need for us to do more, not less.

With that understanding, cutting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by $1.8 billion, or 20 percent, is irresponsible and severely impacts needed investments in environmental justice, enforcement, and climate change. If we are going to preserve the health of our environment and our economic well-being, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase our efforts to respond to and mitigate against harmful climate impacts.

The bill also slashes funding for land management agencies. The National Park Service alone is cut by $210 million. This cut will mean fewer park rangers to protect the parks’ natural and cultural resources and will negatively impact the visitor experience.

Funding for cultural institutions, such as the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art, is also significantly reduced. The arts have incredible value as a positive tool for economic development, education, and community building and I will strenuously oppose these cuts in the final spending agreement.

There are areas of bipartisanship, though, and I want to commend Chairman Simpson’s work on wildland fire. The bill includes authorizing language necessary for the administration to carry out its permanent pay reforms for Federal wildland firefighters. This is something we agree on, and I am pleased the bill addresses this important issue.

I am also proud of our work to address treaty and trust obligations on a bipartisan basis.

Unfortunately, once again, House Republicans have loaded up the bill with widely unpopular policy riders. This year, they’ve included a whopping 83 poison pill riders that cripple environmental protection, undermine climate change policies, and add to the national deficit.

The riders in the bill give an open invitation to exploitative oil, gas, and mineral leasing by blocking rules that protect our public lands and resources, dictating the timing of onshore and offshore lease sales, overriding protections for preserving pristine water and undisturbed arctic landscapes, and even prohibiting implementation of recommendations to improve mining on public lands.

And, sadly, the bill also contains numerous discriminatory riders targeting millions of American citizens, which have proven so divisive in earlier markups.

A majority of Americans support the United States taking steps to become carbon neutral by 2050 and they support taking responsibility for future generations. The austere and irresponsible cuts in this bill do not align with their values. We need to rise to this challenge and not squander the opportunity to make the planet better for our children and grandchildren.

Before I close, I want to acknowledge that this is Representative Kilmer’s last Full Committee markup for the Interior bill.  He has been passionate about the issues in this bill and a tireless advocate for the Puget Sound. It has been a pleasure working with him on the Subcommittee, we will miss him, and we wish him all the best as he embarks on new endeavors.

I would like to thank Ranking Member DeLauro for her tireless efforts on the Committee and the staff on both sides of the aisle.

I oppose the bill. I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill and I yield back.

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