Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, first of all, the gentleman's amendment raises serious constitutional issues, and like others this afternoon, may amount to an unconstitutional bill of attainder. This is really not the way to handle policy disputes with Andrew Light, Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs. First of all, I think I have to say: Energy security for our country understands the global environment in which we exist and function, and that is both the commercial marketplace as well as on the defense ledger. This is a very, very important job. This gentleman has very broad experience prior to coming to his current position, even in the area of atmospheric sciences, trying to understand some of the science as well as the security issues involved in America remaining energy independent in perpetuity here at home. The amendment prioritizes legislative theater again over the American people. It doesn't have any chance of becoming law, and I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann), Chair of the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Ms. KAPTUR. When the gentleman began his remarks, he referred to the Interior bill. This is the Energy bill. I wonder if the gentleman could clarify that.

Ms. KAPTUR. I think the Record will have to be corrected.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, as of the end of August, there have been more than 23 disasters in our country, just this year, costing at least a billion dollars each--each. That exceeds the previous record set in 2020, and we have not even finished this year yet. This morning, as I drove to work, I was listening to the Representative from Hawaii talk about the recovery in Maui and ongoing efforts there and the struggle and the positive attitude of the people to try to rebuild. Don't try to tell American citizens who have lost businesses or homes and loved ones from hurricanes, wildfires, other natural disasters and who continue to face unrelenting flooding in the middle part of the country that there are no costs from climate change. Talk to any insurance company, property insurance company. Disaster costs have risen substantially across this country, and they are growing. In fact, they have tripled. The Federal Disaster Assistance Office, just the Federal side, it is billions and billions and billions more dollars. It is already past time for aggressive action to address climate change and its impacts, and pretending that it doesn't exist won't make it go away. We must maintain American leadership for our clean energy future and not cede all the economic opportunity, which Congresswoman Castor just talked about when she was here on the floor, to China and other countries who surely want to be right at our ankles and try to dump product into this country. We have to stand on our own two feet and be as great a Nation as we really are and seize the horizon. Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a dear friend and congressional colleague who passed away late last month, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. I was deeply saddened at the news of the passing of Dianne, whom I worked with closely over many years on energy independence for our Nation and to protect the waters of the United States, which are amongst our Nation's most precious resources. Her acute mastery of the energy and water needs of our Nation had no comparison. Throughout her career, Dianne shattered glass ceilings, first on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, serving as the board's first female president, then as the first woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco, and, finally, as the first female Senator from the State of California. She would go on to become the longest serving woman in the history of the U.S. Senate and was a champion for LGBTQ rights and our environmental needs throughout her career. My thoughts and prayers are with her dear daughter, Katherine, and all who knew and loved her, including her staff in the Senate. Rest in peace, my dear friend. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an opinion piece celebrating her life, which was published this past month. [From the Washington Post, Oct. 2, 2023] Opinion--Our Nation Is in Dire Need of Leaders Like Dianne Feinstein (By Hillary Rodham Clinton) One day, on the floor of the Senate in 1993, Idaho Republican Larry Craig condescended to Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic sponsor of a proposed ban on assault weapons. ``The gentle lady from California needs to become a little bit more familiar with firearms and their deadly characteristics,'' he said. Craig, a board member of the National Rifle Association, had picked the wrong target. ``I am quite familiar with firearms,'' Dianne responded, with fire in her eyes. ``I became mayor as a product of assassination. I found my assassinated colleague and put a finger through a bullet hole trying to get a pulse. I was trained in the shooting of a firearm when I had terrorist attacks, with a bomb in my house, when my husband was dying, when I had windows shot out. Senator, I know something about what firearms can do.'' Craig was left sputtering, and the Senate passed the assault weapons ban thanks to Dianne's tireless advocacy. My husband proudly signed the ban, and it helped keep millions of Americans safer for a decade. Feinstein, who passed away on Thursday evening, was a giant of the Senate. She was brave, honorable, honest and unafraid to do what was right for her constituents and her country. We both came to Washington in 1993, I as first lady and Dianne as a senator. When she used her first floor speech to support the Family and Medical Leave Act, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. When I joined Dianne in the small sisterhood of Senate women eight years later, I gained an appreciation for her blend of principle and pragmatism. In an institution known for show horses, she was a workhorse. Perhaps because she had been a mayor, she believed in delivering results, not rhetoric--and that's what she did. Dianne was tough and sometimes formal, but she had a big heart and enormous compassion. She was an early advocate for LGBTQ rights and people suffering from HIV and AIDS. As a trailblazer for women in politics, she opened space for those of us who followed. I learned a tremendous amount from Dianne. We strategized, commiserated, laughed, drank California chardonnay and one time even planned a covert operation: Dianne hosted a secret meeting in the living room of her Northwest D.C. home, where then-Sen. Barack Obama and I made peace after the grueling 2008 primary. We chose to meet there because we both trusted Dianne. (She let us in, offered a glass of wine and left us alone.) For all of us who loved Dianne, her passing is a deep personal loss. It is also a loss for our country when we are in desperate need of leaders willing to show half the backbone she displayed throughout her storied career. Her calm determination in the wake of the 1978 assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and city Supervisor Harvey Milk by a fellow council member reassured a shaken city. That tragedy didn't just make her mayor; it gave her a mission. She took on the NRA and won. She became a champion for the rule of law and democratic institutions and refused to be intimidated by anyone. As the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she exposed torture and other abuses committed by the CIA after 9/11, despite efforts to keep her silent. She was a strong supporter of the intelligence community, but she believed those abuses could not be covered up. ``History will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say `never again,' '' she said. Those are words we should remember as we face the challenges ahead. Dianne has left the national scene at another moment of political violence and threats to the rule of law. So, we must again face ugly truths and do what is right. The cries of an insurrectionist mob have barely faded from the halls of the Capitol. Former president Donald Trump, whose incendiary rhetoric has repeatedly incited violence, recently said Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the just-retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had committed ``a treasonous act'' for which ``in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!'' As President Biden noted, while most Republicans may not agree, the silence is deafening. Trump and his supporters have also suggested that if he regains the presidency, he will seek to gut checks on executive power, weaponize the Justice Department to pursue political opponents, eviscerate the civil service and attempt to put himself above the law. This is a man who has been indicted on a charge of a conspiracy to overturn an election and called for the ``termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.'' We should believe him when he tells us what he'll do next. We could have used Dianne's voice in the fights ahead. Democracy needs champions. So do our institutions, creaky and frustrating as they might be. The United States needs leaders willing to respond to attacks on the rule of law with the same fearlessness that Dianne showed when she exposed unlawful ``enhanced interrogation techniques.'' We must summon the passion of Dianne's answer to Sen. Craig back in 1993. We all can honor her legacy by finding in ourselves the courage that Dianne showed on that bloody day in 1978. Dianne's journey has ended, but the fights of her life are far from over.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I appreciate Chair Fleischmann very, very much for his serious attention to our complex bill and his cordiality and very constructive attitude throughout. I begin by thanking our diligent staff for all their hard work on this bill. On the minority staff, I thank Scott McKee, Jocelyn Hunn, and Adam Wilson. On the majority staff, I thank Angie Giancarlo, Perry Yates, Nora Khalil, Richie O'Connell, Scott Prutting, and Janet Harrington. On my personal staff, I thank Margaret McInnis and Mayely Boyce. As we work on this Energy and Water bill, I place in the Record how deeply saddened I am by the passing of our dear colleague in the other body, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who dedicated the best years of her life to our country. As Energy and Water appropriators, Dianne and all of us worked closely over many years to protect the waters of the United States and to build a brighter, cleaner energy future and to assure America's nuclear capabilities are secure. Her acute mastery of the energy, water, and security needs of our Nation had no comparison, and her dignified, noble public service is truly a great loss to our Nation. There is not time during our bill's consideration today to fully express my thoughts, but I am so deeply saddened for California's loss, for our Nation's loss, and for all who grieve the loss of the longest- serving woman in Senate history. All I or any of us can do is laud Senator Dianne Feinstein's productive career of exemplary effective public service. Rest in peace, my dear friend. We consider this important measure at a moment in which the United States economy is growing at record rates, producing historic levels of job growth due to the laws enacted by the last Congress. With historic job growth, revenues are now coming into the private sector and the Federal Government at much higher levels than before because post-pandemic, millions more people are working. Companies are earning money. The American people again are doing what America does best: being productive and leaving our Nation to the future in better condition than we found it. Indeed, this gross domestic product/debt chart clearly illustrates as a result of robust economic growth, our Nation has bent the debt curve as a percentage of GDP for the first time in modern history. Here we go. It is going down. That is where we want it to go, yes. We are beginning to pay down our Nation's accumulated debt, largely amassed from the costs of past wars, the old debts that were not paid for by those that conducted them at the time. Then we had the pandemic and, sadly, over several decades, the tax cuts that were enacted allowed the wealthiest and most productive powerful corporations in our country not to carry their fair share of the tax load. I think it is important that everyone share in our Nation's responsibilities. In this context, I must offer that I am unable to concur with my able colleague, Chairman Fleischmann, on this particular appropriation bill. I prefer a more realistic energy and water allocation that meets the critical energy and water needs of our Nation, not just for today but for the energy independence and the water security for America in perpetuity. We are not out of the woods on this, we have got a lot of work to do. Energy and water security are national security--think about it. Yet, the nondefense spending in this bill is $6.4 billion lower--25 percent lower--than last year's effective level. That is a radical, irresponsible reduction. It repeals over $5 billion for critical energy programs from the Inflation Reduction Act that would have helped American families save money on their monthly energy bills while simultaneously creating thousands of jobs, good-paying jobs, in new energy technologies. For energy and water needs, it is not an overstatement to say people in our Nation live or die by decisions being made here in Congress. Since World War II, America has paid a terrible price for its unconscious slide into foreign dependency on imported energy. While we have made strides toward energy independence after a half century of effort, starting in the late 1970s, we still haven't scored at the home plate of U.S. energy independence in perpetuity. Recently, I read an article that said our country is going to import petroleum after 2040. Well, guess what? I am not voting for that. Our position must be to keep American energy and our people secure here at home. That is one of the major purposes of this bill. Hasn't our Nation learned repeatedly the hard way that when gasoline prices top $4 a gallon, our economy is thrown into deep recession. It is pretty clear. It should be obvious why U.S. energy independence is so vital. No foreign power should ever again make America vulnerable. Energy security is national security. We must ensure energy security within our own borders. We cannot depend on foreign sources in the event of energy disruptions that are natural or malignly concocted to do us harm. Energy impacts every person's well-being. It allows our Nation to be free, and free of foreign malign influence. How well we know our Nation's fate can be impacted by events outside our borders. News outlets are correctly reporting that Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine is being waged on more than one front, surely including energy. Russia is known for manipulation of global oil and gas prices through reserves they control. In fact, global oil prices surged to nearly $100 per barrel in September after Saudi Arabia and Russia continued their curtailment of oil supplies. The sharp escalation in geopolitical risk in the Middle East from the brutal Hamas terror attack in Israel has oil markets on edge. Check it out. Let us not forget that the Middle East accounts for more than one- third of the world's seaborne oil trade. Again, energy resources are intricately bound to the fate of liberty halfway around our world. Let us make our home front impenetrable. Energy also allows our private sector and its workforce the ability to flourish in a modern economy with millions and millions upon millions of living wage jobs in energy production and conservation, across all sectors: natural gas, ethanol and biodiesel, nuclear, fossil fuels, thermal heat recovery, renewables, advancing sectors of hydrogen and fusion energy, and advanced nuclear platforms. Meanwhile, imaginative energy conservation and other developing technologies are being created by America's amazing inventors in new building materials, solar and electrified windows, biofuels, geothermal and thermal heat recovery, wind and wave energy, to name but a few. America will never ever lose through power of invention because we are a free people. Let me turn to our water responsibilities. New, major engineering challenges lie before America. Ask the citizens along the drought- stricken Mississippi and the Louisiana corridor as saltwater creeps north, or the flood victims in New York City. Across our Nation, cities are having to manage water and wastewater loads for which they were not engineered. In rural America, farmers are losing crops because of increasing rainfall, an inability to manage water in their fields, and drainage systems that were built for another era. Frankly, a century or a century and a half ago. Well, times are changing. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation are needed now more than ever to handle regional approaches to new and changing water flows, whether it is down the Mississippi, along our coasts, in the Great Lakes, or the dry, irrigated West. There is an old expression: ``Don't try to fool Mother Nature.'' I would say: Don't ignore Mother Nature. This is one such moment in American history. I must express the Energy and Water Appropriations bill before us is completely inadequate. It does not meet our country's needs in this new era of climate change. If I need offer more proof, Americans and America are paying billions more in disaster relief. This country paid over $150 billion last year in disaster damage, significantly higher than the $60 billion average from the last 30 years. How about that--doubling and a half. Well, that is a big warning sign that one simply can't ignore. We ought to be investing that money upfront to avoid those disasters by properly funding this bill. We must robustly meet the needs of the future, not flounder in the past. In other areas of the bill, I continue to be troubled by the unsustainable spending in the Department of Energy's weapons programs. We know we have to keep a tight lid on them because they have a tendency to overspend when we don't watch. Further, I am concerned how this bill cuts nuclear nonproliferation programs that reduce nuclear risks and counter the global challenge of nuclear proliferation. Finally, the bill includes numerous controversial poison pill policy riders that sadly show extremist Republicans are not interested in bills that can gain bipartisan support and become law. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. America can and must do better on the new age frontiers of energy and water. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member of the full Committee on Appropriations.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I look forward to responding to my dear friend, former Chair Simpson. However, first, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the ranking member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, who does such a phenomenal job.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I wish to offer a few thoughts here regarding what our esteemed colleague, Mr. Simpson, said about the Federal balance sheet. If you think of your own checkbook, when you work and earn money, you have an entry that is positive. You have a payroll check or earn interest on something. Then, if you have to pay a bill, you put a minus sign and subtract it, and you see what is left. What is interesting about the arguments from the folks on the other side of the aisle is, they only talk about what is subtracted. They don't talk about what is being added. Both revenues and expenditures are a part of the Federal budget. It is interesting to me. I have served in Congress for a while now, and the other side never talks about revenues. They only talk about expenditures. The interesting thing about revenues is when an economy is booming, you are bringing more revenue into the Federal Government. The Federal debt, as a percent of our economic prowess right now, is decreasing because we are growing the economy. What we are spending in this bill causes more economic growth. That is a good thing. What the other side is not talking about is that there are a lot of free riders in our country, and they are not paying their fair share of revenues into the Treasury. We have to talk about that side of the budget, too. There are a lot of people who are what I call free riders. We are paying for them. Some of the richest people in this country and some of the biggest corporations aren't paying their fair share of the load. You have to look at both sides of the ledger. I wanted to put that on the floor today in order to adopt the proper policies. It will be a most interesting discussion as we move forward with the new debt commission that has been formed. It will be interesting if they bring both pages in the ledger, both the revenues and the expenditures. As our chart shows, the Federal debt, as a percent of GDP, is going down for the first time in modern history. We better not do anything that stops that because it is one of the answers, as well as getting those who are free riders to pay their fair share. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, Congress needs to write bills that meet our country's needs, and I reiterate my disappointment that the energy and water bill before us today does not adhere to the agreed to levels in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The American people are counting on us to work together, not draft partisan bills that will never become law. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. I know it took a lot of effort on the part of the chair, and we appreciate your cooperation. The en bloc contains noncontroversial amendments from Members of both parties, and I have no objections. I urge support of the amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. Let's be clear. This amendment reduces funding for the Army Corps of Engineers' investigations account by $715,000, with the amendment description's stated intent of eliminating funding for the Delaware River Basin Commission. I will note that the actual bill language of the amendment only reduces funding for the account. It does not in any way eliminate funding for the Delaware River Basin Commission. However, I vigorously oppose the stated intent behind this amendment, especially since the Delaware River Basin, which flows into the Delaware Bay and then into the Atlantic Ocean, covers over 13,000 square miles in four States. As established by law through the Delaware River Basin Compact that went into effect in 1961, the Commission consists of the Army Corps of Engineers and the four basin State Governors. Those States include Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Corps of Engineers in these States work as equal partners for planning, development, and regulatory actions for the river basin. Frankly, all across the country we are facing issues that deal with very large watersheds and basins that in the past centuries and decades didn't face what we face today with water flows. While the Commission's work could be further discussed, my strongest reason for opposition to this amendment is that the underlying bill provides $715,000 to the Delaware River Basin Commission as community project funding on behalf of two Members of this body. The community project funding process allows Members of Congress to request funding for their community to meet urgent needs that they identify. There is a rigorous process for vetting and inclusion of community project funding, including strict transparency and accountability rules. I am shocked that one Member would target another Member's community project funding through an amendment on the floor. Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I thank Congressman Neguse for yielding and compliment him on the hardworking representation of the people of Colorado. There could not be a more complex water system than the one that his community is a part of, and most of America has no idea about the plumbing of the West, so I really compliment him. I know that funding provided in this bill will help advance or complete projects to protect the Humpback Chub, Bonytail, Colorado Pikeminnow, and Razorback Sucker that are feeling the impacts of drought while allowing water development projects to proceed. We know many reports, including one from the United Nations just a couple years ago, talked about the extinction of natural species across our country and world. We must combat these efforts to prevent biodiversity loss, particularly in areas like the Colorado River, which was diverted for the first time in American history recently. That is a showstopper by anyone's measure. We need to provide the resources necessary to continue this collaborative work in the Upper Colorado and San Juan Basins. I thank my colleague for his leadership on this. I also thank the chair of the subcommittee for his great effort to try to accommodate as many members as possible.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.