Mike Simpson

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which cuts programs in this bill by an additional 16 percent, and for not all of these programs do local governments or entities have a taxing authority to pay for them. The underlying bill provides $25.4 billion in new nondefense discretionary spending which is $13.4 billion, 35 percent below the fiscal year 2023 level. The bill also rescinds $9.4 billion in funding provided to the EPA, The Presidio Trust and the Council on Environmental Quality through Inflation Reduction Act. In drafting this bill, we worked really hard to rein in Federal spending. One thing that all Republicans agree on is that we have to reduce spending. The debate occurs on how much and how fast. In drafting this bill, as I said, we worked very hard to rein in Federal spending while prioritizing critical needs within our reduced allocation. Unfortunately, this is kind of a sledgehammer approach when we just want to reduce the bill across the board by 16 percent. We would be reducing wildfire fighting. We have done everything we can to protect wildfire fighting, which is devastating, particularly in the West where I live. We have also done everything we can to protect the Indian Health Service. That is something that is vital here. We don't actually do a very good job of supporting the Indian Health Service overall. Mr. Chairman, if you look at the amount of money per patient that the VA spends and the amount that average Americans spend, and then how much we spend per person on the Indian Health Service, it is about one- half of what we spend on other healthcare needs. So we are trying everything we can over the years in a bipartisan way to bring up the Indian Health Service and improve their health, but they don't have a separate taxing authority to be able to do that. That is the Federal Government. This sledgehammer approach which would just reduce every budget in this bill by 16 percent that is not mandatory spending, I think is inappropriate, and I don't think it is the proper way to go. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet on Monday next, November 6, 2023, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, so far, I have heard accusations, but I haven't heard anything. Has she been convicted of any of this kind of stuff? I don't know. I haven't heard of any of that. Believe me, I disagree with the Secretary on a lot of issues. So far all I have heard is policy. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree).

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

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

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4821, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to begin consideration of the H.R. 4821, the fiscal year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Before I get into the bill, I commend Chairwoman Granger for her steadfast leadership of the Appropriations Committee and her ongoing support. I thank the ranking member of the full committee, Ms. DeLauro, for her work on this important legislation and other things. I thank Ranking Member Pingree for her partnership and the subcommittee members for their work on this bill, although Ms. Pingree and I may have some differences of opinion on this bill. H.R. 4821 provides $25.4 billion in new nondefense discretionary spending, which is $13.4 billion, or 35 percent, below the fiscal year 2023 level. The bill also rescinds $9.4 billion in unnecessary funding provided to the EPA, the Presidio Trust, and the Council on Environmental Quality through the Inflation Reduction Act. Cutting funding is never easy or pretty, but with the national debt in excess of $33 trillion and inflation at an unacceptable level, we had to make tough choices to rein in Federal spending. Last Congress alone, $3 trillion was spent outside the normal appropriations process. That is $3 trillion that went into the national debt. Simply holding funding flat is not enough. We must work to curb our out-of-control spending and get our budget back on track. This bill does that. This legislation prioritizes critical needs within our reduced allocation and addresses specific interests and concerns brought to our attention through more than 8,000 Member requests. H.R. 4821 fully funds the payments in lieu of taxes program for fiscal year 2024, which is estimated to be $515 million. It also makes critical investments in Indian Country by providing funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and Indian Health Service at fiscal year 2023 levels or above. To combat catastrophic wildfires and protect communities across the country, the bill includes a $1.6 billion discretionary increase to fund wildfire activities without budget gimmicks. It also provides a $2.65 billion cap adjustment for wildfire suppression activities, as authorized. To address these priorities while rightsizing the agencies under our jurisdiction, the bill reduces funding for nearly every other appropriation in the bill, and many agencies received double-digit percentage reductions. The EPA is reduced by $4 billion, or 39 percent, below the fiscal year 2023 level. In terms of policy, the bill makes important steps to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by the EPA, expand access to critical minerals and natural resources, and promote domestic energy production. Such efforts include halting the EPA's job-killing regulations, such as repealing the recent waters of the United States regulations and rules that target reliable energy sources and domestic manufacturing; limiting abuse of the Endangered Species Act regarding species such as the sage grouse, gray wolf, bison, and lesser prairie chicken; expanding access to critical minerals and promoting proper management of our Nation's forests; and requiring oil and gas lease sales. These policies will help boost our national security, reduce energy costs, and create American jobs. Mr. Chairman, this bill will help manage our public lands wisely, meet our commitment to our brothers and sisters in Indian Country, and restore the fiscal responsibility necessary to get our economy back on track. Mr. Chairman, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would just note that neither the chairwoman or the ranking member of the full committee or the ranking member of the subcommittee in their comments never mentioned the $33 trillion debt, and over the last Congress, there was $3 trillion that was spent outside of the regular appropriation process. That is what is causing this. That is what is causing the problems in this country. This is what reducing spending looks like. Every time you try to reduce spending, Mr. Chairman, you would think it is nothing but death and destruction. If I believed what was just said, I wouldn't vote for this bill, but I think she is wrong on so many counts. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Carl).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for drawing the House's attention to the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management's responsibilities under the Mineral Leasing Act. I would be pleased to continue to work with him on how the agencies in this bill handle royalties on Federal lands as we move through the FY 2024 spending process. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Yakym).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close. The challenge here, as I stated earlier, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle never saw a problem that they didn't think a government program could solve. Anybody that thought that we were not going to have to reduce spending I think was living in a different world. When you are facing $33 trillion and getting on to $34 trillion in debt, the reality is you are going to have to cut spending. Now, this is not a criticism of them. I think they honestly believe that all the profligate spending that went on the last couple of years was absolutely necessary. I think the American people expect us to start addressing the debt that our children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren are going to face, and this is what cutting spending looks like. It is easy to write a bill. Anybody can write a bill if you have unlimited funds, and that is pretty much what they have had last year and the year before. In spite of almost having unlimited funds to write the Interior bill, they actually took $1.6 billion in wildfire fighting costs and made it emergency spending. We had to bring it back into the bill, where it should be, instead of using budget gimmicks. That put us $1.6 billion behind. We said we are not going to hurt Indian Country with this bill, even with the cuts that we had to make. We were going to fully fund PILT payments. We were going to make sure that we took care of those things that were necessary, like wildfire fighting, because those costs are going to go up. That meant the rest of the bill was going to take some cuts. We used rescissions by pulling back some of the money that was spent over the last several years to make sure that the cuts in this bill were not as dramatic as they would otherwise have been. This is still a 10 percent reduction in the overall bill. I disagree with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Death and destruction will not follow if we pass this bill. I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 838, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, this bipartisan en bloc amendment was developed in coordination with the minority. It contains noncontroversial amendments addressing important issues at the agencies funded in this bill that have been agreed to by both sides. It provides support for the Department of the Interior's efforts to identify critical minerals in the United States. It highlights the importance of the rural water technical assistance grants, as well as the clean water and drinking water State revolving funds. It emphasizes support for the Federal wildland firefighters and Bureau of Indian Affairs road construction. Finally, it includes additional support for research into harmful algal blooms and provides assistance to the territories. Mr. Chair, I support the adoption of this en bloc, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I have no further speakers on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, we are looking at sterilization of some of those and the success or not success rate of what we are doing, but I guess the expert on this whole issue was the former Congressman from Utah (Mr. Stewart). He worked on this continuously, trying to address it, and he has since retired. That was a great loss to all of us, but this is a perplexing problem. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for bringing the amendment up and discussing it, but I must oppose this amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment to decrease funding for the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Program. I understand the gentleman's frustration. Many of us have been addressing this for a number of years, trying to find the right solution. We haven't found it yet. They used to take these horses to slaughter. You can't do that anymore. The public won't accept it, and frankly, neither will I. In the West, continuing the Wild Horse and Burro Program at sustained levels is vital to controlling the population. Even with the funding provided, BLM will not be able to manage and curb the exponentially increasing number in the herds. Failing to manage wild herds in the West would have devastating effects on rangelands and all the animals that depend on them. Therefore, I must oppose the gentleman's amendment. Living in the West, I have seen this problem and what it does to rangelands. If there is a better solution rather than just cutting funding, let's hear what that better solution is because, believe me, this committee has been working hard to try to find what to do about it because we don't want to see these populations grow either, but it is a reality that we have to deal with. That is why it has increased funding in this bill. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.