[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016

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                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2822) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2016, and for other purposes:

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chair, let me thank our Ranking Member, Congresswoman 
McCollum, for her tremendous leadership of this Subcommittee.
  Mr. Chair, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Interior and Environment bill 
before us would place health and safety of all Americans at risk. It 
dangerously cuts funding by $246 million from FY 2015 levels and is 
$3.1 billion less than the President's FY2016 request.
  The deep cuts to this bill would undermine our air quality, land, 
water and conservation funding and will have devastating impacts on all 
communities in my home state of California and across the country.
  What's worse--this bill slashes funding for the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) by more than 700 million dollars--from FY2015 
levels and funds the agency at more than a billion dollars less than 
the President's FY2016 request. These profound cuts would significantly 
harm the Clean Water Fund and the Safe Drinking Water Fund--critical 
programs that ensure the safety of our drinking water and our children.
  It also includes $40 million in cuts to the Historic Preservation 
Fund (HPP), which would weaken the National Park Service's (NPS) 
ability to preserve sites significant in the Civil Rights Movement. 
This includes sites like the Selma to Montgomery National Historic 
Trail, where I marched this spring to commemorate the 50th anniversary 
of ``Bloody Sunday.''
  Furthermore, there are also egregious policy riders in this bill that 
would block clean air protections, such as the EPA's Clean Power Plan.
  Too many families, particularly those in low-income, vulnerable 
communities, already suffer from poor air quality because of dirty 
carbon pollution.
  We know that communities of color are disproportionately affected by 
pollution-related illnesses, including asthma. According to the 
American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, one in six African 
American and one in nine Latino children suffer from asthma.
  There are other toxic policy riders that would block the protection 
of our imperiled wildlife under the Endangered Species Act, like the 
Greater Sage Grouse population.
  The Endangered Species Act is the only law that has safeguarded more 
than 2,000 plants and wildlife from extinction. This law enjoys broad 
support from nearly 85 percent of Americans. And yet here we are again, 
with a bill that seeks to undermine decades of animal protection and 
runs counter to vast public support.
  Mr. Chair, we need to continue to fight to defend our environment, 
address climate change, and make real, meaningful impacts on reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions so we can protect our environment, our 
children and our future.
  Unfortunately, the bill before us does just the opposite.
  I hope that as this process moves forward, we can address the 
insufficient funding allocations and backwards policy riders that would 
harm every American and put our precious environment at risk.

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