[Pages H5066-H5100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT,
2024

General Leave

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4394, and that I may
include tabular material on the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 756 and rule
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4394.
The Chair appoints the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Flood) to preside
over the Committee of the Whole.

{time} 1736

In the Committee of the Whole

Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill
(H.R. 4394) making appropriations for energy and water development and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for
other purposes, with Mr. Flood in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the
first time.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed 1
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective
designees.
The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann) and the gentlewoman
from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct honor to bring the fiscal year 2024
Energy and Water bill before you today. Before I go into the details, I
recognize the hard work of Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member
DeLauro on this bill and the entire appropriations process.
I also specifically thank my ranking member, Ms. Kaptur, for being a
tremendous partner throughout this year's process.
At a total of $56.958 billion, the Energy and Water bill advances our
national security, our energy security, and our economic
competitiveness in a fiscally responsible manner.
The bill includes $24 billion for the National Nuclear Security
Administration. Within that, the bill fully funds all major weapons
programs and infrastructure modernization activities, including the W93
warhead, the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile, the B83-1 sustainment
efforts, and the restart of plutonium pit production capability. NNSA
funding also supports naval reactors and defense nuclear
nonproliferation.
Remaining a leader in nuclear energy technologies will ensure
reliable energy here at home and will help allies across the globe.
The bill sustains the Department of Energy's nuclear energy base
program and also redirects previously appropriated funds to higher
priorities, specifically:
$2.4 billion to develop a domestic capability for producing low-
enriched uranium, including high-assay low-enriched uranium that will
be necessary for upcoming advanced reactors; and
$1.2 billion to support the ongoing advanced small modular reactor
demonstration project.
To reduce our reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals, the
bill provides more than $200 million for the full spectrum of
production technologies.
The Army Corps of Engineers is funded at $9.57 billion, including
full funding of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund activities and
ongoing Inland Waterways Trust Fund construction projects. These
investments will help ensure goods can be moved safely to and from
global markets.
Funding for the Bureau of Reclamation totals $1.8 billion and
prioritizes projects that increase water supply and support drought
resiliency.
The bill continues strong funding for the Department of Energy Office
of Science, including fusion energy science, to enhance America's role
as the global leader of scientific discovery and to lay the foundation
for future scientific breakthroughs.
In closing, I thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for their
hard work throughout this process. On the majority staff, Angie, Perry,
Nora, Richie, Scott, and Janet. In my personal office, Ian and Daniel.
On the minority staff, Scott, Jocelyn, and Adam.
This is a strong bill, and I urge Members to support it. 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.

{time} 1745

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.

[[Page H5067]]

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.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), my friend.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, the Energy and Water
Appropriations bill is critical for national security, energy security,
and creating jobs.
I congratulate Chairman Chuck Fleischmann for his extraordinary
success in developing this legislation, which is so crucial to achieve
peace through strength. I respect but disagree with Ranking Member
Marcy Kaptur.
On passing H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, earlier this year,
House Republicans have shown dedication to lead in a way that will
secure America's energy independence. I am grateful for the strong
actions taken to lower costs for families through deregulation. Biden's
disastrous war on fossil fuels has helped war criminal Putin to finance
his mass murder in Ukraine.
Increasing domestic energy production is the best way to combat the
dangerous dependency on Chinese-made or -supplied electric vehicle
batteries and solar panels that further enrich the Chinese Communist
Party.
The green energy spending has been diverted into unsustainable
boondoggles wasting taxpayers' money.
I appreciate that this legislation supports critical missions at the
Savannah River Site, which I am grateful to represent. As the only
Member of Congress who ever worked at the Savannah River Site, I know
firsthand of its importance and dedicated personnel.
In South Carolina, nuclear energy has provided over 60 percent of the
energy matrix, and I am grateful to Governor Henry McMaster, a champion
for small modular reactors.
Mr. Chair, I urge passage of the bill.
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. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, last year, the Energy and Water
Development Appropriations bill lowered energy costs for families,
created good-paying jobs by growing and supporting a robust clean
energy sector and rebuilding water infrastructure, promoted American
energy independence, strengthened our national security, and ensured
American energy outcompeted China. Sadly, this is not what this year's
bill does.
The majority has put forth a bill that cuts domestic energy
investments by a staggering 25.4 percent or $6.4 billion

[[Page H5068]]

lower than last year--with the consequences of increasing energy costs
for American families at a time when families are living paycheck to
paycheck and struggling with the high cost of living.
This bill undermines growth and modernization of our energy
infrastructure, weakens our national security, and it would yield
leadership of the world's energy future to our greatest adversaries.
As much as my Republican colleagues may refuse overwhelming evidence,
deny scientific consensus, and ignore the catastrophic natural
disasters becoming more severe and more common in their districts and
across the country, we have no choice but to transform our energy
sector to reflect our climate reality.
The only path that addresses climate change, reduces our dependence
on fossil fuels, and curbs our reliance on foreign energy is to
diversify how we produce and store energy: wind, solar, hydroelectric,
hydrogen, and geothermal.
When it comes to addressing climate and driving a robust energy
sector, our answer to the question of ``how'' must be ``everything
under the sun.'' The Department of Energy's clean energy programs drive
down energy costs, making it cheaper to expand domestic energy sources.
For energy efficiency and renewable energy, the majority proposes
cutting the Department of Energy's budget by $1.5 billion or 42 percent
from the 2023 level. This office researches and develops manufacturing,
building, energy management, and weatherization technologies that are
critical to our Nation's growth and resilience. That is nearly half a
billion dollars that will not be invested in our economic, energy, and
climate future.
Furthermore, Republicans would cut $4.5 billion from the High-
Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program. That program helps 250,000
low- and moderate-income households save upwards of $1 billion on their
energy bills annually, which creates 50,000 new jobs. There is a $1
billion cut from the Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy
Code Adoption, and $200 million from the State-based Home Energy
Efficiency Contractor Training Grants. It means that if American
families want to reduce their home energy consumption and lower their
monthly bills, my Republican colleagues say ``no.''

We must be innovative, creative, and aggressive in fighting for a
clean energy future to make America resilient in the face of climate
change, which is why it is irresponsible to cut $15 billion from the
Department of Energy's Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program.
That program supports critical projects that, for example, remove air
pollutants that can cause asthma and cancer from the atmosphere.
After watching the skies turn orange over parts of the East Coast and
Midwest this summer, I would hope that we could agree that air
pollution is a bad thing. Perhaps the majority feels differently.
Sustainability, at its core, is a demand that we responsibly steward
the planet and its natural resources to future generations. The
majority fails this demand.
If the proposed abandonment of America's energy future and of our
ability to build a robust and diversified energy industry were not
enough reason to vote against this bill, then the offensive political
riders on race, gender, and sexuality should be.
The majority continues to break the deal that the Speaker struck with
the President earlier this year to avert a default. Democrats and
Republicans from the House and Senate need to begin the process of
negotiating and finding common ground to pass bipartisan appropriations
bills immediately.

{time} 1800

Pursuing these partisan bills all but guarantees we will need another
continuing resolution in 3 weeks. Continuing resolutions may keep the
government open, but they are no way to govern. There is no excuse to
be considering bills written to appease a minority of this Chamber, who
we know will not vote to fund the government.
For all of these reasons, I cannot support this bill, and I urge my
colleagues to vote against it.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Idaho (Mr. Simpson), the chair of the Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chair, having been a former chairman of this
committee, and either ranking member or chairman for the last 9 years,
I guess, when I left, people asked me repeatedly, ``What kind of
chairman will Mr. Fleischmann be of this committee?'' whether it was
people from the Idaho National Laboratory, PNNL, or other places.
I told them I thought he would be a great chairman, and this is why:
He cares about the Department of Energy's lab complex, not just Oak
Ridge, which he represents, but all the labs throughout the complex. He
has been to a lot of them, visited them, and found out what they do. He
cares about nuclear energy, which is important to me and important to
him also, and many other aspects within the Department of Energy.
I thought he would be a great chairman, and he has done a masterful
job of putting this bill together.
This bill contains many things that are vitally important to the
future of this country, whether it is nuclear power or fusion energy,
as we have talked about, or the next-generation reactors that are going
to be developed; whether it is high-speed computing--Oak Ridge is
probably the leader in high-speed computing, and all other agencies
kind of depend on the Department of Energy's high-speed computing to do
work for them; whether it is cybersecurity, and a lot of that is done
at the Idaho National Laboratory and at other laboratories; whether it
is renewable energy and the facility in Colorado. All of those things
are important.
What a lot of people forget about this bill is that about a third of
it--36, 38 percent, something like that--is the defense part of this
bill, NNSA, whether it is the nonproliferation that was mentioned by
the ranking member, whether it is the defense cleanup portion of it,
whether it is the weapons modernization program, or whether it is the
part that I kind of like, which is the naval reactors program.
When they started the naval reactors program at the Idaho National
Laboratory, when they fueled the first submarine with nuclear energy,
it lasted about 18 months, and then they had to refuel it. Because of
the work they have done out there, we now fuel ships for the life of
the ship. That is an amazing process that they have done, and it is
because of the work that is done by the NNSA.
However, that is just on the energy side of this bill. We could talk
about that for a long time. The other important part of this bill is
the water part of it. It is energy and water.
The Army Corps of Engineers is funded through this bill, and they do
the dredging for our ports and waterways throughout this country.
Whether it is the Corps or the Bureau of Reclamation, I will tell you,
every Member of Congress, I believe, has an Army Corps of Engineers
project within their district. Therefore, this bill is important to
them.
I think the chairman has done a masterful job of putting this bill
together.
I enjoy listening to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle,
and they are good friends. We have worked together in a cordial way for
many years, both Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Kaptur, who used
to be chair of this committee, also. It goes back and forth.
I enjoy their conversation on where we haven't spent enough money on
this bill, and they have talked about how we can spend more money in
certain areas to address certain things and that kind of stuff. The one
thing they didn't mention, when they were talking about the fact that
we need more money in these bills, is the $33 trillion deficit we have.
I will guarantee you, it is easier to write bills when you are just
expanding spending and have more money than you know what to do with to
throw at all the different bills, which is the way it has been for the
last couple of years. If they didn't have enough money, they took
things out and made it emergency spending. We are having to deal with
that.
It is more difficult to write a bill where you have to actually
reduce spending. I think everyone in our Conference on this side of the
aisle realizes that we have to reduce spending if we are ever going to
address the $33 trillion debt. It is just a small part of it,

[[Page H5069]]

but it is an important part of it. That is what we are trying to do in
a responsible manner. That is what Chairman Fleischmann has done in a
responsible manner.
I find it kind of curious that as I have heard the ranking member of
the full committee and the subcommittee talk, they have said that we
have to spend more money because families are struggling, and then they
say this is the best economy we have had in years and years. Which one
is it? I don't understand. Is it both? Interesting. When can we address
the debt and deficit in this bill? It is a challenge that we face.
Again, I congratulate the chairman of the subcommittee for his work
on this, and I also would be remiss if I didn't say something about the
staff. They have done a fantastic job. They work incredible hours to
get these bills ready for the floor, and they have done a good job on
this one, too.
Mr. Chair, I congratulate them and thank them for their work.
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. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, I stand here as a proud member of
the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
for many years. I unfortunately rise in opposition to this harmful
bill.
Let's start with the two most obvious problems. It raises energy
costs for families, and it has zero chance of becoming law.
It was drafted with one goal: to appease MAGA extremists.
The new Speaker of the House just spoke of reaching across the aisle
for all Americans, yet one of the Republicans' first major acts is to
jam through a bill that raises their energy costs and undermines our
security, all just to keep their rightwing base happy.
How do we know? Instead of fortifying our power infrastructure and
confronting the climate crisis, it fixates on blocking the Army Corps
of Engineers from renaming items that celebrate the Confederacy. You
just cannot make up this stuff. That rockets to the top of the priority
list for House Republicans.
As we recover from the hottest summer on record, it cuts a critical
clean energy program by half a billion dollars, choking off vital
energy efficiency avenues to battle climate change. House Republicans
have drafted a bill that is entirely removed from the realities that
our families and the entire planet face right now.
I recently had an affordable housing roundtable with Broward County
in my home State of Florida, and they all talked about being rent
burdened by climbing housing costs. Yet, this bill takes away funding
to help American homeowners keep their homes safe and energy efficient
to cut their power bill.
Instead of investing in a stronger America, it cedes supremacy to a
Chinese Communist Party that throws its full weight into infrastructure
and clean energy investments.
If Republicans want to craft a bill that helps American families,
start by abiding by the bipartisan budget agreement that was signed
into law by President Biden just a few months ago.
In the rare instance where this bill actually honors that agreement,
it fully funds a $425 million budget request for Everglades
restoration, which I am thankful for, and it allows us to keep moving
the EAA Reservoir project forward.
Beyond that, though, this bill has dramatic funding gaps that
jeopardize America's energy stability and independence. It raises costs
for families, hurts job creation, fails to tackle the climate crisis,
and rolls over to Chinese and Russian competitors.
Mr. Chair, for all of these obvious reasons, I urge my colleagues to
vote ``no.''
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.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy), my friend and also my
colleague on the congressional baseball team.
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Chair, I recognize the MVP of the baseball team very
much for his heroic athletic ability during the climactic game that we
had.
I rise today in support of H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water
Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which funds the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' civil works projects and the Department
of Energy to enhance our energy security and bolster our economic
competitiveness in FY24.
Under President Biden, Americans have been forced to pay record
prices at the pump, and our Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been
decimated. We have become further reliant on China for critical
minerals, crushed by overregulation, and watched the woke agenda
destroy America's energy independence.
This legislation rolls back America-last policies; robustly funds
construction, operation, and maintenance of our Nation's ports and
inland waterways; and provides $34.8 million for dredging in North
Carolina's Third District alone.
This bill includes $6.3 million for dredging the Atlantic
Intracoastal Waterway--we call it the ICW--which is vital to the
commercial and recreational fishing industry in my district, and $18
million for dredging the Morehead City port, where our Marine
expeditionary units deploy from Navy amphibious ships and play a vital
role in our national security. God forbid we have to use them soon.
Also included is funding for other important inlets that our fishing
industry and ferries rely on, such as Manteo Bay, New River Inlet,
Rollinson Channel, New Topsail Inlet and connecting channels, as well
as Silver Lake Harbor.
Lastly, it includes $5.2 million for the channel from Back Sound to
Lookout Bight, which connects the ferry system to Cape Lookout. It has
not been dredged in over 30 years, and it is common for vessels to run
aground that must be pulled off the shoal with a very expensive
movement by the U.S. Coast Guard.
I am very grateful for the work of Energy and Water Development, and

[[Page H5070]]

Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Fleischmann, aka the MVP of the
baseball team, for putting forward a bill that recognizes the unique
challenges and needs of our coastal communities across the country.
Mr. Chair, I support this year's energy and water development
appropriations bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.

{time} 1815

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. LaMalfa), my very good friend and fellow member of the
Italian caucus.
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the time from my great colleague
from Tennessee who works a lot on the important energy field, and it is
great to work with him.
Mr. Chair, I do rise today in support of the Energy and Water
Development Appropriations Act. This funding bill cuts billions of
needless spending from the Democrats' budget-busting spending bills of
the last Congress and continues prioritizing funding toward our
Nation's water infrastructure so desperately needed, especially in my
home State of California.
Stored water means water for people and for agriculture. It means
hydroelectricity can be generated, which is green power. It means flood
control. It means recreation, yes, even environmental water, which is
already getting the lion's share of the water we have in my home State.
Additionally, I am pleased to see H.R. 215, the WATER for California
Act is included in this legislation, which my colleague Representative
Valadao and I worked on with the entire Republican delegation from
California.
The WATER for California Act restores the basic principle of fairness
for water users in California by requiring the Bureau of Reclamation to
follow the terms of their water contracts and use the best available
science to operate the Central Valley project.
This would also eliminate the environmental blockade against using
water storage funds to move forward with the enlargement of Shasta Dam
in my district, an opportunity to store 630,000 new acre-feet at an
existing structure. That should be easy.
Lastly, this measure prohibits the administration from completely
changing all the rules, regulations, and procedures of the California
water system on a whim simply to satisfy the radical environmentalists,
much to the detriment of our farms and agriculture, and forcing urban
water users to have to ration water to the tune of 42 gallons of water
per day.
Imagine, you have got a wading pool for your kids or your pets or
whatever. It might take 3 days of your water ration to fill a wading
pool under what they have coming down the pike on rationing water and
limiting.
We have so much water flowing out to the Pacific through the Delta
that is being wasted. We have water right now being let out of the dams
in order to meet their conservation level for flood control later, that
should be put someplace that can be helpful such as the San Luis
Reservoir.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill and get
some common sense back into our water supply.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield back 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. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4394--Energy
and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024.
This bill needs to be revised to be truly bipartisan to serve the
American people and Houston.
As with all the additional appropriation bills that have been up for
consideration on the House Floor, I strongly oppose the passage of this
bill for a myriad of reasons--including the following listed below.
The majority has put forth a bill that increases energy costs for
American families, undermines the growth and modernization of our
energy infrastructure, weakens our national security, and would yield
the world's energy future to foes abroad.
With massive cuts that renege on the debt limit agreement that was
just signed into law, the 2024 Energy and Water bill raises costs for
families and weakens energy security and our ability to out-compete
China.
The bill invests $55.2 billion, a decrease of $3.9 billion or 6.5
percent below 2023.
Further, the bill's domestic allocation is effectively 21.5 percent,
$5.4 billion, below 2023 while its defense allocation is 3.5 percent,
$1.1 billion, above 2023, creating a further disparity between domestic
and defense programs.
This harmful legislation would have the following damaging impact on
America:
Increases energy costs by cutting the Department of Energy's clean
energy programs that lower American families' energy bills;
Jeopardizes energy security by enabling Russia to continue
weaponizing energy to destabilize global markets;
Hurts U.S. competitiveness by allowing competitors like China to
monopolize markets for new energy technology; and
Fails to confront the climate crisis and create better-paying, clean
energy jobs.
The bill cuts the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy account by $466 million or 14 percent below 2023 ($1.8
billion or 38 percent below the President's budget request). This
office is critical to developing manufacturing, building efficiency,
clean energy like hydrogen and solar, and weatherization technologies
that are critical to our Nation's growth and resilience.
The bill includes dangerous cuts that House Democrats have been
sounding the alarm about for months.
With this bill, House Republicans irresponsibly:
Call for $5.7 billion in untenable repeals from the Department of
Energy's Inflation Reduction Act programs, including:
$4.5 billion from the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program;
$1 billion from the Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy
Code Adoption; and
$200 million from the State-Based Home Energy Efficiency Contractor
Training Grants.
Repurpose critical Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
resources including:
$3.6 billion from the Department of Energy's IIJA Civil Nuclear
Credit Program that help preserve the existing U.S. reactor fleet and
save thousands of high-paying jobs across the country; and

$84 million from the Corps of Engineers' IIJA programs.
Revoke $15 billion in loan authority from the Department of Energy's
Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program--an increasingly
successful program that promotes climate-friendly innovation and
American manufacturing.
Sadly, this bill exemplifies Republican misguided values: increasing
costs for hardworking families, decreasing job opportunities, failing
to confront the climate crisis, and allowing Russia and China to
outcompete us.
In an attempt to provide some reasonable action in this unreasonable
legislation, I offered an amendment for consideration by the Rules
Committee that would help our Nation's government take seriously our
ever-changing climate and the crises that ensue creating national and
international instability at unprecedented levels and degree.
The Jackson Lee Amendment (Rules Committee No. 121) to H.R. 4394--
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2024, if adopted would have added the following language to this bill:
It is the sense of Congress that energy and water are emerging as
paramount and critical issues, posing challenges not only to the United
States' national security and economy but to the stability of the
global community; and
As each nation grapples with climate change, which is evidenced by
climatic events taking place in this nation and others over the last
decade, where precipitation in all of its forms and extreme drought
have triggered calamities that clearly inform decision makers that
nations must be purposeful in preparing to meet these challenges to
protect life and human advancement in all of its forms.
Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and
more extreme climate events--like heavy rainstorms and record high
temperatures--are becoming more common.
The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced changes--
oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and
sea level is rising.
As these and other changes become more pronounced in the coming
decades, they will

[[Page H5071]]

likely present challenges to our society and our environment, our
country and our world.
This summer saw the hottest days in Earth's modern history as a
climate-change fueled surge of heat shattered temperature records
across the globe.
According to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies
(GISS) in New York, the summer of 2023 was Earth's hottest since global
records began in 1880.
The months of June, July, and August combined were 0.41 degrees
Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius) warmer than any other summer in
NASA's record, and 2.1 degrees F (1.2 C) warmer than the average summer
between 1951 and 1980. August alone was 2.2 F (1.2 C) warmer than the
average.
This new record comes as exceptional heat swept across much of the
world, exacerbating deadly wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, and searing
heat waves in South America, Japan, Europe, and the U.S., while likely
contributing to severe rainfall in Italy, Greece, and Central Europe.
As backed up by NASA and global scientists and witnessed by everyone
across the world, the Summer of 2023's record-setting temperatures are
not just a set of numbers--they result in dire real-world consequences.
From sweltering temperatures in Arizona and across the country, to
wildfires across Canada, extreme flooding in Europe, Asia, and Africa,
as well as catastrophic earthquakes striking across the Middle East,
extreme weather is threatening lives and livelihoods around the globe.
As we entered into the fall, September started with a typhoon that
ripped through Hong Kong, uprooting trees and flooding the city.
It was the first of a slew of extreme weather events that hit ten
countries and territories in just 12 days--the most catastrophic being
the floods in Libya, which have killed more than 11,000 people
according to the UN and left many thousands missing.
Scientists warn that these types of extreme weather events, affecting
countries all over the world, may become increasingly common as the
climate crisis accelerates, putting pressure on governments to prepare.
These real impacts of climate change are a threat to our planet and
future generations that we must continue to confront and tackle head
on.
The scientific evidence is overwhelming, and we will no doubt
continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent
extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems, until we come
to acknowledge and accept the devastating impact of climate change and
actively stop the harms that are contributing to the deadly and
damaging climate crises of our time and inevitably forthcoming in our
future.
Texans and the constituents in my home district of Houston are no
strangers to the adverse impacts and dangers of climate change.
When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, dumping over 50 inches of
rain on Houston, it caused more than $125 billion in economic damage as
my constituents' homes, workplaces, schools, and businesses flooded.
Yet, research has shown that climate change made Harvey's torrential
rainfall much worse, roughly 15 percent to 38 percent greater rainfall
than it would have been in a world that was not warming.
This difference is far from insignificant--up to 50 percent of the
properties that flooded in Harris County might have escaped that fate
in a world without climate change.
Houstonians are not the only ones to have faced harm from climate
change fueled national disasters.
Since 1980, the US has sustained 341 weather and climate disasters,
coasting over $2.4 trillion in all.
However, for Houstonians, Texans, and all of our constituents, the
worst of the threat is far from over.
The US coastline is projected to rise 10 to 12 inches in the next 30
years, threatening the coastal states and vastly increasing the risk of
flooding for those on either coast.
Average global temperatures will continue to rise, prompting a crop
loss of 10 percent in the next 5 to 25 years, melting glaciers, and
further driving the rise of sea levels.
It is estimated that climate change could cost from 30 to over 100
billion dollars per year, along with significant potential for economic
and federal revenue losses.
The OMB has predicted that climate change could reduce the national
GDP by as much as 10 percent by the end of the century, costing a $2
trillion loss in the federal budget.
Further, some of the most severe harms from climate change will fall
disproportionately on socially vulnerable populations, including racial
and ethnic minority communities.
Additionally, the GAO has highlighted that climate change further
poses threats to national security, as rising sea levels and
catastrophic storms threaten both military and civilian infrastructure
and can even affect migration patterns.
There is no Planet B. We must address the existential threat of
climate change now.
We are seeing the consequences of climate change at home and abroad.
However, Republicans continue to deny the scientific consensus of
climate change.
Now more than ever before, we need to strengthen our energy security
and diversify our energy sources, so we are not dependent on global
adversaries--while also tackling the devastating global and economic
policies impacting our climate.
And yet today, House Republicans are putting forth a bill that
threatens to raise energy costs for more than 250,000 U.S. households
and halt the creation of more than 50,000 new jobs, while failing to
acknowledge and address energy policies that are decimating our global
climates.
I call upon my fellow colleagues across the aisle to stand up against
these harmful and dangerous policies offered in this appropriations
bill.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote in opposition to H.R.
4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Act of
2024.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Rose). All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the 5-minute rule. The amendment printed in part A of House
Report 118-242, shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as
amended, shall be considered as read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

H.R. 4394

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That

TITLE I

CORPS OF ENGINEERS--CIVIL

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

Corps of Engineers--Civil

The following appropriations shall be expended under the
direction of the Secretary of the Army and the supervision of
the Chief of Engineers for authorized civil functions of the
Department of the Army pertaining to river and harbor, flood
and storm damage reduction, shore protection, aquatic
ecosystem restoration, and related efforts.

investigations

For expenses necessary where authorized by law for the
collection and study of basic information pertaining to river
and harbor, flood and storm damage reduction, shore
protection, aquatic ecosystem restoration, and related needs;
for surveys and detailed studies, and plans and
specifications of proposed river and harbor, flood and storm
damage reduction, shore protection, and aquatic ecosystem
restoration projects, and related efforts prior to
construction; for restudy of authorized projects; and for
miscellaneous investigations, and, when authorized by law,
surveys and detailed studies, and plans and specifications of
projects prior to construction, $136,087,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That the Secretary shall
not deviate from the work plan, once the plan has been
submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses
of Congress.

construction

For expenses necessary for the construction of river and
harbor, flood and storm damage reduction, shore protection,
aquatic ecosystem restoration, and related projects
authorized by law; for conducting detailed studies, and plans
and specifications, of such projects (including those
involving participation by States, local governments, or
private groups) authorized or made eligible for selection by
law (but such detailed studies, and plans and specifications,
shall not constitute a commitment of the Government to
construction); $2,889,942,000, to remain available until
expended; of which $74,152,000, to be derived from the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund, shall be to cover the Federal share
of construction costs for facilities under the Dredged
Material Disposal Facilities program; and of which such sums
as are necessary to cover 35 percent of the costs of
construction, replacement, rehabilitation, and expansion of
inland waterways projects shall be derived from the Inland
Waterways Trust Fund, except as otherwise specifically
provided for in law: Provided, That the Secretary shall not
deviate from the work plan, once the plan has been submitted
to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of
Congress.

mississippi river and tributaries

For expenses necessary for flood damage reduction projects
and related efforts in the Mississippi River alluvial valley
below Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as authorized by law,
$364,349,000, to remain available until expended, of which
$5,457,000, to be derived from the Harbor Maintenance Trust
Fund, shall be to cover the Federal share of eligible
operation and maintenance costs for inland harbors:
Provided, That the Secretary shall not deviate from the work
plan, once the plan has been submitted to the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.

operation and maintenance

For expenses necessary for the operation, maintenance, and
care of existing river and harbor, flood and storm damage
reduction, aquatic ecosystem restoration, and related
projects authorized by law; providing security for
infrastructure owned or operated by

[[Page H5072]]

the Corps, including administrative buildings and
laboratories; maintaining harbor channels provided by a
State, municipality, or other public agency that serve
essential navigation needs of general commerce, where
authorized by law; surveying and charting northern and
northwestern lakes and connecting waters; clearing and
straightening channels; and removing obstructions to
navigation, $5,496,622,000, to remain available until
expended, of which $2,691,391,000, to be derived from the
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, shall be to cover the Federal
share of eligible operations and maintenance costs for
coastal harbors and channels, and for inland harbors; of
which such sums as become available from the special account
for the Corps of Engineers established by the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 shall be derived from that
account for resource protection, research, interpretation,
and maintenance activities related to resource protection in
the areas at which outdoor recreation is available; of which
such sums as become available from fees collected under
section 217 of Public Law 104-303 shall be used to cover the
cost of operation and maintenance of the dredged material
disposal facilities for which such fees have been collected;
and of which $58,000,000, to be derived from the general fund
of the Treasury, shall be to carry out subsection (c) of
section 2106 of the Water Resources Reform and Development
Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 2238c) and shall be designated as
being for such purpose pursuant to paragraph (2) of section
14003 of division B of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (Public Law 116-136): Provided, That 1
percent of the total amount of funds provided for each of the
programs, projects, or activities funded under this heading
shall not be allocated to a field operating activity prior to
the beginning of the fourth quarter of the fiscal year and
shall be available for use by the Chief of Engineers to fund
such emergency activities as the Chief of Engineers
determines to be necessary and appropriate, and that the
Chief of Engineers shall allocate during the fourth quarter
any remaining funds which have not been used for emergency
activities proportionally in accordance with the amounts
provided for the programs, projects, or activities: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall not deviate from the work
plan, once the plan has been submitted to the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.

regulatory program

For expenses necessary for administration of laws
pertaining to regulation of navigable waters and wetlands,
$218,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2025.

formerly utilized sites remedial action program

For expenses necessary to clean up contamination from sites
in the United States resulting from work performed as part of
the Nation's early atomic energy program, $200,000,000, to
remain available until expended.

flood control and coastal emergencies

For expenses necessary to prepare for flood, hurricane, and
other natural disasters and support emergency operations,
repairs, and other activities in response to such disasters
as authorized by law, $40,000,000, to remain available until
expended.

expenses

For expenses necessary for the supervision and general
administration of the civil works program in the headquarters
of the Corps of Engineers and the offices of the Division
Engineers; and for costs of management and operation of the
Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity, the Institute for
Water Resources, the United States Army Engineer Research and
Development Center, and the United States Army Corps of
Engineers Finance Center allocable to the civil works
program, $215,000,000, to remain available until September
30, 2025, of which not to exceed $5,000 may be used for
official reception and representation purposes and only
during the current fiscal year: Provided, That no part of
any other appropriation provided in this title shall be
available to fund the civil works activities of the Office of
the Chief of Engineers or the civil works executive direction
and management activities of the division offices: Provided
further, That any Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies
appropriation may be used to fund the supervision and general
administration of emergency operations, repairs, and other
activities in response to any flood, hurricane, or other
natural disaster.

office of the assistant secretary of the army for civil works

For the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for
Civil Works as authorized by 10 U.S.C. 3016(b)(3),
$5,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2025:
Provided, That not more than 25 percent of such amount may be
obligated or expended until the Assistant Secretary submits
to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of
Congress the report required under section 101(d) of this Act
and a work plan that allocates at least 95 percent of the
additional funding provided under each heading in the report
accompanying this Act to specific programs, projects, or
activities.

water infrastructure finance and innovation program account

For administrative expenses to carry out the direct and
guaranteed loan programs authorized by the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014,
$5,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2025.

GENERAL PROVISIONS--CORPS OF ENGINEERS--CIVIL

(including transfer of funds)

Sec. 101. (a) None of the funds provided in title I of this
Act, or provided by previous appropriations Acts to the
agencies or entities funded in title I of this Act that
remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year
2024, shall be available for obligation or expenditure
through a reprogramming of funds that:
(1) creates or initiates a new program, project, or
activity;
(2) eliminates a program, project, or activity;
(3) increases funds or personnel for any program, project,
or activity for which funds have been denied or restricted by
this Act, unless prior approval is received from the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress;
(4) proposes to use funds directed for a specific activity
for a different purpose, unless prior approval is received
from the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of
Congress;
(5) augments or reduces existing programs, projects, or
activities in excess of the amounts contained in paragraphs
(6) through (10), unless prior approval is received from the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress;
(6) Investigations.--For a base level over $100,000,
reprogramming of 25 percent of the base amount up to a limit
of $150,000 per project, study or activity is allowed:
Provided, That for a base level less than $100,000, the
reprogramming limit is $25,000: Provided further, That up to
$25,000 may be reprogrammed into any continuing study or
activity that did not receive an appropriation for existing
obligations and concomitant administrative expenses;
(7) Construction.--For a base level over $2,000,000,
reprogramming of 15 percent of the base amount up to a limit
of $3,000,000 per project, study or activity is allowed:
Provided, That for a base level less than $2,000,000, the
reprogramming limit is $300,000: Provided further, That up
to $3,000,000 may be reprogrammed for settled contractor
claims, changed conditions, or real estate deficiency
judgments: Provided further, That up to $300,000 may be
reprogrammed into any continuing study or activity that did
not receive an appropriation for existing obligations and
concomitant administrative expenses;
(8) Operation and maintenance.--Unlimited reprogramming
authority is granted for the Corps to be able to respond to
emergencies: Provided, That the Chief of Engineers shall
notify the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of
Congress of these emergency actions as soon thereafter as
practicable: Provided further, That for a base level over
$1,000,000, reprogramming of 15 percent of the base amount up
to a limit of $5,000,000 per project, study, or activity is
allowed: Provided further, That for a base level less than
$1,000,000, the reprogramming limit is $150,000: Provided
further, That $150,000 may be reprogrammed into any
continuing study or activity that did not receive an
appropriation;
(9) Mississippi river and tributaries.--The reprogramming
guidelines in paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) shall apply to the
Investigations, Construction, and Operation and Maintenance
portions of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Account,
respectively; and
(10) Formerly utilized sites remedial action program.--
Reprogramming of up to 15 percent of the base of the
receiving project is permitted.
(b) De Minimus Reprogrammings.--In no case should a
reprogramming for less than $50,000 be submitted to the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.
(c) Continuing Authorities Program.--Subsection (a)(1)
shall not apply to any project or activity funded under the
continuing authorities program.
(d) Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress to
establish the baseline for application of reprogramming and
transfer authorities for the current fiscal year which shall
include:
(1) A table for each appropriation with a separate column
to display the President's budget request, adjustments made
by Congress, adjustments due to enacted rescissions, if
applicable, and the fiscal year enacted level;
(2) A delineation in the table for each appropriation both
by object class and program, project and activity as detailed
in the budget appendix for the respective appropriations; and
(3) An identification of items of special congressional
interest.
Sec. 102. The Secretary shall allocate funds made
available in this Act solely in accordance with the
provisions of this Act and in the report accompanying this
Act.
Sec. 103. None of the funds made available in this title
may be used to award or modify any contract that commits
funds beyond the amounts appropriated for that program,
project, or activity that remain unobligated, except that
such amounts may include any funds that have been made
available through reprogramming pursuant to section 101.
Sec. 104. The Secretary of the Army may transfer to the
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service
may accept and expend, up to $8,200,000 of funds provided in
this title under the heading ``Operation and

[[Page H5073]]

Maintenance'' to mitigate for fisheries lost due to Corps of
Engineers projects.
Sec. 105. None of the funds in this Act shall be used for
an open lake placement alternative for dredged material,
after evaluating the least costly, environmentally acceptable
manner for the disposal or management of dredged material
originating from Lake Erie or tributaries thereto, unless it
is approved under a State water quality certification
pursuant to section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1341): Provided, That until an open
lake placement alternative for dredged material is approved
under a State water quality certification, the Corps of
Engineers shall continue upland placement of such dredged
material consistent with the requirements of section 101 of
the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211).
Sec. 106. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to carry out any water supply reallocation study
under the Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, project
authorized under the Act of July 24, 1946 (60 Stat. 636, ch.
595).
Sec. 107. None of the funds made available by this Act or
any other Act may be used to reorganize or to transfer the
Civil Works functions or authority of the Corps of Engineers
or the Secretary of the Army to another department or agency.
Sec. 108. Additional funding provided in this Act shall be
allocated only to projects determined to be eligible by the
Chief of Engineers.
Sec. 109. The rule submitted by the Department of the
Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense, and the
Environmental Protection Agency relating to ``Revised
Definition of `Waters of the United States' '' (88 Fed. Reg.
3004 (January 18, 2023)) shall have no force or effect.
Sec. 110. As of the date of enactment of this Act and each
fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of the Army shall not
promulgate or enforce any regulation that prohibits an
individual from possessing a firearm, including an assembled
or functional firearm, at a water resources development
project covered under section 327.0 of title 36, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act) if:
(1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from
possessing a firearm; and
(2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the
law of the State in which the water resources development
project is located.
Sec. 111. None of the funds made available by this Act or
any other Act in any fiscal year may be used to alter the
eligibility requirements for assistance under section 5 of
the Act of August 18, 1941 (33 U.S.C. 701n) in effect on
November 14, 2022, without express authorization by Congress.
Sec. 112. Notwithstanding any other requirement,
unobligated balances from amounts made available under the
heading ``Corps of Engineers--Civil--Construction'' in
division J of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(Public Law 117-58) for which spend plan allocations have not
been announced as of the date of enactment of this Act may be
made available for projects, regardless of project purpose,
that have previously received funds under the heading ``Corps
of Engineers--Civil--Construction'' in the Bipartisan Budget
Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-123) and for which non-Federal
interests have entered into binding agreements with the
Secretary as of the date of enactment of this Act: Provided,
That projects receiving Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act (Public Law 117-58) funding pursuant to this section
shall be subject only to the terms and conditions of the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-123): Provided
further, That amounts repurposed pursuant to this section
that were previously designated by the Congress as an
emergency requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 or a concurrent
resolution on the budget are designated by the Congress as an
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985.

TITLE II

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Central Utah Project

central utah project completion account

For carrying out activities authorized by the Central Utah
Project Completion Act, $23,000,000, to remain available
until expended, of which $4,650,000 shall be deposited into
the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Account for
use by the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation
Commission: Provided, That of the amount provided under this
heading, $1,750,000 shall be available until September 30,
2025, for expenses necessary in carrying out related
responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided
further, That for fiscal year 2024, of the amount made
available to the Commission under this Act or any other Act,
the Commission may use an amount not to exceed $1,990,000 for
administrative expenses.

Bureau of Reclamation

The following appropriations shall be expended to execute
authorized functions of the Bureau of Reclamation:

water and related resources

(including transfers of funds)

For management, development, and restoration of water and
related natural resources and for related activities,
including the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of
reclamation and other facilities, participation in fulfilling
related Federal responsibilities to Native Americans, and
related grants to, and cooperative and other agreements with,
State and local governments, federally recognized Indian
Tribes, and others, $1,693,366,000, to remain available until
expended, of which $1,051,000 shall be available for transfer
to the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund and $7,584,000 shall
be available for transfer to the Lower Colorado River Basin
Development Fund; of which such amounts as may be necessary
may be advanced to the Colorado River Dam Fund: Provided,
That $500,000 shall be available for transfer into the Aging
Infrastructure Account established by section 9603(d)(1) of
the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, as amended
(43 U.S.C. 510b(d)(1)): Provided further, That such
transfers, except for the transfer authorized by the
preceding proviso, may be increased or decreased within the
overall appropriation under this heading: Provided further,
That of the total appropriated, the amount for program
activities that can be financed by the Reclamation Fund, the
Water Storage Enhancement Receipts account established by
section 4011(e) of Public Law 114-322, or the Bureau of
Reclamation special fee account established by 16 U.S.C. 6806
shall be derived from that Fund or account: Provided
further, That funds contributed under 43 U.S.C. 395 are
available until expended for the purposes for which the funds
were contributed: Provided further, That funds advanced
under 43 U.S.C. 397a shall be credited to this account and
are available until expended for the same purposes as the
sums appropriated under this heading: Provided further, That
of the amounts made available under this heading, $5,500,000
shall be deposited in the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund
established by section 110 of title I of division B of
appendix D of Public Law 106-554: Provided further, That of
the amounts provided herein, funds may be used for high-
priority projects which shall be carried out by the Youth
Conservation Corps, as authorized by 16 U.S.C. 1706:
Provided further, That within available funds, $250,000 shall
be for grants and financial assistance for educational
activities: Provided further, That in accordance with
section 4007 of Public Law 114-322 and as recommended by the
Secretary in letters dated February 13, 2019, June 22, 2020,
and December 3, 2020, funding provided for such purpose in
this and prior fiscal years shall be made available to the
Shasta Dam and Reservoir Enlargement Project.

central valley project restoration fund

For carrying out the programs, projects, plans, habitat
restoration, improvement, and acquisition provisions of the
Central Valley Project Improvement Act, such sums as may be
collected in fiscal year 2024 in the Central Valley Project
Restoration Fund pursuant to sections 3407(d), 3404(c)(3),
and 3405(f) of Public Law 102-575, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That the Bureau of Reclamation is
directed to assess and collect the full amount of the
additional mitigation and restoration payments authorized by
section 3407(d) of Public Law 102-575: Provided further,
That none of the funds made available under this heading may
be used for the acquisition or leasing of water for in-stream
purposes if the water is already committed to in-stream
purposes by a court adopted decree or order.

california bay-delta restoration

(including transfers of funds)

For carrying out activities authorized by the Water Supply,
Reliability, and Environmental Improvement Act, consistent
with plans to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior,
$33,000,000, to remain available until expended, of which
such amounts as may be necessary to carry out such activities
may be transferred to appropriate accounts of other
participating Federal agencies to carry out authorized
purposes: Provided, That funds appropriated herein may be
used for the Federal share of the costs of Calfed Program
management: Provided further, That Calfed implementation
shall be carried out in a balanced manner with clear
performance measures demonstrating concurrent progress in
achieving the goals and objectives of the Program.

policy and administration

For expenses necessary for policy, administration, and
related functions in the Office of the Commissioner, the
Denver office, and offices in the six regions of the Bureau
of Reclamation, to remain available until September 30, 2025,
$65,079,000, to be derived from the Reclamation Fund and be
nonreimbursable as provided in 43 U.S.C. 377, of which not to
exceed $5,000 may be used for official reception and
representation expenses: Provided, That no part of any other
appropriation in this Act shall be available for activities
or functions budgeted as policy and administration expenses.

administrative provision

Appropriations for the Bureau of Reclamation shall be
available for purchase and replacement of not to exceed 30
motor vehicles, which are for replacement only.

GENERAL PROVISIONS--DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Sec. 201. (a) None of the funds provided in title II of
this Act for Water and Related Resources, or provided by
previous or subsequent appropriations Acts to the agencies or
entities funded in title II of this Act for Water and Related
Resources that remain

[[Page H5074]]

available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2024,
shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a
reprogramming of funds that--
(1) initiates or creates a new program, project, or
activity;
(2) eliminates a program, project, or activity;
(3) increases funds for any program, project, or activity
for which funds have been denied or restricted by this Act,
unless prior approval is received from the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress;
(4) restarts or resumes any program, project or activity
for which funds are not provided in this Act, unless prior
approval is received from the Committees on Appropriations of
both Houses of Congress;
(5) transfers funds in excess of the following limits,
unless prior approval is received from the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress:
(A) 15 percent for any program, project or activity for
which $2,000,000 or more is available at the beginning of the
fiscal year; or
(B) $400,000 for any program, project or activity for which
less than $2,000,000 is available at the beginning of the
fiscal year;
(6) transfers more than $500,000 from either the Facilities
Operation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation category or the
Resources Management and Development category to any program,
project, or activity in the other category, unless prior
approval is received from the Committees on Appropriations of
both Houses of Congress; or
(7) transfers, where necessary to discharge legal
obligations of the Bureau of Reclamation, more than
$5,000,000 to provide adequate funds for settled contractor
claims, increased contractor earnings due to accelerated
rates of operations, and real estate deficiency judgments,
unless prior approval is received from the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.
(b) Subsection (a)(5) shall not apply to any transfer of
funds within the Facilities Operation, Maintenance, and
Rehabilitation category.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term ``transfer''
means any movement of funds into or out of a program,
project, or activity.
(d) Except as provided in subsections (a) and (b), the
amounts made available in this title under the heading
``Bureau of Reclamation--Water and Related Resources'' shall
be expended for the programs, projects, and activities
specified in the ``House Recommended'' columns in the ``Water
and Related Resources'' table included under the heading
``Title II--Department of the Interior'' in the report
accompanying this Act.
(e) The Bureau of Reclamation shall submit reports on a
quarterly basis to the Committees on Appropriations of both
Houses of Congress detailing all the funds reprogrammed
between programs, projects, activities, or categories of
funding. The first quarterly report shall be submitted not
later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 202. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act may be used to determine the final
point of discharge for the interceptor drain for the San Luis
Unit until development by the Secretary of the Interior and
the State of California of a plan, which shall conform to the
water quality standards of the State of California as
approved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, to minimize any detrimental effect of the San Luis
drainage waters.
(b) The costs of the Kesterson Reservoir Cleanup Program
and the costs of the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program
shall be classified by the Secretary of the Interior as
reimbursable or nonreimbursable and collected until fully
repaid pursuant to the ``Cleanup Program--Alternative
Repayment Plan'' and the ``SJVDP--Alternative Repayment
Plan'' described in the report entitled ``Repayment Report,
Kesterson Reservoir Cleanup Program and San Joaquin Valley
Drainage Program, February 1995'', prepared by the Department
of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. Any future
obligations of funds by the United States relating to, or
providing for, drainage service or drainage studies for the
San Luis Unit shall be fully reimbursable by San Luis Unit
beneficiaries of such service or studies pursuant to Federal
reclamation law.

TITLE III

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

ENERGY PROGRAMS

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

For Department of Energy expenses including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment,
and other expenses necessary for energy efficiency and
renewable energy activities in carrying out the purposes of
the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et
seq.), including the acquisition or condemnation of any real
property or any facility or for plant or facility
acquisition, construction, or expansion, $2,994,000,000
(reduced by $1,000,000,000), to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of such amount, $223,000,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response

For Department of Energy expenses including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment,
and other expenses necessary for energy sector cybersecurity,
energy security, and emergency response activities in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition or condemnation of any real property or any
facility or for plant or facility acquisition, construction,
or expansion, $200,000,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of such amount, $25,143,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Electricity

For Department of Energy expenses including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment,
and other expenses necessary for electricity activities in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition or condemnation of any real property or any
facility or for plant or facility acquisition, construction,
or expansion, $315,600,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of such amount, $23,000,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Nuclear Energy

For Department of Energy expenses including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment,
and other expenses necessary for nuclear energy activities in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition or condemnation of any real property or any
facility or for plant or facility acquisition, construction,
or expansion, $1,783,000,000, to remain available until
expended. Provided, That of such amount, $85,500,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction:
Provided further, That for the purpose of section 954(a)(6)
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as amended, the only amount
available shall be from the amount specified as including
that purpose in the ``House Recommended'' column in the
``Department of Energy'' table included under the heading
``Title III--Department of Energy'' in the report
accompanying this Act.

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

For Department of Energy expenses necessary in carrying out
fossil energy and carbon management research and development
activities, under the authority of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition of interest, including defeasible and equitable
interests in any real property or any facility or for plant
or facility acquisition or expansion, and for conducting
inquiries, technological investigations and research
concerning the extraction, processing, use, and disposal of
mineral substances without objectionable social and
environmental costs (30 U.S.C. 3, 1602, and 1603),
$857,904,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That of such amount $70,000,000 shall be available until
September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves

For Department of Energy expenses necessary to carry out
naval petroleum and oil shale reserve activities,
$13,010,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That notwithstanding any other provision of law, unobligated
funds remaining from prior years shall be available for all
naval petroleum and oil shale reserve activities.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

For Department of Energy expenses necessary for Strategic
Petroleum Reserve facility development and operations and
program management activities pursuant to the Energy Policy
and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), $280,969,000,
to remain available until expended.

Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve

For Department of Energy expenses necessary for Northeast
Home Heating Oil Reserve storage, operation, and management
activities pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act
(42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), $7,150,000, to remain available
until expended.

Energy Information Administration

For Department of Energy expenses necessary in carrying out
the activities of the Energy Information Administration,
$135,000,000, to remain available until expended.

Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup

For Department of Energy expenses, including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment
and other expenses necessary for non-defense environmental
cleanup activities in carrying out the purposes of the
Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et
seq.), including the acquisition or condemnation of any real
property or any facility or for plant or facility
acquisition, construction, or expansion, $341,700,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That in addition,
fees collected pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of section 6939f
of title 42, United States Code, and deposited under this
heading in fiscal year 2024 pursuant to section 309 of title
III of division C of Public Law 116-94 are appropriated, to
remain available until expended, for mercury storage costs.

Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund

For Department of Energy expenses necessary in carrying out
uranium enrichment facility decontamination and
decommissioning, remedial actions, and other activities of
title II of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and title X,
subtitle A, of the Energy

[[Page H5075]]

Policy Act of 1992, $865,208,000, to be derived from the
Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund,
to remain available until expended, of which $10,000,000
shall be available in accordance with title X, subtitle A, of
the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Science

For Department of Energy expenses including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment,
and other expenses necessary for science activities in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition or condemnation of any real property or any
facility or for plant or facility acquisition, construction,
or expansion, and purchase of not more than 35 passenger
motor vehicles, $8,100,000,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of such amount, $211,211,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Nuclear Waste Disposal

For Department of Energy expenses necessary for nuclear
waste disposal activities to carry out the purposes of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, Public Law 97-425, as
amended, $12,040,000, to remain available until expended,
which shall be derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund.

Technology Transitions

For Department of Energy expenses necessary for carrying
out the activities of technology transitions, $22,098,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That of such
amount, $13,183,000 shall be available until September 30,
2025, for program direction.

Clean Energy Demonstrations

For Department of Energy expenses necessary to carry out
program direction of the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations, $35,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2025.

Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy

For Department of Energy expenses necessary in carrying out
the activities authorized by section 5012 of the America
COMPETES Act (Public Law 110-69), $470,000,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That of such amount,
$37,000,000 shall be available until September 30, 2025, for
program direction.

Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program

Such sums as are derived from amounts received from
borrowers pursuant to section 1702(b) of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 under this heading in prior Acts, shall be
collected in accordance with section 502(7) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974: Provided, That for
necessary administrative expenses of the Title 17 Innovative
Technology Loan Guarantee Program, as authorized, $70,000,000
is appropriated, to remain available until September 30,
2025: Provided further, That up to $70,000,000 of fees
collected in fiscal year 2024 pursuant to section 1702(h) of
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 shall be credited as offsetting
collections under this heading and used for necessary
administrative expenses in this appropriation and shall
remain available until September 30, 2025: Provided further,
That to the extent that fees collected in fiscal year 2024
exceed $70,000,000, those excess amounts shall be credited as
offsetting collections under this heading and available in
future fiscal years only to the extent provided in advance in
appropriations Acts: Provided further, That the sum herein
appropriated from the general fund shall be reduced (1) as
such fees are received during fiscal year 2024 (estimated at
$70,000,000) and (2) to the extent that any remaining general
fund appropriations can be derived from fees collected in
previous fiscal years that are not otherwise appropriated, so
as to result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation from
the general fund estimated at $0: Provided further, That the
Department of Energy shall not subordinate any loan
obligation to other financing in violation of section 1702 of
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 or subordinate any Guaranteed
Obligation to any loan or other debt obligations in violation
of section 609.10 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations.

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program

For Department of Energy administrative expenses necessary
in carrying out the Advanced Technology Vehicles
Manufacturing Loan Program, $13,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2025.

Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program

For Department of Energy administrative expenses necessary
in carrying out the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program,
$6,300,000, to remain available until September 30, 2025.

Indian Energy Policy and Programs

For necessary expenses for Indian Energy activities in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), $75,000,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That of the
amount appropriated under this heading, $14,000,000 shall be
available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Departmental Administration

For salaries and expenses of the Department of Energy
necessary for departmental administration in carrying out the
purposes of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42
U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), $383,578,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2025, including the hire of passenger motor
vehicles and official reception and representation expenses
not to exceed $30,000, plus such additional amounts as
necessary to cover increases in the estimated amount of cost
of work for others notwithstanding the provisions of the
Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1511 et seq.): Provided, That
such increases in cost of work are offset by revenue
increases of the same or greater amount: Provided further,
That moneys received by the Department for miscellaneous
revenues estimated to total $100,578,000 in fiscal year 2024
may be retained and used for operating expenses within this
account, as authorized by section 201 of Public Law 95-238,
notwithstanding the provisions of 31 U.S.C. 3302: Provided
further, That the sum herein appropriated shall be reduced as
collections are received during the fiscal year so as to
result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation from the
general fund estimated at not more than $283,000,000.

Office of the Inspector General

For expenses necessary for the Office of the Inspector
General in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector
General Act of 1978, $92,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2025.

ATOMIC ENERGY DEFENSE ACTIVITIES

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Weapons Activities

For Department of Energy expenses, including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment
and other incidental expenses necessary for atomic energy
defense weapons activities in carrying out the purposes of
the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et
seq.), including the acquisition or condemnation of any real
property or any facility or for plant or facility
acquisition, construction, or expansion, $19,114,167,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That of such
amount, $118,056,000 shall be available until September 30,
2025, for program direction.

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

For Department of Energy expenses, including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment
and other incidental expenses necessary for defense nuclear
nonproliferation activities, in carrying out the purposes of
the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et
seq.), including the acquisition or condemnation of any real
property or any facility or for plant or facility
acquisition, construction, or expansion, $2,380,037,000, to
remain available until expended.

Naval Reactors

(including transfer of funds)

For Department of Energy expenses necessary for naval
reactors activities to carry out the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition (by purchase, condemnation, construction, or
otherwise) of real property, plant, and capital equipment,
facilities, and facility expansion, $1,946,049,000, to remain
available until expended, of which $99,747,000 shall be
transferred to ``Department of Energy--Energy Programs--
Nuclear Energy'', for the Advanced Test Reactor: Provided,
That of such amount, $61,540,000 shall be available until
September 30, 2025, for program direction.

Federal Salaries and Expenses

For expenses necessary for Federal Salaries and Expenses in
the National Nuclear Security Administration, $518,994,000,
to remain available until September 30, 2025, including
official reception and representation expenses not to exceed
$17,000.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND OTHER DEFENSE ACTIVITIES

Defense Environmental Cleanup

For Department of Energy expenses, including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment
and other expenses necessary for atomic energy defense
environmental cleanup activities in carrying out the purposes
of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101
et seq.), including the acquisition or condemnation of any
real property or any facility or for plant or facility
acquisition, construction, or expansion, $7,073,556,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That of such
amount, $326,893,000 shall be available until September 30,
2025, for program direction.

Other Defense Activities

For Department of Energy expenses, including the purchase,
construction, and acquisition of plant and capital equipment
and other expenses, necessary for atomic energy defense,
other defense activities, and classified activities, in
carrying out the purposes of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including the
acquisition or condemnation of any real property or any
facility or for plant or facility acquisition, construction,
or expansion, $1,075,197,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of such amount, $381,460,000 shall
be available until September 30, 2025, for program direction.

POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRATIONS

Bonneville Power Administration Fund

Expenditures from the Bonneville Power Administration Fund,
established pursuant to Public Law 93-454, are approved for
official reception and representation expenses in an amount
not to exceed $5,000: Provided, That during fiscal year
2024, no new direct loan obligations may be made.

[[Page H5076]]

Operation and Maintenance, Southeastern Power Administration

For expenses necessary for operation and maintenance of
power transmission facilities and for marketing electric
power and energy, including transmission wheeling and
ancillary services, pursuant to section 5 of the Flood
Control Act of 1944 (16 U.S.C. 825s), as applied to the
southeastern power area, $8,449,000, including official
reception and representation expenses in an amount not to
exceed $1,500, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302 and section 5 of the
Flood Control Act of 1944, up to $8,449,000 collected by the
Southeastern Power Administration from the sale of power and
related services shall be credited to this account as
discretionary offsetting collections, to remain available
until expended for the sole purpose of funding the annual
expenses of the Southeastern Power Administration: Provided
further, That the sum herein appropriated for annual expenses
shall be reduced as collections are received during the
fiscal year so as to result in a final fiscal year 2024
appropriation estimated at not more than $0: Provided
further, That notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, up to
$71,850,000 collected by the Southeastern Power
Administration pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944 to
recover purchase power and wheeling expenses shall be
credited to this account as offsetting collections, to remain
available until expended for the sole purpose of making
purchase power and wheeling expenditures: Provided further,
That for purposes of this appropriation, annual expenses
means expenditures that are generally recovered in the same
year that they are incurred (excluding purchase power and
wheeling expenses).

Operation and Maintenance, Southwestern Power Administration

For expenses necessary for operation and maintenance of
power transmission facilities and for marketing electric
power and energy, for construction and acquisition of
transmission lines, substations and appurtenant facilities,
and for administrative expenses, including official reception
and representation expenses in an amount not to exceed $1,500
in carrying out section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944
(16 U.S.C. 825s), as applied to the Southwestern Power
Administration, $52,326,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302 and
section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (16 U.S.C. 825s),
up to $40,886,000 collected by the Southwestern Power
Administration from the sale of power and related services
shall be credited to this account as discretionary offsetting
collections, to remain available until expended, for the sole
purpose of funding the annual expenses of the Southwestern
Power Administration: Provided further, That the sum herein
appropriated for annual expenses shall be reduced as
collections are received during the fiscal year so as to
result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation estimated at
not more than $11,440,000: Provided further, That
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, up to $80,000,000 collected
by the Southwestern Power Administration pursuant to the
Flood Control Act of 1944 to recover purchase power and
wheeling expenses shall be credited to this account as
offsetting collections, to remain available until expended
for the sole purpose of making purchase power and wheeling
expenditures: Provided further, That for purposes of this
appropriation, annual expenses means expenditures that are
generally recovered in the same year that they are incurred
(excluding purchase power and wheeling expenses).

Construction, Rehabilitation, Operation and Maintenance, Western Area
Power Administration

For carrying out the functions authorized by title III,
section 302(a)(1)(E) of the Act of August 4, 1977 (42 U.S.C.
7152), and other related activities including conservation
and renewable resources programs as authorized, $313,289,000,
including official reception and representation expenses in
an amount not to exceed $1,500, to remain available until
expended, of which $313,289,000 shall be derived from the
Department of the Interior Reclamation Fund: Provided, That
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, section 5 of the Flood
Control Act of 1944 (16 U.S.C. 825s), and section 1 of the
Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 392a),
up to $213,417,000 collected by the Western Area Power
Administration from the sale of power and related services
shall be credited to this account as discretionary offsetting
collections, to remain available until expended, for the sole
purpose of funding the annual expenses of the Western Area
Power Administration: Provided further, That the sum herein
appropriated for annual expenses shall be reduced as
collections are received during the fiscal year so as to
result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation estimated at
not more than $99,872,000, of which $99,872,000 is derived
from the Reclamation Fund: Provided further, That
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, up to $475,000,000 collected
by the Western Area Power Administration pursuant to the
Flood Control Act of 1944 and the Reclamation Project Act of
1939 to recover purchase power and wheeling expenses shall be
credited to this account as offsetting collections, to remain
available until expended for the sole purpose of making
purchase power and wheeling expenditures: Provided further,
That for purposes of this appropriation, annual expenses
means expenditures that are generally recovered in the same
year that they are incurred (excluding purchase power and
wheeling expenses).

Falcon and Amistad Operating and Maintenance Fund

For operation, maintenance, and emergency costs for the
hydroelectric facilities at the Falcon and Amistad Dams,
$3,425,000, to remain available until expended, and to be
derived from the Falcon and Amistad Operating and Maintenance
Fund of the Western Area Power Administration, as provided in
section 2 of the Act of June 18, 1954 (68 Stat. 255):
Provided, That notwithstanding the provisions of that Act and
of 31 U.S.C. 3302, up to $3,197,000 collected by the Western
Area Power Administration from the sale of power and related
services from the Falcon and Amistad Dams shall be credited
to this account as discretionary offsetting collections, to
remain available until expended for the sole purpose of
funding the annual expenses of the hydroelectric facilities
of these Dams and associated Western Area Power
Administration activities: Provided further, That the sum
herein appropriated for annual expenses shall be reduced as
collections are received during the fiscal year so as to
result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation estimated at
not more than $228,000: Provided further, That for purposes
of this appropriation, annual expenses means expenditures
that are generally recovered in the same year that they are
incurred: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2024, the
Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration may
accept up to $1,872,000 in funds contributed by United States
power customers of the Falcon and Amistad Dams for deposit
into the Falcon and Amistad Operating and Maintenance Fund,
and such funds shall be available for the purpose for which
contributed in like manner as if said sums had been
specifically appropriated for such purpose: Provided
further, That any such funds shall be available without
further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation for
use by the Commissioner of the United States Section of the
International Boundary and Water Commission for the sole
purpose of operating, maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating,
replacing, or upgrading the hydroelectric facilities at these
Dams in accordance with agreements reached between the
Administrator, Commissioner, and the power customers.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

salaries and expenses

For expenses necessary for the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to carry out the provisions of the Department of
Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), including
services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, official reception
and representation expenses not to exceed $3,000, and the
hire of passenger motor vehicles, $520,000,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That notwithstanding any
other provision of law, not to exceed $520,000,000 of
revenues from fees and annual charges, and other services and
collections in fiscal year 2024 shall be retained and used
for expenses necessary in this account, and shall remain
available until expended: Provided further, That the sum
herein appropriated from the general fund shall be reduced as
revenues are received during fiscal year 2024 so as to result
in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation from the general
fund estimated at not more than $0.

GENERAL PROVISIONS--DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

(including rescissions and transfers of funds)

Sec. 301. (a) No appropriation, funds, or authority made
available by this title for the Department of Energy shall be
used to initiate or resume any program, project, or activity
or to prepare or initiate Requests For Proposals or similar
arrangements (including Requests for Quotations, Requests for
Information, and Funding Opportunity Announcements) for a
program, project, or activity if the program, project, or
activity has not been funded by Congress.
(b)(1) Unless the Secretary of Energy notifies the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress at
least 3 full business days in advance, none of the funds made
available in this title may be used to--
(A) make a grant allocation or discretionary grant award
totaling $1,000,000 or more;
(B) make a discretionary contract award or Other
Transaction Agreement totaling $1,000,000 or more, including
a contract covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation;
(C) issue a letter of intent to make an allocation, award,
or Agreement in excess of the limits in subparagraph (A) or
(B); or
(D) announce publicly the intention to make an allocation,
award, or Agreement in excess of the limits in subparagraph
(A) or (B).
(2) The Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committees
on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress within 15 days
of the conclusion of each quarter a report detailing each
grant allocation or discretionary grant award totaling less
than $1,000,000 provided during the previous quarter.
(3) The notification required by paragraph (1) and the
report required by paragraph (2) shall include the recipient
of the award, the amount of the award, the fiscal year for
which the funds for the award were appropriated, the account
and program, project, or activity from which the funds are
being drawn, the title of the award, and a brief description
of the activity for which the award is made.

[[Page H5077]]

(c) The Department of Energy may not, with respect to any
program, project, or activity that uses budget authority made
available in this title under the heading ``Department of
Energy--Energy Programs'', enter into a multiyear contract,
award a multiyear grant, or enter into a multiyear
cooperative agreement unless--
(1) the contract, grant, or cooperative agreement is funded
for the full period of performance as anticipated at the time
of award; or
(2) the contract, grant, or cooperative agreement includes
a clause conditioning the Federal Government's obligation on
the availability of future year budget authority and the
Secretary notifies the Committees on Appropriations of both
Houses of Congress at least 3 days in advance.
(d) Except as provided in subsections (e), (f), and (g),
the amounts made available by this title shall be expended as
authorized by law for the programs, projects, and activities
specified in the ``House Recommended'' column in the
``Department of Energy'' table included under the heading
``Title III--Department of Energy'' in the report
accompanying this Act.
(e) The amounts made available by this title may be
reprogrammed for any program, project, or activity, and the
Department shall notify, and obtain the prior approval of,
the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress
at least 30 days prior to the use of any proposed
reprogramming that would cause any program, project, or
activity funding level to increase or decrease by more than
$5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less, during the time
period covered by this Act.
(f) None of the funds provided in this title shall be
available for obligation or expenditure through a
reprogramming of funds that--
(1) creates, initiates, or eliminates a program, project,
or activity;
(2) increases funds or personnel for any program, project,
or activity for which funds are denied or restricted by this
Act; or
(3) reduces funds that are directed to be used for a
specific program, project, or activity by this Act.
(g)(1) The Secretary of Energy may waive any requirement or
restriction in this section that applies to the use of funds
made available for the Department of Energy if compliance
with such requirement or restriction would pose a substantial
risk to human health, the environment, welfare, or national
security.
(2) The Secretary of Energy shall notify the Committees on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of any waiver under
paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but not later than 3
days after the date of the activity to which a requirement or
restriction would otherwise have applied. Such notice shall
include an explanation of the substantial risk under
paragraph (1) that permitted such waiver.
(h) The unexpended balances of prior appropriations
provided for activities in this Act may be available to the
same appropriation accounts for such activities established
pursuant to this title. Available balances may be merged with
funds in the applicable established accounts and thereafter
may be accounted for as one fund for the same time period as
originally enacted.
Sec. 302. Funds appropriated by this or any other Act, or
made available by the transfer of funds in this Act, for
intelligence activities are deemed to be specifically
authorized by the Congress for purposes of section 504 of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3094) during fiscal
year 2024 until the enactment of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
Sec. 303. None of the funds made available in this title
shall be used for the construction of facilities classified
as high-hazard nuclear facilities under 10 CFR Part 830
unless independent oversight is conducted by the Office of
Enterprise Assessments to ensure the project is in compliance
with nuclear safety requirements.
Sec. 304. None of the funds made available in this title
may be used to approve critical decision-2 or critical
decision-3 under Department of Energy Order 413.3B, or any
successive departmental guidance, for construction projects
where the total project cost exceeds $100,000,000, until a
separate independent cost estimate has been developed for the
project for that critical decision.
Sec. 305. None of the funds made available in this title
may be used to support a grant allocation award,
discretionary grant award, or cooperative agreement that
exceeds $100,000,000 in Federal funding unless the project is
carried out through internal independent project management
procedures.
Sec. 306. No funds shall be transferred directly from
``Department of Energy--Power Marketing Administration--
Colorado River Basins Power Marketing Fund, Western Area
Power Administration'' to the general fund of the Treasury in
the current fiscal year.
Sec. 307. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce an
energy efficiency standard that increases efficiency
standards on distribution transformers, including the
proposed rule entitled ``Energy Conservation Program: Energy
Conservation Standards for Distribution Transformers''
published by the Department of Energy in the Federal Register
on January 11, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 1722) or any substantially
similar rule.
Sec. 308. Notwithstanding section 301(c) of this Act, none
of the funds made available under the heading ``Department of
Energy--Energy Programs--Science'' may be used for a
multiyear contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or Other
Transaction Agreement of $5,000,000 or less unless the
contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or Other Transaction
Agreement is funded for the full period of performance as
anticipated at the time of award.
Sec. 309. (a) Of the unobligated balances of amounts made
available to the Department of Energy under each heading in
title III of division J of Public Law 117-58, an amount equal
to the amount transferred from each such heading as of the
date of enactment of this Act pursuant to section 303 of
Public Law 117-58 shall be transferred on October 1, 2023, to
the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of
Energy to oversee the funds made available to the Department
of Energy in Public Law 117-58: Provided, That any amounts
so transferred that were previously designated by the
Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 or a
concurrent resolution on the budget are designated by the
Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985.
(b) Beginning on October 1, 2023, of the amounts made
available to the Department of Energy under each of sections
50121, 50141, 50142, 50143, 50144, 50145, 50151, 50152,
50153, and 50161 of Public Law 117-169, two-tenths of one
percent of such amounts shall be transferred to the Office of
the Inspector General of the Department of Energy to oversee
the funds made available to the Department of Energy in
Public Law 117-169: Provided, That amounts so transferred
shall be derived from the unobligated balances of amounts
under each such section.
(c) Section 303 of Public Law 117-58 is amended by--
(1) striking ``One-tenth'' and inserting ``(a) Except as
provided in subsection (b), one-tenth''; and
(2) adding at the end the following new provision:
``(b) Beginning on October 1, 2023, of the amounts made
available to the Department of Energy under each heading in
this title in this Act, two-tenths of one percent of such
amounts in each of fiscal years 2024 through 2026 shall be
transferred to the Office of the Inspector General of the
Department of Energy to oversee the funds made available to
the Department of Energy in this title in this Act:
Provided, That any amounts so transferred that were
previously designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 or a concurrent resolution on the
budget are designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.''
Sec. 310. (a) Notwithstanding sections 161 and 167 of the
Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6241, 6247),
the Secretary of Energy shall draw down and sell one million
barrels of refined petroleum product from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve during fiscal year 2024.
(b) All proceeds from such sale shall be deposited into the
general fund of the Treasury during fiscal year 2024.
(c) Upon the completion of such sale, the Secretary shall
carry out the closure of the Northeast Gasoline Supply
Reserve.
(d)(1) The Secretary of Energy may not establish any new
regional petroleum product reserve unless funding for the
proposed regional petroleum product reserve is explicitly
requested in advance in an annual budget submission and
approved by the Congress in an appropriations Act.
(2) The budget request or notification shall include--
(A) the justification for the new reserve;
(B) a cost estimate for the establishment, operation, and
maintenance of the reserve, including funding sources;
(C) a detailed plan for operation of the reserve, including
the conditions upon which the products may be released;
(D) the location of the reserve; and
(E) the estimate of the total inventory of the reserve.
Sec. 311. Of the authority made available in Public Law
117-328 for the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee
Program for commitments to guarantee loans for eligible
projects under title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a
total principal of $15,000,000,000 is hereby permanently
rescinded.
Sec. 312. (a) Of the unobligated balances from amounts made
available in section 50131 of Public Law 117-169,
$1,000,000,000 are hereby permanently rescinded.
(b) Of the unobligated balances from amounts made available
in section 50122 of Public Law 117-169, $4,500,000,000 are
hereby permanently rescinded.
(c) Of the unobligated balances from amounts made available
in section 50123 of Public Law 117-169, $200,000,000 are
hereby permanently rescinded.
Sec. 313. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be expended to support the
Department of Energy Justice40 initiative as defined by or
required by Executive Order 14008.
Sec. 314. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to draw down and sell petroleum products from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (1) to any entity that is under
the ownership, control, or influence of the Chinese Communist
Party; or (2) except on condition that such petroleum
products

[[Page H5078]]

will not be exported to the People's Republic of China.
Sec. 315. The funds made available to the Department of
Energy in this Act shall be applied in a manner consistent
with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development,
Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of the
CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et
seq.)).
Sec. 316. (a) Of the unobligated amounts available under
the heading ``Department of Energy--Energy Programs--Nuclear
Energy'' in division J of the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and
2026, the following are available, in addition to amounts
otherwise made available for these purposes:
(1) (A) $2,400,000,000 for Advanced Nuclear Fuel
Availability, of which $800,000,000, to remain available
until expended, shall be available in each of fiscal years
2024, 2025, 2026.
(B) Funds available under subparagraph (A) shall only be
available if a law is enacted after May 1, 2023, that
specifically authorizes a program for the Secretary of Energy
to support the availability of low-enriched uranium,
including high-assay low-enriched uranium, for civilian
domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial
use.
(2) $1,197,000,000 to carry out the ongoing demonstration
project under the Advanced Small Modular Reactor RD&D
program, of which $399,000,000, to remain available until
expended, shall be available in each of fiscal years 2024,
2025, and 2026.
(b) Amounts repurposed pursuant to this paragraph that were
previously designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 or a concurrent resolution on the
budget are designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Sec. 317. None of the funds made available in this title
may be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce
the proposed rule titled ``Energy Conservation Program:
Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Conventional
Cooking Products; Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
and announcement of public meeting'' (88 Fed. Reg. 6818;
published February 1, 2023) with respect to energy
conservation standards for gas kitchen ranges and ovens, or
any substantially similar rule, including any rule that would
directly or indirectly limit consumer access to gas kitchen
ranges or ovens.

TITLE IV

INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

Appalachian Regional Commission

For expenses necessary to carry out the programs authorized
by the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, as
amended, and for expenses necessary for the Federal Co-
Chairman and the Alternate on the Appalachian Regional
Commission, for payment of the Federal share of the
administrative expenses of the Commission, including services
as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, and hire of passenger motor
vehicles, $200,000,000, to remain available until expended.

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

salaries and expenses

For expenses necessary for the Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board in carrying out activities authorized by the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended by Public Law 100-456,
section 1441, $45,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2025, of which not to exceed $1,000 shall be
available for official reception and representation expenses.

Delta Regional Authority

salaries and expenses

For expenses necessary for the Delta Regional Authority and
to carry out its activities, as authorized by the Delta
Regional Authority Act of 2000, notwithstanding sections
382F(d), 382M, and 382N of said Act, $31,100,000, to remain
available until expended.

Denali Commission

For expenses necessary for the Denali Commission including
the purchase, construction, and acquisition of plant and
capital equipment as necessary and other expenses,
$17,000,000, to remain available until expended,
notwithstanding the limitations contained in section 306(g)
of the Denali Commission Act of 1998: Provided, That funds
shall be available for construction projects for which the
Denali Commission is the sole or primary funding source in an
amount not to exceed 80 percent of total project cost for
distressed communities, as defined by section 307 of the
Denali Commission Act of 1998 (division C, title III, Public
Law 105-277), as amended by section 701 of appendix D, title
VII, Public Law 106-113 (113 Stat. 1501A-280), and an amount
not to exceed 50 percent for non-distressed communities:
Provided further, That notwithstanding any other provision of
law regarding payment of a non-Federal share in connection
with a grant-in-aid program, amounts under this heading shall
be available for the payment of such a non-Federal share for
any project for which the Denali Commission is not the sole
or primary funding source, provided that such project is
consistent with the purposes of the Commission.

Northern Border Regional Commission

For expenses necessary for the Northern Border Regional
Commission in carrying out activities authorized by subtitle
V of title 40, United States Code, $40,000,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That such amounts shall
be available for administrative expenses, notwithstanding
section 15751(b) of title 40, United States Code.

Southeast Crescent Regional Commission

For expenses necessary for the Southeast Crescent Regional
Commission in carrying out activities authorized by subtitle
V of title 40, United States Code, $20,000,000, to remain
available until expended.

Southwest Border Regional Commission

For expenses necessary for the Southwest Border Regional
Commission in carrying out activities authorized by subtitle
V of title 40, United States Code, $5,000,000, to remain
available until expended.

Great Lakes Authority

For expenses necessary for the Great Lakes Authority in
carrying out activities authorized by subtitle V of title 40,
United States Code, $5,000,000, to remain available until
expended.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

salaries and expenses

For expenses necessary for the Commission in carrying out
the purposes of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, $960,560,450, including official
representation expenses not to exceed $30,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That of the amount
appropriated herein, not more than $10,350,720 may be made
available for salaries, travel, and other support costs for
the Office of the Commission, to remain available until
September 30, 2025: Provided further, That revenues from
licensing fees, inspection services, and other services and
collections estimated at $807,727,130 in fiscal year 2024
shall be retained and used for necessary salaries and
expenses in this account, notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, and
shall remain available until expended: Provided further,
That the sum herein appropriated shall be reduced by the
amount of revenues received during fiscal year 2024 so as to
result in a final fiscal year 2024 appropriation estimated at
not more than $152,833,320.

office of inspector general

For expenses necessary for the Office of Inspector General
in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector General Act
of 1978, $18,648,340, to remain available until September 30,
2025: Provided, That revenues from licensing fees,
inspection services, and other services and collections
estimated at $15,481,566 in fiscal year 2024 shall be
retained and be available until September 30, 2025, for
necessary salaries and expenses in this account,
notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States Code:
Provided further, That the sum herein appropriated shall be
reduced by the amount of revenues received during fiscal year
2024 so as to result in a final fiscal year 2024
appropriation estimated at not more than $3,166,774:
Provided further, That of the amounts appropriated under this
heading, $1,534,900 shall be for Inspector General services
for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

salaries and expenses

For expenses necessary for the Nuclear Waste Technical
Review Board, as authorized by Public Law 100-203, section
5051, $4,064,000, to be derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund,
to remain available until September 30, 2025.

GENERAL PROVISIONS--INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

Sec. 401. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall comply
with the July 5, 2011, version of Chapter VI of its Internal
Commission Procedures when responding to Congressional
requests for information, consistent with Department of
Justice guidance for all Federal agencies.
Sec. 402. (a) The amounts made available by this title for
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may be reprogrammed for any
program, project, or activity, and the Commission shall
notify the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of
Congress at least 30 days prior to the use of any proposed
reprogramming that would cause any program funding level to
increase or decrease by more than $500,000 or 10 percent,
whichever is less, during the time period covered by this
Act.
(b)(1) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may waive the
notification requirement in subsection (a) if compliance with
such requirement would pose a substantial risk to human
health, the environment, welfare, or national security.
(2) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall notify the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of
any waiver under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but
not later than 3 days after the date of the activity to which
a requirement or restriction would otherwise have applied.
Such notice shall include an explanation of the substantial
risk under paragraph (1) that permitted such waiver and shall
provide a detailed report to the Committees of such waiver
and changes to funding levels to programs, projects, or
activities.
(c) Except as provided in subsections (a), (b), and (d),
the amounts made available by this title for ``Nuclear
Regulatory Commission--Salaries and Expenses'' shall be
expended as directed in the report accompanying this Act.
(d) None of the funds provided for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission shall be available for obligation or expenditure
through a

[[Page H5079]]

reprogramming of funds that increases funds or personnel for
any program, project, or activity for which funds are denied
or restricted by this Act.
(e) The Commission shall provide a monthly report to the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress,
which includes the following for each program, project, or
activity, including any prior year appropriations--
(1) total budget authority;
(2) total unobligated balances; and
(3) total unliquidated obligations.

TITLE V--WATER FOR CALIFORNIA

Sec. 501. Definitions.
In Subtitle A through Subtitle D, the following
definitions apply:
(1) Cvp.--The term ``CVP'' means the Central Valley
Project.
(2) Cvp contractor.--The term ``CVP contractor'' means any
public water agency, water user organization, or person that
has entered into a contract with the United States for water
service from the CVP, whether in the form of a water service
contract, repayment contract, water rights settlement
contract, exchange contract, or refuge contract.
(3) Fws biological opinion.--The term ``FWS Biological
Opinion'' means the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
``Biological Opinion for the Reinitiation of Consultation on
the Coordinated Operations of the Central Valley Project and
State Water Project'' (Service File No. 08FBTD00-2019-F-0164)
signed on October 21, 2019.
(4) Noaa biological opinion.--The term ``NOAA Biological
Opinion'' means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Fisheries ``Biological Opinion on the Long-
term Operation of the Central Valley Project and the State
Water Project'' (Consultation Tracking Number: WCRO-2016-
00069) signed on October 21, 2019.
(5) Preferred alternative.--The term ``Preferred
Alternative'' means the Alternative 1 (Preferred
Alternative), as described in the Final Environmental Impact
Statement on the Reinitiation of Consultation on the
Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project
and the State Water Project, issued by the Bureau of
Reclamation, and dated December 2019.
(6) Swp.--The term ``SWP'' means the California State Water
Project.
(7) Swp contractor.--The term ``SWP contractor'' means a
public agency that has entered into a long-term water supply
contract with the California Department of Water Resources
for water service from the SWP.
Sec. 502. Treatment of Funds.
Amounts repurposed pursuant to this title that were
previously designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 or a concurrent resolution on the
budget are designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Subtitle A--CVP and SWP Operations

Sec. 511. Operation of the CVP and SWP.
(a) Congressional Direction Regarding Cvp and Swp
Operations.--The CVP and the SWP shall be operated, and
reporting shall be done, in accordance with the Preferred
Alternative and FWS Biological Opinion and NOAA Biological
Opinion.
(b) Exceptions.--Operation of the CVP and SWP shall proceed
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, except:
(1) to the extent changes to operations are undertaken
pursuant to one or more agreements, which are voluntarily
entered into, approved, and implemented by CVP contractors,
for operations of the CVP, and SWP contractors, for
operations of the SWP, with all applicable Federal
departments and the State of California, including any agency
or board of the State of California; or
(2) to the extent changes in operations of the CVP, SWP, or
both can be made while improving the supply of water
available to CVP contractors, SWP contractors, or both.
(c) Costs.--No cost, including water supply, financial,
mintigation-related, or otherwise, associated with the
implementation of any agreement under subsection (b)(1) or
the implementation of any reoperation under subsection (b)(2)
shall be imposed by any Federal department or agency or the
State of California, including any agency or board of the
State of California, directly or indirectly on any CVP
contractor, SWP contractor, or any other person or entity,
unless such costs are incurred on a voluntary basis.
(d) No Redirected Adverse Impacts.--The Secretary of the
Interior and Secretary of Commerce shall not carry out any
specific action authorized under the applicable provisions of
this subtitle that would directly or through State agency
action indirectly result in the involuntary reduction of
water supply to an individual, district, or agency that has
in effect a contract for water with the SWP or the CVP,
including settlement, exchange, and refuge contracts, and
Friant Division contracts.
(e) Endangered Species Act.--Notwithstanding subsection
(b), implementation of subsection (a) shall not conflict with
the FWS Biological Opinion and the NOAA Biological Opinion.
(f) Native Species Protection.--The State of California
shall not impose any bag, catch, or size restriction or limit
on the take or harvest of striped bass or any species of
black bass, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and
spotted bass, that occupy the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers
Delta or its tributaries.
Sec. 512. Operations and Reviews.
In carrying out section 511(a), the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall implement their
statutory authorities in a manner that improves water supply
reliability and enables the CVP and SWP to provide the
maximum quantity of water supplies practicable to CVP
agricultural, municipal, and industrial contractors, water
service or repayment contractors, water rights settlement
contractors, exchange contractors, refuge contractors, and
SWP contractors, in accordance with the Preferred
Alternative, NOAA Biological Opinion, and FWS Biological
Opinion.
Sec. 513. Application of State Laws.
(a) Reduced Water Supply.--If, as a result of the
application of applicable State law or regulation, the State
of California (including any agency or board of the State of
California) alters operation of the SWP in a manner that
directly or indirectly results in reduced water supply to the
SWP as compared with the water supply available under the
Preferred Alternative, and as a result, CVP yield is greater
than it otherwise would have been under the Preferred
Alternative, then that additional yield shall be made
available to the SWP for delivery to SWP Contractors to
offset that reduced water supply. If it is necessary to
reduce water supplies for any authorized uses of the CVP or
CVP Contractors to make available to the SWP that additional
yield, such reductions shall be applied proportionately to
those authorized uses or CVP contractors that benefit from
that increased yield.
(b) No Restriction of Certain Water Rights.--The State of
California (including any agency or board of the State of
California) shall not restrict the exercise of any water
right obtained pursuant to State law, including but not
limited to a pre-1914 appropriative right or riparian right
in order to offset any impact resulting from the
implementation of this subtitle on any species affected by
operations of the CVP or the SWP.
(c) No Involuntary Water Reduction.--The State of
California (including any agency or board of the State of
California), the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of
Commerce shall not take any action related to operation of
the CVP or SWP that would directly or indirectly result in
the involuntary reduction of water supply to any CVP
agricultural, municipal and industrial contractor, water
service or repayment contractor, water rights settlement
contractor, exchange contractor, refuge contractor or any SWP
contractor, as compared to the water supply available under
the Preferred Alternative; and nothing in this section is
intended to modify, amend, or affect any of the rights and
obligations of the parties to such contracts.
Sec. 514. Reconsultation of NOAA biological opinion and FWS
biological opinion.
(a) Requirement for Reconsultation.--
(1) Requirement.--Unless action is taken pursuant to
section 101(b), neither the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, nor
the Secretary of Commerce, or their designees shall commence,
complete, or request reinitiation of consultation on the
coordinated long-term operation of the Central Valley Project
and the State Water Project that will result in changes to or
the replacement of the documents listed in paragraph (2)
unless--
(A) more than 75 percent of California has experienced 4
consecutive years of D3 or D4 level drought, as defined by
the U.S. Drought Monitor;
(B) the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation
identifies one specific factor or combination of factors
under section 402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal
Regulations; and
(C) not fewer than 120 days before officially commencing or
requesting reinitiation, the Secretary of the Interior
notifies the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate, in writing, of--
(i) the intent to commence or request reinitiation under
this section; and
(ii) the detailed justification for the identification of
the specific factor or combination of factors under section
402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, that was
identified to satisfy the requirement in subparagraph (B).
(2) Documents.--The documents referred to in paragraph (1)
are the following:
(A) The FWS Biological Opinion.
(B) The NOAA Biological Opinion.
(C) The Record of Decision for the Reinitiation of
Consultation on the Coordinated Long-Term Modified Operations
of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, signed
on February 18, 2020.
(b) Applicable Procedures and Review.--For the purposes of
this Act, before reinitiating consultation on the Long-Term
Operation of the CVP and SWP, a request by the Secretary of
the Interior, the Secretary of the Commerce, or any other
Federal employee, to reinitiate consultation shall be made in
writing and considered a rule under section 551 of title 5,
United States Code, and subject to the requirements of
sections 801 through 808 of that title.
(c) Cooperation.--In implementing this section, the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall
comply with requirements included in section 4004 of the
Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (Public
Law 114-322).
(d) Exclusion.--Notwithstanding subsection (b), in
implementing this section,

[[Page H5080]]

section 801(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, shall not
apply.
Sec. 515. Sunset.
Sections 511 through 514 shall have no force or effect on
and after the date that is 7 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
Sec. 516. Consultation on coordinated operations.
The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act
(Public Law 114-322) is amended--
(1) in section 4004(a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), strike ``public
water agency that contracts'' and insert ``contractor'';
(B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``or proposed action''
after ``biological assessment,'';
(C) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or proposed action''
after ``biological assessment,'';
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (6) as
paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively;
(E) after paragraph (2), by inserting the following new
paragraph:
``(3) receive a copy of the draft proposed action and have
the opportunity to review that document and provide comment
to the action agency, which comments shall be afforded due
consideration during development;''; and
(F) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting
``action agency proposes a proposed action or'' before ``the
consulting agency'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``proposed action
or'' before ``alternative will''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``alternative
actions'' and insert ``actions or alternatives''; and
(2) in section 4013, by deleting ``section 4004, which
shall expire 10 years after the date of its enactment;'' and
inserting ``section 4004, which shall expire on December 16,
2033;''.

Subtitle B--Allocations for Sacramento Valley Contractors

Sec. 521. Definitions.
In this subtitle, the following definitions apply:
(1) The term ``existing CVP agricultural water service or
repayment contractor within the Sacramento River Watershed''
means any water service or repayment contractor within the
Shasta, Trinity, or Sacramento River division of the CVP that
has in effect a water service or repayment contract on the
date of enactment of this title that provides water for
irrigation.
(2) The terms ``Above Normal'', ``Below Normal'', ``Dry'',
and ``Wet'', with respect to a year, have the meanings given
those terms in the Sacramento Valley Water Year Type (40-30-
30) Index.
Sec. 522. Allocations of water.
Subject to section 523, the Secretary of the Interior shall
make every reasonable effort in the operation of the CVP to
allocate water provided for irrigation purposes to each
existing CVP agricultural water service contractor within the
Sacramento River Watershed in accordance with the following:
(1) Not less than 100 percent of the contract quantity of
the existing CVP agricultural water service contractor within
the Sacramento River Watershed in a Wet year.
(2) Not less than 100 percent of the contract quantity of
the existing CVP agricultural water service contractor within
the Sacramento River Watershed in an Above Normal year.
(3) Not less than 100 percent of the contract quantity of
the existing CVP agricultural water service contractor within
the Sacramento River Watershed in a Below Normal year that is
preceded by an Above Normal or Wet year.
(4) Not less than 50 percent of the contract quantity of
the existing CVP agricultural water service contractor within
the Sacramento River Watershed in a Dry year that is preceded
by a Below Normal, Above Normal, or Wet year.
(5) In any other year not identified in paragraphs (1)
through (4), not less than twice the allocation percentage to
south-of-Delta CVP agricultural water service contractors, up
to 100 percent.
Sec. 523. Protection of refuge, municipal and industrial,
and other contractors.
Nothing in section 522 shall--
(1) adversely affect any protections for the environment,
including the obligation of the Secretary of the Interior to
make water available to managed wetlands pursuant to section
3406(d) of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (title
XXXIV of Public Law 102-575; 106 Stat. 4722);
(2) adversely affect any obligation of the Secretary of the
Interior or the Secretary of Commerce under the FWS
Biological Opinion or the NOAA Biological Opinion;
(3) modify any provision of a water service contract that
addresses municipal or industrial water shortage policies of
the Secretary of the Interior;
(4) affect or limit the authority of the Secretary of the
Interior to adopt or modify municipal and industrial water
shortage policies;
(5) constrain, govern, or affect, directly or indirectly,
the operations of the American River division of the CVP or
any deliveries from that division or a unit or facility of
that division; or
(6) affect any allocation to a CVP municipal or industrial
water service contractor by increasing or decreasing
allocations to the contractor, as compared to the allocation
the contractor would have received absent section 522.
Sec. 524. Other contractors.
Nothing in section 522 shall--
(1) affect the priority of any individual or entity with a
Sacramento River settlement contract over water service or
repayment contractors;
(2) affect the United States ability to deliver water to
the San Joaquin River exchange contractors from the
Sacramento River and the Delta via the Delta-Mendota Canal or
modify or amend the rights and obligations under the Purchase
Contract between Miller and Lux and the United States and the
Second Amended Exchange Contract between the United States,
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and Central
California Irrigation District, San Luis Canal Company,
Firebaugh Canal Water District and Columbia Canal Company;
(3) affect the allocation of water to Friant division
contractors of the CVP;
(4) result in the involuntary reduction in contract water
allocations to individuals or entities with contracts to
receive water from the Friant division;
(5) result in the involuntary reduction in water
allocations to refuge contractors; or
(6) authorize any actions inconsistent with State water
rights law.

Subtitle C--Infrastructure

Sec. 531. Shasta reservoir enlargement project.
Section 40902(a)(2) of the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking ``this
Act, except for any project for which--'' and inserting
``this Act; or''; and
(B) by striking clauses (i) and (ii); and
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``(except that
projects described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph
(B) shall not be eligible)''.
Sec. 532. Water supply plan; projects.
(a) Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of the Bureau of
Reclamation shall develop a water deficit report, which shall
identify--
(1) projected water supply shortages in the State of
California for irrigation water service, municipal and
industrial water service, water supply for wildlife refuges
supplied by the CVP or the SWP; and
(2) infrastructure projects or actions which, if taken,
would--
(A) significantly reduce or eliminate the projected water
supply shortage; or
(B) fulfill water allocations consistent with agricultural,
municipal and industrial contractors, water service or
repayment contractors, water rights settlement contractors,
exchange contractors, and SWP contractors with water delivery
contractors on the CVP and SWP.
(b) Report to Congress.--The Commissioner of the Bureau of
Reclamation shall provide a report described in subsection
(a) to the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate
Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Natural
Resources, the Senate Committee on Energy, and the Senate
Committee on Natural Resources upon its completion.
Sec. 533. Conservation fish hatcheries.
Section 4010(b)(5) of the Water Infrastructure Improvements
for the Nation Act (Public Law 114-322) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(D) Semi-annual report.--The Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Committee
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate semi-
annual reports that detail activities carried out under this
paragraph.''.
Sec. 534. Storage; duration.
(a) Storage.--Section 4007 of the Water Infrastructure
Improvements for the Nation Act (Public Law 114-322) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``or any public
agency organized pursuant to State law'' and inserting ``any
public agency organized pursuant to State law, or any
stakeholder''; and
(2) in subsection (i), by striking ``January 1, 2021'' and
inserting ``January 1, 2028''.
(b) Duration.--Section 4013 of the Water Infrastructure
Improvements for the Nation Act (Public Law 114-322) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) section 4007, which (except as provided in paragraph
(3)), shall expire on December 31, 2028; and''.
Sec. 535. Shasta dam enlargement
No provision of State law shall preclude or otherwise
prevent any public water agency, including a public agency of
the State, that contracts for the delivery of CVP water from
assisting or cooperating with, whether by loan, grant,
license, or otherwise, the planning and construction of any
project undertaken by the Bureau of Reclamation to enlarge
Shasta Dam.

Subtitle D--CVPIA Actions

Sec. 541. CVPIA restoration actions.
(a) Refuge Water Supply Program.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
Interior shall complete the refuge water supply program under
section 3406(d) of the Central

[[Page H5081]]

Valley Project Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law
102-575; 106 Stat. 4722) and shall, within that 2-year
period, give priority to completing the refuge water supply
program when making funding decisions from the Central Valley
Project Restoration Fund established under section 3407 of
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (106 Stat. 4726),
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-
25), the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (Public Law 88-
578), and other sources of funding.
(b) Restoration Actions Deemed Complete.--Upon completion
of the refuge water supply program pursuant to subsection
(a), or September 30, 2025, whichever occurs first, the
Secretary of the Interior shall deem complete the fish,
wildlife, and habitat mitigation and restoration actions
mandated under section 3406 of the Central Valley Project
Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102-575; 106 Stat.
4714).

Subtitle E--Water Supply Permitting Coordination Act

Sec. 551. Definitions.
In this subtitle:
(1) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of
Reclamation.
(2) Cooperating agencies.--The term ``cooperating agency''
means a Federal agency with jurisdiction over a review,
analysis, opinion, statement, permit, license, or other
approval or decision required for a qualifying project under
applicable Federal laws and regulations, or a State agency
subject to section 503(c).
(3) Qualifying projects.--The term ``qualifying projects''
means new surface water storage projects in the States
covered under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter
1093), and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act
(43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) constructed on lands administered by
the Department of the Interior or the Department of
Agriculture, exclusive of any easement, right-of-way, lease,
or any private holding, if the project applicant or sponsor
elects to participate in the process authorized by this
title. Such term shall also include State-led projects (as
defined in section 4007(a)(2) of the WIIN Act) for new
surface water storage projects in the States covered under
the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and
Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act (43 U.S.C.
371 et seq.) constructed on lands administered by the
Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture,
exclusive of any easement, right-of-way, lease, or any
private holding, unless the project applicant elects not to
participate in the process authorized by this title.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
Sec. 552. Establishment of lead agency and cooperating
agencies.
(a) Establishment of Lead Agency.--The Bureau is
established as the lead agency for purposes of coordinating
all reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits,
licenses, or other approvals or decisions required under
Federal law to construct qualifying projects.
(b) Identification and Establishment of Cooperating
Agencies.--The Commissioner of the Bureau shall--
(1) identify, as early as practicable upon receipt of an
application for a qualifying project, any Federal agency that
may have jurisdiction over a review, analysis, opinion,
statement, permit, license, approval, or decision required
for a qualifying project under applicable Federal laws and
regulations; and
(2) notify any such agency, within a reasonable timeframe,
that the agency has been designated as a cooperating agency
in regards to the qualifying project unless that agency
responds to the Bureau in writing, within a timeframe set
forth by the Bureau, notifying the Bureau that the agency--
(A) has no jurisdiction or authority with respect to the
qualifying project;
(B) has no expertise or information relevant to the
qualifying project or any review, analysis, opinion,
statement, permit, license, or other approval or decision
associated therewith; or
(C) does not intend to submit comments on the qualifying
project or conduct any review of such a project or make any
decision with respect to such project in a manner other than
in cooperation with the Bureau.
(c) State Authority.--A State in which a qualifying project
is being considered may choose, consistent with State law--
(1) to participate as a cooperating agency; and
(2) to make subject to the processes of this subtitle all
State agencies that--
(A) have jurisdiction over the qualifying project;
(B) are required to conduct or issue a review, analysis, or
opinion for the qualifying project; or
(C) are required to make a determination on issuing a
permit, license, or approval for the qualifying project.
Sec. 553. Bureau responsibilities.
(a) In General.--The principal responsibilities of the
Bureau under this subtitle are--
(1) to serve as the point of contact for applicants, State
agencies, Indian Tribes, and others regarding proposed
qualifying projects;
(2) to coordinate preparation of unified environmental
documentation that will serve as the basis for all Federal
decisions necessary to authorize the use of Federal lands for
qualifying projects; and
(3) to coordinate all Federal agency reviews necessary for
project development and construction of qualifying projects.
(b) Coordination Process.--The Bureau shall have the
following coordination responsibilities:
(1) Preapplication coordination.--Notify cooperating
agencies of proposed qualifying projects not later than 30
days after receipt of a proposal and facilitate a
preapplication meeting for prospective applicants, relevant
Federal and State agencies, and Indian Tribes--
(A) to explain applicable processes, data requirements, and
applicant submissions necessary to complete the required
Federal agency reviews within the timeframe established; and
(B) to establish the schedule for the qualifying project.
(2) Consultation with cooperating agencies.--Consult with
the cooperating agencies throughout the Federal agency review
process, identify and obtain relevant data in a timely
manner, and set necessary deadlines for cooperating agencies.
(3) Schedule.--Work with the qualifying project applicant
and cooperating agencies to establish a project schedule. In
establishing the schedule, the Bureau shall consider, among
other factors--
(A) the responsibilities of cooperating agencies under
applicable laws and regulations;
(B) the resources available to the cooperating agencies and
the non-Federal qualifying project sponsor, as applicable;
(C) the overall size and complexity of the qualifying
project;
(D) the overall schedule for and cost of the qualifying
project; and
(E) the sensitivity of the natural and historic resources
that may be affected by the qualifying project.
(4) Environmental compliance.--Prepare a unified
environmental review document for each qualifying project
application, incorporating a single environmental record on
which all cooperating agencies with authority to issue
approvals for a given qualifying project shall base project
approval decisions. Help ensure that cooperating agencies
make necessary decisions, within their respective
authorities, regarding Federal approvals in accordance with
the following timelines:
(A) Not later than 1 year after acceptance of a completed
project application when an environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact is determined to be the
appropriate level of review under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(B) Not later than 1 year and 30 days after the close of
the public comment period for a draft environmental impact
statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), when an environmental impact
statement is required under the same.
(5) Consolidated administrative record.--Maintain a
consolidated administrative record of the information
assembled and used by the cooperating agencies as the basis
for agency decisions.
(6) Project data records.--To the extent practicable and
consistent with Federal law, ensure that all project data is
submitted and maintained in generally accessible electronic
format, compile, and where authorized under existing law,
make available such project data to cooperating agencies, the
qualifying project applicant, and to the public.
(7) Project manager.--Appoint a project manager for each
qualifying project. The project manager shall have authority
to oversee the project and to facilitate the issuance of the
relevant final authorizing documents, and shall be
responsible for ensuring fulfillment of all Bureau
responsibilities set forth in this section and all
cooperating agency responsibilities under section 554.
Sec. 554. Cooperating agency responsibilities.
(a) Adherence to Bureau Schedule.--
(1) Timeframes.--On notification of an application for a
qualifying project, the head of each cooperating agency shall
submit to the Bureau a timeframe under which the cooperating
agency reasonably will be able to complete the authorizing
responsibilities of the cooperating agency.
(2) Schedule.--
(A) Use of timeframes.--The Bureau shall use the timeframes
submitted under this subsection to establish the project
schedule under section 504.
(B) Adherence.--Each cooperating agency shall adhere to the
project schedule established by the Bureau under subparagraph
(A).
(b) Environmental Record.--The head of each cooperating
agency shall submit to the Bureau all environmental review
material produced or compiled in the course of carrying out
activities required under Federal law, consistent with the
project schedule established by the Bureau under subsection
(a)(2).
(c) Data Submission.--To the extent practicable and
consistent with Federal law, the head of each cooperating
agency shall submit all relevant project data to the Bureau
in a generally accessible electronic format, subject to the
project schedule established by the Bureau under subsection
(a)(2).
Sec. 555. Funding to process permits.
(a) In General.--The Secretary, after public notice in
accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of
title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the
``Administrative Procedure Act''), may accept and expend
funds, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations
Acts, contributed

[[Page H5082]]

by a non-Federal public entity to expedite the evaluation of
a permit of that entity related to a qualifying project.
(b) Effect on Permitting.--
(1) Evaluation of permits.--In carrying out this section,
the Secretary shall ensure that the evaluation of permits
carried out using funds accepted under this section shall--
(A) be reviewed by the Regional Director of the Bureau of
the region in which the qualifying project or activity is
located (or a designee); and
(B) use the same procedures for decisions that would
otherwise be required for the evaluation of permits for
similar projects or activities not carried out using funds
authorized under this section.
(2) Impartial decision making.--In carrying out this
section, the Secretary shall ensure that the use of the funds
accepted under this section for a qualifying project shall
not--
(A) substantively or procedurally impact impartial decision
making with respect to the issuance of permits; or
(B) diminish, modify, or otherwise affect the statutory or
regulatory authorities of the cooperating agency.
(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--None of the funds accepted
under this section shall be used to carry out a review of the
evaluation of permits required under subsection (b)(1)(A).
(d) Public Availability.--The Secretary shall ensure that
all final permit decisions carried out using funds authorized
under this section are made available to the public,
including on the internet.

TITLE VI

GENERAL PROVISIONS

(including transfer of funds)

Sec. 601. None of the funds appropriated by this Act may
be used in any way, directly or indirectly, to influence
congressional action on any legislation or appropriation
matters pending before Congress, other than to communicate to
Members of Congress as described in 18 U.S.C. 1913.
Sec. 602. (a) None of the funds made available in title III
of this Act may be transferred to any department, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States Government, except
pursuant to a transfer made by or transfer authority provided
in this Act or any other appropriations Act for any fiscal
year, transfer authority referenced in the report
accompanying this Act, or any authority whereby a department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government
may provide goods or services to another department, agency,
or instrumentality.
(b) None of the funds made available for any department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government
may be transferred to accounts funded in title III of this
Act, except pursuant to a transfer made by or transfer
authority provided in this Act or any other appropriations
Act for any fiscal year, transfer authority referenced in the
report accompanying this Act, or any authority whereby a
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States
Government may provide goods or services to another
department, agency, or instrumentality.
(c) The head of any relevant department or agency funded in
this Act utilizing any transfer authority shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a
semiannual report detailing the transfer authorities, except
for any authority whereby a department, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States Government may provide
goods or services to another department, agency, or
instrumentality, used in the previous 6 months and in the
year-to-date. This report shall include the amounts
transferred and the purposes for which they were transferred,
and shall not replace or modify existing notification
requirements for each authority.
Sec. 603. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to maintain or establish a computer network
unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and
exchanging of pornography.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall limit the use of funds
necessary for any Federal, State, Tribal, or local law
enforcement agency or any other entity carrying out criminal
investigations, prosecution, or adjudication activities.
Sec. 604. (a) No federal monies shall be expended in
furtherance of any agreement among private entities for
consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear fuel that is
not specifically authorized under federal law until such time
that host state and local governments and any affected Indian
tribes have formalized their consent.
(b) Provided that the prohibition provided for in this
section shall not apply to facilities presently storing
commercial spent nuclear fuel, pursuant to an NRC license, as
of the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) For purposes of this section, ``spent nuclear fuel''
shall have the same meaning as provided in section 2 of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
Sec. 605. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to carry out any program, project, or activity that
promotes or advances Critical Race Theory or any concept
associated with Critical Race Theory.
Sec. 606. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, apply, enforce, or carry out the Equity Action
Plan of the Department of Energy, or Executive Order 13985 of
January 20, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 7009, relating to advancing
racial equity and support for underserved communities through
the Federal Government), Executive Order 14035 of June 25,
2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 34593, relating to diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility in the Federal workforce), or
Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg.
10825, relating to further advancing racial equity and
support for underserved communities through the Federal
Government).
Sec. 607. (a) In general.--Notwithstanding section 7 of
title 1, United States Code, section 1738C of title 28,
United States Code, or any other provision of law, none of
the funds provided by this Act, or previous appropriations
Acts, shall be used in whole or in part to take any
discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially,
on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance
with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction,
that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one
man and one woman.
(b) Discriminatory action defined.--As used in subsection
(a), a discriminatory action means any action taken by the
Federal Government to--
(1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment of, or cause
any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny,
delay, or revoke an exemption from taxation under section
501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person
referred to in subsection (a);
(2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax purposes of any
charitable contribution made to or by such person;
(3) withhold, reduce the amount or funding for, exclude,
terminate, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, any Federal
grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement,
guarantee, loan, scholarship, license, certification,
accreditation, employment, or other similar position or
status from or to such person;
(4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise make
unavailable or deny, any entitlement or benefit under a
Federal benefit program, including admission to, equal
treatment in, or eligibility for a degree from an educational
program, from or to such person; or
(5) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise make
unavailable or deny access or an entitlement to Federal
property, facilities, educational institutions, speech fora
(including traditional, limited, and nonpublic fora), or
charitable fundraising campaigns from or to such person.
(c) Accreditation; Licensure; Certification.--The Federal
Government shall consider accredited, licensed, or certified
for purposes of Federal law any person that would be
accredited, licensed, or certified, respectively, for such
purposes but for a determination against such person wholly
or partially on the basis that the person speaks, or acts, in
accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral
conviction described in subsection (a).
Sec. 608. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to finalize, implement, administer, apply, or enforce
the proposed rule entitled ``Energy Conservation Program:
Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes
Washers'' published by the Department of Energy in the
Federal Register on March 3, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 13520), or
any substantively similar rule.
Sec. 609. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to implement, administer, apply, enforce, or carry
out any diversity, equity, and inclusion office, program, or
training.
Sec. 610. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to implement or enforce section 370 of Public Law
116-283 with respect to civil works projects.
Sec. 611. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used by the Department of Energy to award any grant,
contract, subcontract, award, loan, program, support, or
other activity, to any entity who enters into, or maintains,
partnerships or licensing agreements with any entity of
concern, as defined in section 10114 of title I of division B
of Public Law 117-167.

state-owned enterprises prohibition

Sec. 612. (a) Innovate in America.--None of the funds made
available by this Act may be used by the Secretary of Energy
to award a contract, subcontract, grant, or loan to an entity
that--
(1) is owned or controlled by, is a subsidiary of, or is
otherwise related legally or financially to a corporation
based in a country that--
(A) is identified as a nonmarket economy country (as
defined in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19
U.S.C. 1677(18))) as of the date of enactment of this Act;
(B) was identified by the United States Trade
Representative in the most recent report required by section
182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a priority
foreign country under subsection (a)(2) of that section; and
(C) is subject to monitoring by the Trade Representative
under section 306 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416);
or
(2) is listed pursuant to section 9(b)(3) of the Uyghur
Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-145).
(b) Exception.--For purposes of subsection (a), the
Secretary of Energy may issue a waiver, to be made publicly
available, to an entity in which the legal or financial
connection to a corporation is a minority relationship or
investment.
(c) International Agreements.--This section shall be
applied in a manner consistent

[[Page H5083]]

with the obligations of the United States under applicable
international agreements.

Spending Reduction Account

Sec. 613. $0.
This Act may be cited as the ``Energy and Water Development
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024''.

The Acting CHAIR. All points of order against provisions in the bill,
as amended, are waived.
No further amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order
except those printed in part B of House Report 118-242, amendments en
bloc described in section 3 of House Resolution 756, and pro forma
amendments described in section 4 of that resolution.
Each further amendment printed in part B of the report shall be
considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only
by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read,
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided
and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject
to amendment except as provided by section 4 of House Resolution 756,
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
It shall be in order at any time for the chair of the Committee on
Appropriations or her designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting
of amendments printed in part B of the report not earlier disposed of.
Amendments en bloc shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for
20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their designees,
shall not be subject to amendment, except as provided by section 4 of
House Resolution 756, and shall not be subject to a demand for division
of the question.
During the consideration of the bill for amendment, the chair and
ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their
respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at
any point for the purpose of debate.

Amendments En Bloc Offered by Mr. Fleischmann of Tennessee

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 756, I offer
amendments en bloc.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendments en bloc.
Amendments en bloc consisting of amendment Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 23, and 33 printed in part B of House Report
118-242, offered by Mr. Fleischmann of Tennessee:

Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Lawler of New York

Page 3, line 1, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Molinaro of New York

Page 3, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000) (reduced by $10,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Graves of Louisiana

Page 3, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,746,000,000) (reduced by
$1,746,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Molinaro of New York

Page 3, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000) (reduced by $10,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 6 Offered by Mr. Phillips of Minnesota

Page 5, line 3, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $3,000,000) (reduced by $3,000,000)''.

AMENDMENT NO. 7 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM

Page 7, line 3, insert ``typhoon,'' before ``and other''.
Page 8, line 3, insert ``typhoon,'' after ``hurricane,''.

AMENDMENT NO. 8 OFFERED BY MR. LAWLER OF NEW YORK

Page 7, line 5, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.

AMENDMENT NO. 9 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM

Page 7, line 5, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,500,000)''.
Page 7, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $1,500,000)''.

AMENDMENT NO. 10 OFFERED BY MS. BOEBERT OF COLORADO

Page 18, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Page 18, line 2, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Page 34, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $2,000,000)''.

AMENDMENT NO. 11 OFFERED BY MS. BOEBERT OF COLORADO

Page 18, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $4,000,000)''.
Page 34, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $4,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 17 Offered by Mr. Fallon of Texas

Page 26, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $5,000,000) (reduced by $5,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 18 Offered by Mr. Walberg of Michigan

Page 26, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $7,000,000) (increased by $7,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 21 Offered by Mrs. Peltola of Alaska

On page 32, line 14, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $3,000,000) (increased by $3,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 23 Offered by Mr. Jackson of Texas

Page 35, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $3,000,000)''.
Page 37, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $3,000,000)''.

Amendment No. 33 Offered by Mr. Lawler of New York

Page 61, line 6, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Kaptur) each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, this bipartisan en bloc amendment was
developed in coordination with the minority. It contains
noncontroversial amendments addressing important issues at the agency's
funded in this bill that have been agreed to by both sides. I support
its adoption, and I reserve 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.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman of
Louisiana (Mr. Graves).
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Fleischmann and
Ranking Member Kaptur for their cooperation here.
Mr. Chair, dating back to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, there
was funding that provided important advancement of projects known as
the Comite project, which is north of my hometown of Baton Rouge, as
well as the West Shore project in the River Parishes.
Mr. Chairman, these projects date back, in the case of Comite, date
back all the way to the early 1980s, one of these awful Army Corps of
Engineer projects that has been stalled for so long. We had a record
flood in 2016, by some measure a 1,000-year flood that would have been
tempered or mitigated if this project had been constructed, and
thankfully in BBA 2018, the project was fully funded. The folks were
excited and believed that we were going to be moving forward on this
project.
Similarly, Mr. Chairman, the West Shore project actually started
before I was born, literally, 1970, 1971. That project had been stalled
and had not advanced at all until we were able to get the authorization
passed through Congress in 2016 and we were able to get the project
what we believed was also fully funded in BBA 2018.
Mr. Chairman, what we found today is that these project costs have
skyrocketed. In the case of the West Shore project, it is approximately
$1.3 billion short now and in the case of the Comite project, it is
about $447 million short. What this amendment does, this is an
increase/decrease amendment of approximately $1.75 billion and it is
designed to complete these projects.
Mr. Chairman, it is kind of like being a little bit pregnant. The
project just doesn't work. It is either completed and it is functional,
or it is not. We have got to finish these projects. We have to ensure
the resiliency of these communities. I know that my two colleagues here
being the chair and the ranking member of this committee, the
subcommittee, with the Corps of Engineers knows the importance of
investment in resiliency or mitigation efforts and certainly know the
importance that they share.
I thank them again for accepting our amendment and look forward to
continuing to work with you.

[[Page H5084]]

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann).
The amendment was agreed to.

Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 3, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $715,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $715,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, this amendment eliminates the funding for the
Delaware River Basin Commission, the funding that is from the Federal
Government.
Unfortunately, this bill provides nearly three quarters of a million
dollars to the Delaware River Basin Commission, meaning that since
1998, the Federal Government has provided funding of some sort to this
commission full of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats that have
unilaterally, in this case, instituted a hydraulic fracturing ban for a
portion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, literally stripping away
the property and mineral rights from Pennsylvanians in direct
contravention of the will of the legislature.
These people aren't elected by anybody. They are not accountable to
anybody. Most people have no idea who the people on this commission
even are.
The result is a prohibition on the development of critical shale
plays in eastern Pennsylvania that can bring desperately needed natural
gas to the market and the unconstitutional taking of mineral rights of
the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Americans are having
unelected bureaucrats take their rights away.
It is an attack on Pennsylvania energy and American energy. At a time
when residential natural gas prices are near record highs, it creates
significant inflation, cost-of-living increases for our constituents,
and empowers our enemies abroad.
Now, instead of taking action to stop this unconstitutional seizure
of State authority, as my other amendment that was not made in order
would have done, or better yet, dissolving the compact altogether, this
bill, as it currently exists, rewards the radical commissioners with
money from the very taxpayers the Delaware River Basin Commission is
attacking.
Providing funds to such an out-of-control, radical commission is a
step in the wrong direction that incentivizes others like it to follow.
This amendment that I am offering would rescind this money and move
it to the spending reduction account, ensuring that we do not further
incentivize this commission to attack American energy and the rights of
Pennsylvania while trying to pay off some of our $33 trillion of debt.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to do the right thing and send a
message to these unelected bureaucrats by supporting this amendment,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New Jersey is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this
amendment, which would strip Federal funding for the Delaware River
Basin Commission. This amendment would remove $715,000, funding that I
secured through the community project funding process.
This amount is mere pennies within the entire Federal budget and
provides an outsized return on investment for the millions of Americans
who rely on the Delaware River Basin for clean water and recreational
use.

{time} 1830

The basin provides drinking water to over 14.2 million people and
contributes approximately $22 billion in annual economic activity.
The Delaware River Basin provides immense value to the region, and
the Federal Government's small but critical role in managing the
region's water resources is vital to maintaining the Commission's work.
This amendment is an assault on the communities that rely on the
resources and the economy of the basin, and it is an attack on those
who have fought to secure this necessary funding for the next fiscal
year; therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, my colleague says that it costs mere
pennies. These mere pennies add up to mere dollars. These mere dollars
add up to thousands, eventually millions and eventually billions, which
is where we are right now.
It talks about return on investments. It talks about it but it
doesn't say what the return on investment is, because there isn't any
return on investment.
It provides immense value, it is claimed. Yet, the value cannot be
described. It cannot be quantified. No one knows what the value is.
Will the Delaware River Basin go away if the Commission were not
there? Are you saying without the Commission there would be no safe
drinking water?
The actions that this commission has taken are unfounded,
unjustified, and are happening nowhere else. Yet, there is clean
drinking water across the rest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
without this commission banning public and private activity.
My colleague says it is necessary funding. Necessary for what? What
are we getting for this? Somebody is getting something, but the people
of Pennsylvania, they are getting the shaft.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chair, needless to say, I disagree with the
premise of my wonderful colleague across the aisle.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Kaptur), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water
Development.
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

[[Page H5085]]

project funding through an amendment on the floor.
Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this
amendment.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I would say I dispute the claim that they
work in collaboration.
The Delaware River Basin Commission itself, in contravention of the
Pennsylvania legislature, has banned the practice all over northern
Pennsylvania. Hydraulic fracturing; banned it in contravention of the
will and the wishes of the elected members of the Pennsylvania
legislature.
I would say this as well: The Corps of Engineers can do this work
whether there is a commission or not, or whether this money is here or
not. The Corps of Engineers has wide latitude to do that work all
across the country. They don't need our involvement.
Finally, the individual States involved in this compact, that is why
they got into the compact. They charge people in the individual States
all kinds of permit fees and regulatory fees to pay for this
Commission. Yet, somehow the Commission can't survive without more
money from the Federal Government. It is ridiculous, it is duplicative,
it is costly, it is unaffordable, it is unnecessary, and it needs to
end.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chairman, I simply say as we finalize this
discussion, that there are 14.2 million people who are being affected,
who will be affected, and who think this is important.
There is a $22 billion economic activity that will be impacted.
Needless to say, I have chosen this as a project that I support because
in the time that I have had the opportunity to serve the 12th
Congressional District in the State of New Jersey, this is an issue
that I find very important. I do hope that my colleagues will oppose
this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 12 Offered by Mr. Neguse

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 12
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 18, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,000,000)''.
Page 34, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer my amendment which would
allocate additional funding to the Bureau of Reclamation for the
Colorado River Compliance Account and to support the Upper Colorado and
San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Programs.
Mr. Chair, first, I would express my gratitude to the ranking member,
who has served with such distinction in this body representing
northwestern Ohio, Toledo and Sandusky, and doing her part to build a
better future for the people of Ohio and the people of our country. In
particular, her service as ranking member of this august subcommittee
and always trying to find a way to bridge the divide and to build a
bipartisan path forward.
It is unfortunate that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
have regrettably chosen not to do that with this particular bill.
However, with respect to this amendment, the Upper Colorado and San
Juan River Basin Recovery Programs provide us with an opportunity to
chart a bipartisan path forward. They are a model of successful
partnership and collaboration across agencies, States, with both
Federal and non-Federal partners in my State of Colorado, in addition
to Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
I have been leading legislation over the past several years to
reauthorize these programs, including bipartisan legislation in the
previous Congress, which was signed into law and legislation this year
that would extend the programs for an additional 7 years.
The programs work to recover and protect four species of endangered
and threatened fish, while providing Endangered Species Act compliance
for over 2,500 water projects.
The Colorado River Compliance Account provides critical Federal
support for these programs, and my amendment would simply increase the
Bureau of Reclamation's funding to direct additional Federal resources
to these programs.
I hope it is an amendment that my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle can support. It is common sense.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition,
although I am not opposed to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from Tennessee is
recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, the Upper Colorado River and San Juan
River Endangered Species Program enjoys bipartisan support in the
region, providing for a collaborative approach to species management,
avoiding a heavy-handed ESA listing.
This program enables robust power production at Glen Canyon Dam, and
I support the gentleman's amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee
for his support and his words with respect to this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Ms. Kaptur), the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Water
Development Subcommittee.
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.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Colorado
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Neguse

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 13
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

[[Page H5086]]

The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 18, line 1, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $500,000)''.
Page 34, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $500,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I would assure the chairman of the
subcommittee that I won't be asking for a recorded vote on this
amendment, but it is a similar amendment to the amendment just offered.
Essentially, this amendment directs the allocation of funding from a
different account, again, to support this incredibly important program
for all the reasons that had been stated by, of course, the ranking
member of the subcommittee as well as the chairman previously.
The headwaters of the Colorado River are in my district. As the
ranking member so eloquently stated, we face a complex set of
challenges in the West as it relates to the Colorado River, which I
continue to work to address in my State of Colorado and, of course,
working with our colleagues in the Upper Basin and Lower Basin States.
This program, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Endangered
Species Recovery Implementation Program, I think is a great and salient
example of a way in which we can chart unique solutions to really
pressing challenges; in this case, of course, the potential for
endangered species in our community and in our water basins.
All that being said, Mr. Chairman, without belaboring the point, I
would simply say it is a program worth investing in and it is why I am
pursuing this particular amendment, and I hope my colleagues can
support it.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition,
although I do not oppose the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from Tennessee is
recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, similar to my colleague's previous
amendment, this program enjoys broad bipartisan support and enables
robust hydropower production that provides electricity to benefit the
entire region.
Mr. Chair, I support the gentleman's amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the subcommittee chairman, again,
for his indulgence and support on this particular amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse).
The amendment was agreed to.

{time} 1845

Amendment No. 14 Offered by Mr. Westerman

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 14
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 21, line 6, after the dollar amount insert
``(decreased by $5,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chair, I commend Chairman Fleischmann for the hard work in the
Appropriations Committee and this particular subcommittee and the good
product that they put out.
I do have a slight adjustment I would like to make to it, even though
the subcommittee was very generous in working with the Natural
Resources Committee and other committees in getting the base text.
I rise in support of Westerman amendment No. 14. It is an amendment
that I would describe as an intentionally punitive amendment, but with
a just cause: to protect the integrity of the legislative branch and,
more specifically, the House of Representatives.
My amendment reduces funding for the Bureau of Reclamation's policy
and administration account to fiscal year 2022 levels. At the Bureau of
Reclamation, the policy and administration account finances the
agency's centralized management and administrative functions that are
not chargeable directly to a specific project or program. This includes
the Office of the Commissioner, the administration's political
leadership of the agency.
You may be asking why the chairman of the Committee on Natural
Resources is here asking for an administrative funding cut to an agency
under our jurisdiction. One of Congress' most vital responsibilities is
oversight of the executive branch, making sure they are accountable to
the American people. Congressional hearings are an important tool that
we use to engage directly with administration officials and to conduct
oversight on policy objectives, openly debate legislation, and
spotlight waste, fraud, and abuse occurring in agencies.
These officials have an obligation to be responsive to Congress,
engage in the oversight process, and be accountable to the American
people. However, this administration, like many others from the past,
on both sides of the aisle, chose to blatantly disregard this
responsibility when they specifically refused to participate in a
congressional hearing earlier this year.
There, we considered H.R. 215, Congressman Valadao's WATER for
California Act. This legislation addresses the operation of the Central
Valley Project, which is a Federal water project owned and operated by
the Bureau of Reclamation. This legislation is critical not only to the
Central Valley but to our entire country's food supply. The legislation
was important enough that it was included in the base text of this
bill.
However, even with ample notification with an invitation sent 2 weeks
prior to the hearing, the Bureau of Reclamation failed to appear at the
hearing. The Bureau of Reclamation employs roughly 5,000 employees, so
they clearly have the ability to send a representative. While written
testimony was submitted the day before the hearing, this was a poor
substitute for engaging with the committee members.
Non-Federal witnesses who appeared at the hearing repeatedly
mentioned the Bureau of Reclamation, which daylighted the missed
opportunities for dialogue between the agency and the people they
serve.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, first of all, I have great respect for the
gentleman who offers this amendment, but I do find myself in the
position of opposing it.
In step with the myriad amendments offered by Republicans to reduce
leadership salaries, this amendment seeks to reduce funding for the
Bureau of Reclamation's policy and administration account by $5
million, ostensibly to fund it at the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
However, in fiscal year 2022, $64.4 million was appropriated for policy
and administration, so this amendment reduces this funding by $4.321
million below the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
The Bureau of Reclamation brings water to 31 million people and is
the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United
States, producing enough electricity to serve 3.5 million homes. This
account funds day-to-day Bureau of Reclamation management,
administrative, and policy functions that are necessary to ensure
effective and efficient implementation of all Bureau of Reclamation
programs from which 31 million people receive water and 3.5 million
homes receive electricity. That is a big job.
This account also funds the Office of the Commissioner and regional
offices. This leadership is critical for ensuring that one in five
Western farmers has irrigation water for 10 million acres of
farmland that produce 60 percent of our Nation's vegetables and 25
percent of its fruits and nuts.

[[Page H5087]]

According to the United States Census Bureau, my colleague comes from
a district of approximately 751,000 people, of which approximately 1.5
percent are in occupations related to farming, fishing, and forestry. I
don't think the gentleman's amendment benefits his district.
With the West reeling from the historic megadrought, the worst in
1,200 years, where we have just had to divert the Colorado River for
the first time in American history, why would any of my colleagues want
to hamstring the Bureau of Reclamation's management and the direction
and guidance necessary to achieve Reclamation-wide program and mission
accomplishment? This is a moment in American history when we need to
help them.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I will again point out that this funding is
for the administrative part of the Bureau of Reclamation. It has
nothing to do with functions that are chargeable directly to a specific
project or program.
The Bureau of Reclamation does oversee many important programs. We
want to see those programs function properly, and we also want
accountability from the executive branch. The executive branch's clear
pattern of disregard for congressional oversight indicates an entitled
leadership that lacks accountability to the American taxpayer.
It is not my goal to have to come to the floor and cut the budget of
an agency because they refuse to respond to Congress, but what tools do
we have when they will not even come to a hearing that is directly
related to the work that they do and when they just act like
congressional oversight is an annoyance to them and is nothing serious?
My amendment will send a clear message to the executive branch that
blatant disregard for congressional oversight is unacceptable.
Mr. Chair, I hope this is a bipartisan sentiment, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arkansas
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 15 Offered by Mr. Griffith

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 15
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 25, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,100,000,000)''.
Page 28, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $600,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Virginia (Mr. Griffith) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Chair, my amendment is just plain common sense. It
addresses the importance of all types of research and development
funding at the Department of Energy, specifically the energy research
conducted at the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
I believe we need a plan that is closer to parity between renewable
energy and fossil fuels and research on ways to reduce the
environmental and climate impact of the use of fossil fuels.
In the underlying bill, $2.994 billion is appropriated for energy
efficiency and renewable energy, while only $857.9 million is
appropriated for fossil energy and carbon mitigation. I am advocating
with this amendment that we should be closer to parity between the
amount of money appropriated for fossil energy and carbon mitigation
research and DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. My
amendment increases the fossil energy and carbon mitigation account by
$600 million, along with a reduction of $1.1 billion from the
renewables account.
This year alone, we have seen that these concepts that we are going
to get rid of fossil fuels are just not realistic, Mr. Chairman. We saw
a plant open up, or at least the plans for it, a Panasonic plant in
Kansas, that was going to do electric vehicle batteries. The problem
was, in order to get the plant, they needed more electricity. The
electric utility in Kansas, Evergy, decided that one of the coal-fired
power plants that they thought they were going to do away with, close
down, they needed to keep it open because they couldn't build electric
vehicle batteries without the fossil fuel, coal-powered plant.
This is not the only place that we see that. In India, there are
about 300 million people who don't have electricity, a little bit less
than the population of the United States. They don't have a steady
source of electricity. If you are a leader in India, Mr. Chairman, I
would submit, and you have coal, which they do, you are probably going
to build some coal-fired power plants because their people deserve and
want the same kind of electricity that we have in our country, at least
for now, so they are going to build coal-fired power plants.
China has been building coal-fired power plants left and right. Some
of the numbers indicate that the energy production of those plants is
equal to about two new plants every week last year. They are also
funding more coal-fired power plants in sub-Saharan Africa.
Here is what we have. While we want to clean up the environment, the
world is going to continue to use fossil fuels, particularly coal, not
just in the United States. People say we can be completely pure, but
that is myopic. We can't be because when we look at the air supply in
the world, according to a NASA study a few years back, it takes about
10 days for air to travel from the middle of the Gobi Desert in China
to the eastern shore of Virginia.
When all of these other places are using fossil fuels, isn't it smart
on our part, if we want a clean environment, Mr. Chairman, that we find
better ways to use that coal-fired power, that we find better ways to
use gas power? We are going to continue to use it whether we think we
are or not, and the rest of the world is going to continue to use it.
With the money we spend here, we can export that research and get
some of the money back maybe, but more importantly, we can clean up the
air for the entire world instead of thinking that we are living in some
kind of bubble in the United States and that if we get rid of coal-
fired power plants and fossil fuel plants, everything is going to be
hunky-dory.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

{time} 1900

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I share some of my colleagues'
concerns about the excess spending at EERE, particularly in light of
the billions in increased spending provided in past appropriations
bills, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act.
EERE still has billions in unobligated funds, and that is exactly why
this bill, the bill that we have before the House, includes a large
reduction to this account.
However, in my view, respectfully, my colleague's amendment would go
too far to practically eliminate the EERE account. This would impact
the important work performed by the national labs and universities to
implement the research and development goals of EERE. These goals
include advancing energy efficiency solutions for the manufacturing of
cement, steel, and iron; creating and improving battery technologies;
and developing critical mineral alternatives.
While I am a supporter of EERE, I also recognize fossil fuels are
going to be an important resource for many years to come. However, I
don't believe these two accounts need to be at odds with each other.
I personally favor an all-of-the-above approach to meet the Nation's
future

[[Page H5088]]

energy needs. That approach includes strategic reductions to EERE that
prioritize research activities like the goals I mentioned earlier.
My distinguished colleague's amendment, in my view, upends that
strategy and goes too far, respectfully. For these reasons, I must
oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Chairman, I say to my distinguished colleague and
my friend that we disagree, and here is why. We have to get to a point
where we are at parity. Every time we look at it, the money for
renewables is huge, and the money for fossil fuel research, where we
can make things better for the whole world, is minuscule in comparison.
I am trying to level it out, and I would hope that that would be the
long-term goal of our appropriators, to level it out. That is why I
brought this amendment.
I, too, am for all of the above. That is why I didn't zero out the
account. However, I think we have to pay attention to what is happening
in the world and not be myopic when it comes to recognizing that if we
are going to continue to use fossil fuels, we ought to do it cleaner
and do it better. We ought to put more money into U.S. research on
fossil fuels, everything from using fossil fuels to come up with rare
earth to making it cleaner when we burn it for electricity to build
electric vehicle battery plants.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Ms. Kaptur).
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.
I hear what he is saying, but I think that we have to work harder
together to embrace the future and not just depend on the past.
I agree with him on fossil fuels and rare earths. We visited the
fossil fuel energy center in southwest Pennsylvania. I was fascinated
by some of the work going on there. I think we need to fund it, and we
are.
This amendment reduces funding for the Department of Energy's energy
efficiency and renewable energy account by $1.2 billion, and I don't
think that that places America in the position I want her to be in,
which is number one in the world.
Now, that proposal is also on top of another $466 million reduction
in the underlying bill itself and the $1 billion reduction incorporated
by the manager's amendment.
This funding provides for clean, affordable, and secure energy and
ensures American leadership in the transition to a global clean energy
economy.
I will tell you, this past year in my region of the United States--
and it came here to Washington, ultimately--a very strange haze began
floating down from Canada into the United States due to the forest
fires up there and the changing nature of the environment. I have lived
in the same place my whole life, and I never saw anything like that
before. It ruined my rhododendron plant. All that gunk got all over it.
I was talking to a friend who came up from Florida, and he goes:
Marcy, the winds took that all the way down to near the panhandle in
Florida.
I said: Are you kidding me? It got down that far? The Earth's
ecosystem is changing, and we have to catch up to Mother Nature.

The account being targeted funds the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, the Office of State and Community Energy Programs
that supports important services like the Weatherization Assistance
Program to save energy, the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply
Chains, and the Federal Energy Management Program itself.
Those programs focus on energy technology ranging from biofuels--the
first biofueled F-16 flew out of the 180th Fighter Wing in my district.
That was a great moment. That was almost 15 years ago.
Biofuels have now become such an important part of our economy, as
well as hydrogen, solar, wind, and a whole broad range of energy
technologies to make America energy independent in perpetuity--
geothermal, what we are learning on that; advanced manufacturing;
building efficiency and weatherization; and the list goes on.
Without these programs, we are jeopardizing U.S. leadership across a
range of possibilities. The world is set to invest a record $1.8
trillion in clean energy in 2023, and that is expected to climb to $4.5
trillion by the year 2030. We want to be a leader. With $4.5 trillion
per year on the line, we have the choice to embrace American leadership
and invention.
Let me just mention that if the Department of Energy's goals are
achieved, the hydrogen industry will produce $140 billion in revenue
and over 700,000 jobs by 2030.
Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful
amendment, but I am very happy to continue to work with the gentleman
to find ways that we can reach accommodation.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Murphy). The question is on the amendment
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 16 Offered by Mr. Roy

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 16
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 25, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced to $0)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Roy) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, the amendment that I have here fully defunds
the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy.
The FY23 omnibus gave this office $3.5 billion, and while the
underlying bill and rule cut funding down to $2 billion, we believe we
ought to defund it entirely.
That is particularly true coming on the heels of the $1.2 trillion,
if you believe the media accounting and reports on the impact of the
so-called Inflation Reduction Act. We believe this is additional
spending that the American people do not need.
Let the market do what the market is going to do. If people want to
go out and get electronic vehicles, and people want to go out and spend
their money on something, good for them, great.
This office continues to be funded to continue to perpetuate this
when the office's mission is ``to equitably transition America to net-
zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050,''
which is a fool's errand.
We are undermining our own national security and undermining our own
economy in the process, making us beholden to China and undermining our
ability to actually have a serious policy in the Middle East, by the
way. Right now, we don't even have sanctions in place. We are allowing
Iran to make billions of dollars, upward of $30 billion to $60 billion,
depending on what reports you look at, on exporting oil to China. We
have totally blown it with Saudi Arabia, which has created the
environment that we are now dealing with in the Middle East, all while
this administration, by the way, dumped the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, all of this while pursuing this foolish energy policy, which
is undermining our own national security and economy.
Now, we are going to go ahead and say, sure, let's appropriate
another, in this case, $2 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy. We don't need to be doing this. Let the American
people go sort this out.
We say that we are going to subsidize wind and solar because it is
supposedly enhanced reliability. Tell that to the people of Texas.
Texas has more wind than any other State in the country.

[[Page H5089]]

Thumbs up. That is great. Say that to all the people who are wondering
whether they are going to have power because the grid in Texas is
getting dangerously close to not having the ability to sustain. The
only reason we are able to sustain it is because Texas is trying to
push and hold up the coal and the gas-fired plants that actually
provide reliable energy.
We are subsidizing the unreliable energy at the expense of the
reliable energy. Instead of building nuclear power, instead of making
sure a gas-fired plant is sitting there ready to roll--there is no
investment in any of the projects going on into Texas' gas-fired
plants. American, Texas gas that we should, by the way, be exporting
around the world, including to Europe. Instead, we are undermining our
very grid, our own reliable energy, and we are undermining our ability
to compete in the world.
I suggest that this money would be better spent, especially when, I
don't know, the last time I checked we had $2 trillion in deficits.
What are we spending our money on? Seriously, how are we actually
going to balance our budget and eliminate deficits when we keep
spending money on projects like this?
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I thank the distinguished gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Roy) for filing this amendment, but I respectfully oppose
the same.
I do share some of my colleague's concerns about the excess spending
at EERE. I would also like to emphasize that EERE received over $16
billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and many of
these dollars are still unobligated.
These reasons are exactly why the original bill reduced EERE by $466
million below the fiscal year 2023 level and why I offered further
reductions in this bill of $1 billion.
In total, these reductions would bring EERE below the fiscal year
2016 level. However, my colleague's amendment goes too far in
eliminating EERE.
I am a supporter of the EERE program and the work they do to advance
research and development on renewable technologies, advanced
manufacturing, and battery improvements. That includes essential work
on critical minerals that will help lay the groundwork for technologies
that will reduce our reliance on foreign supplies.
I think this is an issue that we all can support. I support strategic
reduction to EERE, but I am not in favor of eliminating the account and
walking away from its ongoing work.
For these reasons, I must respectfully oppose the amendment, and I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

{time} 1915

Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, while I thank my friend and colleague and I
appreciate the fact that through his work and the work of Republicans,
we did reduce it by $1.5 billion, but there remains another $2 billion
of funding.
I say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: How are we going
to ever balance the budget when we continue to fund things like this?
That is my question. Why don't we pay for this, then? Can we at least
pay for this out of something? Why don't we pay for this out of the
Inflation Reduction Act? Why don't we pay for it by eliminating some of
the IRS agents that got expanded?
Tell me. Go to the American people and say, what would you like to
give up to pay for that? That is what I would like to know. I would
like to know for the American people: What would you give up in order
to pay for $2 billion of more of this kind of subsidy?
By the way, in the Inflation Reduction Act, 90 percent of the
subsidies go to corporations making over a billion dollars.
Mr. Chair, 78 percent of electric vehicle tax credits are claimed by
Americans making over $100,000. Couples making up to $300,000 are still
eligible.
These subsidies could make wind and solar account for nearly 60
percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2050, which might sound fine
in unicorn land, but for the people who need reliable energy on a
cloudy, windless day, we might actually want to have gas or coal or
nuclear.
By the way, all of this subsidizes the heck out of China. We are
talking about making us not reliant on foreign energy sources.
Well, what about China? China is the one producing most of these
solar panels and a lot of the battery elements. Why are we continuing
to do that?
I suggest that that is a waste of taxpayer money, it is unpaid for,
and we shouldn't continue to perpetuate it.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Ms. Kaptur), the ranking member.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding and rise in
strong opposition to this amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. The underlying bill already cuts the energy efficiency
and renewable energy program by $1.5 billion or 42 percent below last
year.
Now, there are a lot of people that are complaining about that, and I
would be the first one to say that our country should not cede any new
markets or capitulate to global competitors in the field of energy.
I think that we have to keep our foot on the accelerator in many
energy sectors. The gentleman is right. Texas has been a leader in so
many ways; certainly in wind energy, but not just that.
In terms of the solar industry and how do we pay down the debts that
prior Congresses and administrations racked up? We grow our economy.
By growing our economy, more revenues come in, and they are. They are
coming into the private sector. They are coming into the government.
A whole lot more people who aren't paying their fair share of taxes
should be, and that would help. The way we balance budgets is not to
kill economic growth.
One of the areas we grow in is energy. These are jobs that are good
jobs, and they create wealth for the Nation.
We have to keep up our dominance in this country. For the solar
industry, which is something I am terribly interested in, I represent
the most important domestic manufacturer of solar in our country.
Overall, the whole industry across our Nation supports 333,000 jobs
now. Mr. Chair, 20 years ago, they were in a very different position,
and 40 years ago, they almost didn't exist.
America is now creating utility scale solar, and the invention of the
American people is unstoppable. We can't give a signal that we are
going to capitulate to anybody, but we have got to develop these new
energy sectors.
The gentleman is right about the grid. The grid is worn out all over
this country. Ask anybody in Ohio about that. It has been
underinvested.
We will find a way by growing the economy, and some of the new bills
we have passed for infrastructure have allowed us to modernize the
grid.
Well, let's connect the dots. We can choose to give up American
leadership in these technologies, or we can actually put our foot on
the accelerator.
I really think that the gentleman's amendment, though he believes it
is well intentioned, does move America backward, and I cannot support
it, and therefore, I oppose it.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas will
be postponed.

Amendment No. 19 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 19
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

[[Page H5090]]

Page 31, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $35,000,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $35,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment strikes $35 million in
funding for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
For those unfamiliar with this office, according to its website, it
accelerates the market adoption of clean energy technologies and fills
a critical innovation gap on the path to 100 percent clean energy by
2035 and net zero emissions by 2050.
I am going to characterize it a different way. Since the real market,
the private market won't do it, you are going to pay for it under force
by your taxes so that you can have less reliable energy as soon as
possible, and we can be less energy independent. That is what it does,
courtesy of your Federal Government.
It funds projects like long-duration energy storage and distributed
energy systems to support the electric grid for electric vehicles,
which are also being subsidized by your Federal Government under force
of penalty of you not paying your taxes. It is astounding.
The Democrats continue to push this technology when the drawbacks of
this so-called clean energy technology are clear.
The actual grid is being powered by solar and wind energy sources
that are inherently unreliable and don't work when the Sun is not
shining and the wind is not blowing.
Battery technology storage is not there, and of course, all that
stuff that I just talked about comes from China, and oh, by the way,
built with slave labor, whether that is in Turkistan or whether that is
in the Congo.
Your tax dollars are supporting it under penalty of law. Try not
paying your taxes and see what happens then.
Vehicles powered by this grid are built largely using slave labor
like I just talked about and our reliance on the Communist Party of
China since they control all the necessary components in the mineral
supply chains.
Not that we don't have them in America. They say they are rare earth
minerals. Mr. Chairman, they are not rare.
We just can't mine them in America because the left doesn't allow
that, so now we have got to buy them from China. That is another story.
Vehicles powered by this grid are built largely, like I said, using
slave labor and the supply chains that go with them.
These vehicles have limited range. Their lithium batteries often
catch fire. Those fires are more difficult to extinguish than
traditional fires.
This office that I am talking about is also managing $2.5 billion for
carbon capture facilities and greenhouse gas monitoring technology.
Mr. Chair, if these technologies were so great, why isn't the market
already adopting and innovating without taxpayer-funded handouts?
My friends on the other side of the aisle will tell you these are
critical investments, and they are not going to happen if the Federal
Government doesn't do them. If we don't take your tax dollars and spend
it on this, it ain't going to happen.
My goodness. Thank goodness that this country didn't become the
greatest country on the planet without the Federal Government
subsidizing all this stuff.
I don't know how Thomas Edison would have made it. I don't know how
Ford Motor Company would have made it without the Federal Government.
Somehow they did it, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate that the chairman did not approve additional funds for
these clean demonstration projects, but my amendment strikes all the
funds for this office.
Mr. Chairman, I urge support of my amendment, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Perry) for filing this, but I must respectfully oppose the
amendment.
The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is primarily responsible
for implementing and managing over $21 billion provided by the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
I am keenly aware of the scale of that sum of money and the
importance of our oversight responsibility to ensure taxpayer funds are
correctly administered.
That is exactly why the House bill includes no funding--and I repeat
no funding--for the office to conduct new demonstrations and instead,
only includes funding for program direction for staff to provide
project management oversight.
My colleague's amendment would eliminate that function, preventing
the office from ensuring that our taxpayer dollars are being used
effectively and efficiently.
That would directly impact the success of important programs within
the office's jurisdiction like the Advanced Reactor Demonstration
Program.
The Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program enjoys strong bipartisan
support. The program is essential to the deployment of advanced
reactors, ensuring our Nation's energy security and regaining U.S.
leadership in nuclear energy.
We can't abandon our oversight responsibilities and risk the success
of programs like these. For these reasons, I must respectfully oppose
the amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I certainly respect the good gentleman from
Tennessee, and I thank him for the time.
I don't know. It seems like a lot of money still remaining for
project management oversight. That doesn't seem to be billions of
dollars' worth of spending to me; maybe millions, but not billions.

As far as advanced reactor research, I am proud to say that in the
district that I represent, some of the fusion reactor research that is
being done in France is being produced in the district I represent,
which is awesome, but we don't need to be paying for it. France is
paying for it, and we are providing some expertise and some material.
Oh, by the way, the good gentleman from Tennessee, much of the home
of nuclear fission and nuclear energy is in the United States of
America. God bless America. I think it is awesome. When have we built a
nuclear reactor in the United States of America? I know the district
that I represent just shut one down.
We are paying for all this research. Tell me where it is. What does
it provide? What does it produce? It doesn't produce anything.
If it was building nuclear reactors, maybe I could see it, but it
seems to me we are paying for it and putting the research on the shelf,
or worse yet, giving it to France.
Mr. Chairman, I don't care what it costs. It ought to end. I urge
adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 20 Offered by Mr. Norman

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 20
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 32, line 2, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $470,000,000)''.
Page 32, line 3, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $37,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman

[[Page H5091]]

from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) and a Member opposed each will control
5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, what my amendment does is it eliminates
funding to the tune of $470 million for ARPA-E, Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Energy; $470 million.
What this Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is designed to
fund are high-risk, high-reward projects in which the private sector
would never invest in.
Since it is taxpayers' money, what this proposed amendment does is to
cut funding because it doesn't do the job that the dollars that they
expended it to.
The problem is that ARPA-E does not always seem to follow its own
guidelines. The Federal Government has awarded several ARPA-E grants to
companies and projects that are neither high risk nor something that
private industry cannot support. In other words, they don't need the
crutch.
These problems with ARPA-E were identified by the GAO, the Department
of Energy Office of Inspector General, and the House Science, Space,
and Technology Committee.
Of the 44 small- and medium-sized companies that received an ARPA
award, the GAO found that 18 had previously received private-sector
investments for similar technology. It is a duplicate.
The GAO found that 12 of those 18 companies plan to use ARPA-E
funding to either advance or accelerate prior funded projects.
I am in the real estate business. That is like paying me double to
build you a house or a shopping center. How much sense does that make?
It doesn't.
Mr. Chair, in your world, it pays double to do one surgery. How does
that work out? It is taxpayers' money. It should never have been funded
in the first place.

{time} 1930

High-risk, high-reward programs are not necessary, especially when
there is a bias to fund technologies that have already received funding
to make the program appear on the surface successful. Congress should
restructure the DOE to conduct the basic research that the private
sector would never undertake and create a system that allows the
private sector, using private funds, to tap into that research and
commercialize it. Federal labs should allow basic research to reach the
market organically.
Until that happens, we should defund ARPA-E, just as the Trump
administration did. The market is the best place to determine the merit
of an investment and whether it is a good or a bad investment. If a
project cannot find private support, it is a good indicator of its
prospects for success. Certainly, a lack of private investors alone
does not justify using taxpayers' money to support a project.
Indeed, technologies that lose private financing as they move closer
to commercialization are likely the worst bets for taxpayers' money,
since professional investors have already determined them to be losers.
What you find out on grants such as this, if you really analyze the
line items, it goes to overhead. What is overhead?
That is paying salaries of people with jobs that you can't have an
outcome for. I have seen these. That is why a lot of the grants that
are written are vague; they can use the money wherever. This isn't like
it is a $50,000 investment, it is $470 million.
At the time when our growing national debt has surpassed $33
trillion, we cannot continue to use taxpayers' dollars to fund this
useless research.
I think the last figure I heard one of my colleagues mention, that we
are paying $20,400 per second in interest on the $33 trillion. That is
just the interest, not counting the principal.
As I mentioned, ARPA-E does not follow its guidelines. It is loosely
interpreted. They can use the money wherever they want. My question is:
Why ARPA-E funding and not private capital?
If it is that good of a project, let the private sector invest in it.
You have sharp investors that know what they are doing, they could
determine whether they want to risk their capital.
In short, this project should be defunded. It is at a time we can't
afford it. I would urge the cut of this $470 million project, for
something that yields no benefit to the taxpayers, and I urge adoption.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I thank my dear friend and colleague from
South Carolina (Mr. Norman) for filing this, but I must respectfully
rise in strong opposition to the amendment.
My colleague's amendment would eliminate the Advanced Research
Projects Agency, or ARPA-E. ARPA-E's mission is to fund projects that
are not yet addressed in the private sector but can bring about
transformational shifts in current energy technologies.
Nearly 75 percent of ARPA-E awards go to small businesses and
academia. ARPA-E projects have led to over 1,000 patents being issued
and have attracted more than $11.5 billion in follow-on funding from
the private sector.
These projects push the envelope on what is possible in the energy
sector and will continue to play an important role in maintaining U.S.
leadership to develop the next generation of energy technologies. I
believe these are goals that all of us can support.
I, therefore, must respectfully oppose the amendment and urge my
colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman has the only time remaining.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Kaptur).
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise
in opposition to this amendment. I am sure the gentleman offering it is
well-intentioned.
I will say, in many of the energy technologies that I have observed,
unlike the real estate industry, they always say real property, you can
tangibly touch it, you can see that it is there, you can measure it.
ARPA-E really focuses on that which is not yet measurable.
If you see the movie ``Oppenheimer'' and you look back at the history
of our country and how we began to actually move into atomic energy, it
was very experimental and very dangerous. The government got involved,
and at that point in history we had to win a war. We learned a whole
lot about nuclear energy at that point, but part of it was
uncontrollable.
I was at an event yesterday with companies that are working on
unbelievable technologies, which aren't quite solved yet, but where we
can take metals like titanium and nickel and do things with them to
carry current that we never were able to do before. They are working
with research labs because it is so utterly complicated.
I would say to the gentleman, you know, sometimes private enterprise
doesn't invest because the research has to occur through a longer
period of time, and you need programs like ARPA-E who do the most
amazing work. Our fracking technologies, our drilling technologies for
natural gas, those came through not the private sector initially, they
came through the Government of the United States because there wasn't
any private sector company willing to invest.
I know in my own district, where we are known for the glass industry,
some of the research that has been necessary to thinly layer different
types of material in order to produce more efficient solar panels
actually had to be assisted with government help because there were no
angel investors in my part of the country. So the Department of Energy,
through photovoltaic research, discovered inventors who were doing
great things in America, and helped them to move their technology
forward. Now we have the greatest domestic producer of solar in the
middle part of the country--not California, not the East Coast, not the
South, but in the Great Lakes region.

What I have seen out of ARPA-E is high-level basic research that most
companies, frankly, aren't dedicated to. It is very different than the
real estate industry, it is over a longer time horizon.
Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this
amendment.

[[Page H5092]]

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from South
Carolina will be postponed.
The Acting CHAIR. The Chair understands that amendment No. 22 will
not be offered.
The Chair understands that amendment No. 24 will not be offered.

Amendment No. 25 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 25
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 58, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert,
``(reduced by $35,000,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert,
``(increased by $35,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment cuts $35 million from this
bill for the Appalachian Regional Commission, lowering the funding
level in this bill to $165 million.
The IIJA provided the Appalachian Regional Commission with an
advanced appropriation of $200 million a year--the entirety of its
authorization level for fiscal year 2022 through 2026, meaning every
dollar provided under this bill is more than the authorization level.
We authorize things here and then we pay for them. It is authorized at
a lower level, and we are paying much more.
In other words, under this amendment the ARC would receive $365
million for the fiscal year rather than $400 million provided by this
underlying bill. Even with this minimal cut under this amendment, the
program funding is still extremely bloated, and its effectiveness
remains unclear, as do all the regional commissions.
Moreover, this Commission's programs are duplicative of other Federal
economic development programs and better addressed by State and local
levels. In fact, the fiscal year 2018 budget justification identified
that the Appalachian Regional Commission failed to show a strong link
between grants and a positive impact on the communities they serve.
Worse, this year, the Commission's inspector general identified the
massive increase in the Commission's funding over recent years as a
threat to its variability to evaluate grant proposals, measure program
performance, and conduct appropriate oversight.
When we were talking about the last one, we needed the money for
oversight. This one, we have got so much money that they can't oversee
it. This is your Federal Government at work here. The spike in funding
threatens to worsen an already tenuous link between funding and
success.
We simply must bring the funding level for the ARC, the Appalachian
Regional Commission, down to ensure that it has the capacity to ensure
it meets its mission.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my distinguished friend from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for filing the amendment.
My great State of Tennessee, which I represent the Third District of
Tennessee, our State and other States greatly benefit from the
Appalachian Regional Commission.
This amendment would eliminate the Appalachian Regional Commission
which provides funding for hundreds of cost-shared projects, partnering
with private industry to bring needed jobs to this depressed region.
The energy and water bill maintains funding for the ARC at the fiscal
year 2023 level of $200 million. These communities, and many of which I
represent, cannot afford to lose millions of dollars in private
investment this Commission leverages.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Ms. Kaptur).
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment
and in support of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Let me say that the Commission itself is a partnership between the
Federal Government and 13 State governments, focusing on 423 counties
across the Appalachian region.
Residents in part of Pennsylvania--evidently the gentleman's area is
not covered--are served by this Commission. Since 1965, the Appalachian
region has been struggling, and they have made progress. They have made
significant progress.
The number of high-poverty counties in Appalachia has been cut by 60
percent since 1960. It is a long road. The regional poverty rate has
been cut by more than half. God bless them.
However, the region still lags behind the Nation and continues to
encounter challenges such as the severe substance abuse crisis, as well
as a downturn in the coal economy. This is the part of America that we
have to lift up.
I have been very impressed with the work they are doing in terms of
restoration of the natural environment and expanded tourism. They are
working together collaboratively.
Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this
amendment. Let's help the American people who need it.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, it just so happens that I had a hearing
about a week ago on the Appalachian Regional Commission and all the
other commissions. It is interesting that this has been around since
the 1960s. There was a map of the Appalachian region, of which the home
that I reside in looks on the south mountain of the Appalachian
mountain range. I live right in the center of this thing.
What was interesting to me of the map that I looked at provided by
the Commission since the 1960s, showed counties that had reached
attainment. Well, none of them had reached attainment. It has been
around since the 1960s. All the ones that hadn't reached attainment in
the 1960s still haven't reached attainment in 2023. We are spending all
this money, and we are not getting anything for it. Well, we are
getting some things for it. You might be able to get a theater in your
community, reconstructed with the help of the Federal Government, or a
trail, which is awesome. These are great programs, and I am not here to
argue that they are not.
What I am arguing is two things. It is not the job of the Federal
Government, number one. These are things done by local communities and
States.

{time} 1945

Two, this is above the authorization. This commission was authorized
funding. I don't dispute that. However, we are spending money above the
authorization, and I do dispute that because we are $30-some trillion
in debt with nothing in sight except more debt.
People say that we can't cut anything, that there is nowhere to cut.
Well, we authorized this. This body authorized this at a lower level,
and then we appropriated at a higher level.
When you don't have any more money, when you are borrowing money to
pay your bills, it seems to me that it would be easy to say that we
will just pull back a little here, just a little, and we will go to
what is authorized, which is still a lot, hundreds of millions of
dollars. I guess that is going to be a problem here, though.
This has no Federal nexus whatsoever. I will tell you, there are nice
people working here. They want to do great things for their community.
However, this is a boondoggle. This is spending money where other money
can be spent and is being spent. This is a duplication of services.

[[Page H5093]]

Sooner or later, this town is going to have to realize the taxpayer
doesn't have any more money to be bled out of their pockets to spend on
things that are spent elsewhere for the same projects, local, State, et
cetera.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 26 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 26
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 59, line 3, after the dollar amount, insert,
``(reduced by $6,100,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert,
``(increased by $6,100,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment cuts the funding to the Delta
Regional Authority by $6.1 million, back to the FY19 level.
In FY17, the Obama administration sought to cut funding for the Delta
Regional Authority by $3 million. The FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY21
budgets all sought to eliminate funding for the Delta Regional
Authority, identifying it as duplicative of other Federal economic
development programs.
Mr. Chair, just like I said before on the last one, it is the same
thing here. I just had a hearing on it. These folks sat in front of me
and made the same arguments.
The FY21 budget pointed out that the Delta Regional Authority, like
others, is set aside for special geographic designations rather than
applied across the country based on objective criteria indicating local
areas and levels of distress that, again, don't seem to ever be
addressed even though we spend millions of dollars.
We are $33 trillion in the hole. I don't know if you looked at the
economics and the financials of just the last couple of months, how
much more we have gone into debt in just the last couple of months.
Something has to shock the conscience of this Congress because it is
shocking the conscience of the American people who can't afford
groceries, gasoline, car payments, or credit card payments. Heaven
forbid you have to buy a new car. Heaven forbid you try to buy a new
home.
We simply can't continue to allow for the rapid growth of parochial
commissions that duplicate, literally just duplicate, other Federal
programs undeterred. Regardless of the duplication of the Federal
programs, most of the stuff looks like it is local programs or State
programs--again, worthy things. The question is, is there a Federal
nexus here? There is not in many cases. There is poor oversight, and we
don't have the money to do it.
Finally, this is not a partisan issue. Democratic Presidents and
Republican Presidents have all called for either the abolishment or the
reduction of these commissions. Both have done it. It is not a partisan
issue. It is a fiscal issue. It is a responsibility issue.
These things need to be dealt with. State and locals should do it if
that is what they are. We don't have the money at the Federal level
anymore for that.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, once again, I thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania for filing this amendment, but I must strongly oppose it.
This bill provides $31.1 million for the Delta Regional Authority.
This small investment targets hundreds of depressed communities in the
Mississippi River Delta region. These communities cannot afford to lose
the millions of dollars in private investments this commission
leverages.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Louisiana (Ms. Letlow). I congratulate the great State of
Louisiana on the election of our Speaker. They also have our great
majority leader, as well.
Ms. Letlow has been just a wonderful member of the Appropriations
Committee, and it has been great to have her on the committee
representing Louisiana.
Ms. LETLOW. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to amendment No. 26,
which would slash funding for the Delta Regional Authority by $6.1
million.
This Federal-State partnership is a critical lifeline to my district
and State by providing dedicated funding to address vital
infrastructure, workforce, and healthcare needs for rural towns. These
towns have little to no tax base to be able to raise the funds
themselves to replace expensive and aging infrastructure systems.
Rural communities do not have the financial resources to hire grant
writers to help them through a complex Federal grant process, and
because of this, these towns miss out on national grant competitions.
DRA's funding supports a pilot program that would help these
communities identify opportunities, provide assistance to write the
applications, and help with implementation.
While cutting $6.1 million may not seem like a lot, I have seen
firsthand what a simple $200,000 can do to help grow a rural town.
Finally, the DRA has had minimal increases over the last 5 years. A
cut in funding this deep would be a step in the wrong direction.
On behalf of rural towns across the delta region, I urge my
colleagues to oppose this amendment.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, in closing, certainly, I congratulate the
gentlewoman and her great State for the success of all the House of
Representatives today and their contribution.
On this occasion, though, I must disagree. As I said, I just had a
hearing with the Delta Regional Authority present, and she is right, it
targets hundreds of communities, as do all of these commissions. They
target hundreds of communities.
One of the things that was fascinating to me was I asked for the
metrics by which anything is measured. What measure of success does
anyone have? Is there some standard? Is there some way to know whether
all of these millions of dollars that are being spent actually get us
anywhere, actually fix anything, actually do anything other than: We
made sure the grants all got out, and we helped with the grant writing.
We fixed up the sidewalk. We fixed up the theater. We provided some
healthcare.
Those are all awesome things that are all being provided by someone
else, by the way.
What was the metric by which they measured their success? Close your
eyes. What do you see? That is what I got back. Nothing. There is no
measure of success here.
Mr. Chair, this is well intended. It is well meaning. However, it is
unaffordable and unnecessary.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

[[Page H5094]]

Amendment No. 27 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 27
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 59, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $2,000,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment reduces funding for the
Denali Commission by $2 million to the FY19 level.
The Denali Commission's mission for providing job training and other
economic development services in rural Alaska can be better served by
the 29 other Federal programs in which it duplicates the very same
efforts.
The Obama administration sought to eliminate funding for the
commission in FY12 because it was duplicative back then and did not
select projects based on competition or merit. Say it ain't so, but it
is so.
In 2013, the inspector general for the Denali Commission called for
the elimination of the program. Some people say: Perry, you are just
mean. You just don't understand. You just don't want to help poor
people or rural people.
I came from a house with no running water, no electricity, and no
plumbing. We had an outhouse out back. There was no insulation. There
was no heat in it. The roads weren't paved. Somehow, I made it to
Congress. It wasn't the Federal Government's job to fix my mom's house
or get me to work.
In 2013, the inspector general for the commission called for the
elimination of the program, like I said, stating that he recommended
that Congress put its money elsewhere. I am happy to take his
recommendation.
The Trump administration, likewise, sought to eliminate the
commission in FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY21. It seems imprudent to
continually fund yet another parochial commission in the face of two
administrations--one Democratic, one Republican--and the inspector
general's recommendation that we cease funding.
At a bare minimum, we should pass this amendment to keep the Denali
Commission's funding flat at its pre-COVID-19 level and not allow for
its continued growth. I am not asking to eliminate it. I am saying, oh
my goodness, two administrations said it ought to be eliminated. The
inspector general said it should be gone. I am not even taking their
advice on that. I am just saying, let's save a little money here
because we have this debt we can't afford.
Mr. Chairman, I have been to places where the country could no longer
afford the debt that it had. You walk through shells of buildings just
abandoned, walked away from by the workers who were there, that were
once funded by their government. I have watched that in this town,
right across the river at St. Elizabeth's, where they just shut the
doors, couldn't afford it anymore, and walked away.
It is a tragic sight, but if we are going to keep going, it is not
going to be just this place that does it. It is going to be all across
the country. If we are going to be able to afford the things that we
want, we are going to have to make some difficult choices.
We are taking in $5 trillion this year. We are spending $7.2
trillion. I am not a mathematician, but somehow that is not adding up
to me.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, once again, my distinguished friend
and colleague from Pennsylvania has been consistent in his opposition
to these regional commissions, and I do appreciate the gentleman's
positions on this. However, I respectfully disagree.
The amendment would reduce funding for the Denali Commission, which
is funded at $17 million in this bill, the same as fiscal 2023. The
regional commission helps distressed communities across Alaska with
basic infrastructure, like water and sewage systems and power
generation.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I will close quickly here. I sure appreciate
the good gentleman from Tennessee. He has a lot to work with, and he
has a lot of competing interests here. It is not easy. We certainly can
appreciate that.
I want to point out that this is a regional commission, a regional
commission like the other ones, like the Appalachian Regional
Commission, like the Delta Regional Authority. Only this one exists in
only one place, in Alaska. It is a wonderful place. Alaska is a great
place, part of the United States of America, but tax dollars from
across the country, including Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Ohio,
shouldn't go to pay for local projects that can be handled by State and
local governments, especially when you are borrowing money to do it. We
are out of money. We are out.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.

{time} 2000

The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 28 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 28
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, as the designee of Mr. Norman, I have an
amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 59, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $17,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, apparently, I was the reasonable one in the
room because this amendment offered by Mr. Norman would eliminate
funding for the Denali Commission, and I can support that as well.
The Denali Commission is one of seven regional commissions that help
direct Federal funds to State and local projects. However, unlike other
commissions, the Denali Commission serves only one State--Alaska.
This has led some, including the Office of the Inspector General for
the Denali Commission, to question the need for the commission since
the Federal funds handled by the commission could easily be distributed
to the State of Alaska and other local entities without going through
the step of yet one more bureaucracy.
After all, State and local governments are more knowledgeable and
better equipped than the Federal Government to address the needs of
local communities. I think we all would recognize that.
Both the Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget
Office have raised concerns about the need for the Denali Commission,
as have I.
Eliminating funding for the Denali Commission was also suggested, as
you know, by the Obama administration and the Trump administration. At
a time when our growing national debt has surpassed $33 trillion, we
cannot continue to use taxpayer dollars to fund wasteful, unnecessary,
and duplicative programs. With the Denali Commission's own OIG, Office
of Inspector General, highlighting how wasteful the agency is, why
don't we just listen and eliminate this unnecessary Federal agency.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H5095]]

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, again, I thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania for bringing this motion on behalf of my distinguished
friend from South Carolina.
Like the previous amendment, although this one is a bit more
draconian, I respectfully rise in opposition to it for the reasons I
alluded to earlier, and I urge a ``no'' vote.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I thank the kind gentleman from Tennessee for
averring or implying that I am the reasonable one in the debate here,
and I would, on behalf of the gentleman from South Carolina, urge
adoption.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 29 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 29
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 60, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $20,000,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $20,000,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer this amendment to reduce
funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission, or the NBRC, to
fiscal year 2019 levels.
Like other regional commissions, the NBRC provides economic
development assistance to projects in various States, in this case,
Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.
These commissions simply serve as a slush fund, though, for parochial
and regional projects with little to no national nexus as described in
the other ones.
Let's take a look at some of the funded programs taken from the 2022
annual report, which is the latest report available: 304,000 to
purchase the sound system for an auditorium in New Hampshire; over
350,000 to expand rail yard capacity in upstate New York; and another
$350,000 for a sailing center on Lake Champlain.
I am sure they are awesome projects. I am sure their communities love
them. I just don't understand why people in Ohio, Tennessee,
Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Georgia--you name it--are paying for
this, especially when they can't afford the bills they already have as
evidenced by a $33 trillion debt and a $2.2 trillion deficit this year.
Furthermore, the Biden administration's aim to inject their misguided
diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and climate-related
goals into these projects are not only unaffordable, they are just
completely unnecessary.
Instead of pandering to special interest groups, we must pare back
these wasteful programs that only serve as a boondoggle for a limited
slice of America. This amendment does not zero out the commission's
funding; it simply reduces the funding to pre-COVID, pre-Biden spending
levels, which everybody on this side of the aisle voted against last
December.
If you were against them last December, we are getting pretty close
to this December, but I don't think a whole lot has changed. If you
were against them then, you should be against them now.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, this bill provides $40 million for the
Northern Border Regional Commission, the same as last year.
This commission seeks to create jobs in distressed communities of the
four-State northern region.
While the impact to overall spending in this bill would be small, the
impact felt by these communities would be large.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I agree with my good friend from Tennessee. I
agree with the gentlewoman, my friend from Ohio. It does seek to create
jobs. That is awesome.
It is not the role of the Federal Government, number one. Number two,
it is unaffordable. Number three, we have no way to measure the
success.
Do you know how I know? Because I asked the folks that run these
things. I asked them. What metric do you use to measure the success by
which you use this money and what do we get out of it?
I received blank stares, unfortunately.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption. I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 30 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 30
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 60, line 14, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $19,750,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $19,750,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer this amendment to reduce
funding for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the SCRC, to
fiscal year 2019.
I don't want to leave anybody out here. I listened to them all. Yet
again, this commission serves as a duplicative slush fund for parochial
interests for projects in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Literally, by the way, in counties bordering Washington, D.C. We are
talking about distressed counties, right? Some of the richest counties
in the country right here are included in this regional commission.
From FY 2010 to FY 2020, the SCRC received $250,000 annually, all
without having an appointed Federal co-chair. Did anybody get that?
Nobody was in charge but to get money. It is awesome. I guess that
only happens in the Federal Government.
Now, after a co-chair was appointed in December 2021--unfortunately,
whether you like it or not, just conveniently related to an influential
politician in this body--that number is now a whopping $20 million in
this bill.
Now, I am sure there is no coincidence. I just want to rely on
everybody's integrity here, but there is absolutely no reason for the
dramatic increase in funding, especially when these projects fund both
projects with no national nexus like electric vehicle charging
stations.
If you want to have them in your community, God bless you. That is
awesome. Go pay for them. It is not the Federal Government's job to pay
for that any more than it is the Federal Government's job to pay for
your local gas station.

[[Page H5096]]

How about stormwater management? It is an important issue. I come
from Pennsylvania, we have got a lot of stormwater. I am not asking the
Federal Government to deal with it. We should deal with that at home,
as well as green infrastructure, according to the SCRC's 2023 through
2027 strategic plan.
Our constituents do not have money for these projects that have no
impact on their lives and, in many cases, drive up inflationary
spending.
Oh, sure, they have an impact where you live if you live in one of
these places, but if you don't, you get to pay anyhow. This is why we
have State governments. This is why we have local governments.
The Federal Government is supposed to be there, obviously, but it is
not the job of the Federal Government. Again, I ask my colleagues to
consider reducing, not ending, the funding for this regional
commission.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, once again, I thank my distinguished
colleague and friend from Pennsylvania for being consistent and very
thorough in all of his investigations, and I do really appreciate this.
This has been insightful, but once again, I must respectfully rise to
oppose the amendment. The energy and water bill includes flat funding
for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission.
The amendment would reduce this amount by 99 percent, leaving only
$250,000, not even enough to cover all administrative costs. This
commission seeks to create jobs in some of the most poverty stricken
areas of our Nation, and funding should not be decimated.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I, again, say this commission includes Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Virginia. I have been to every one of them. Many of the residents of
Pennsylvania are moving to those States because they are doing pretty
well.
We lose population compared to these States every 10 years, which is
why we lose a seat in Congress every 10 years. We are spending money in
Pennsylvania on these States. We are not spending in Pennsylvania; we
are spending in these States, so our residents then move to these
States for all the great things.
When I asked the regional commissioner how much money has been spent
in the counties surrounding Washington, D.C.--because, as you recall,
Virginia is included--how much money is spent on the counties right
around Washington, D.C., some of the most wealthy counties in the
country? I couldn't get the answer to that either. I don't know if they
don't have the answer or they don't want to give me the answer, but
that is unacceptable. That is unacceptable. The counties around
Washington, D.C., can afford the amenities they have and they don't
have to ask all these other States to pay for them.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

{time} 2015

The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Moran). The question is on the amendment
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 31 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 31
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 60, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $2,500,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,500,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I don't want to leave anybody out. We are
getting to the end here. This amendment would be to have the funding
for the Southwest Border Regional Commission.
Now, this Commission, which only had its first chairman confirmed in
2022 and only was funded starting in fiscal year 2021, funds projects
in the southern border regions of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and
Texas.
Incidentally, the first chairman was previously the Director of
Economic Development and Special Initiatives for Senator Martin
Heinrich, who continues a theme of politically connected chairman of
these regional commissions, just to let you know.
I know that folks on both sides of the aisle care about the border. I
believe that. However, the answer to solving border problems is to
actually enforce our Nation's immigration laws, not to give $5 million
to a commission that has not published a strategic plan and does not
even appear to have a website.
I would think they could afford to have a website with $5 million.
The Commission received $250,000 in FY21 but is now being funded at
$5 million in this bill for FY24 for literally no results.
Now $250,000 is a lot of money where I come from, and $5 million is
even more. I can see inflation; I could see the cost of living going
up. The people that I represent, their grocery costs are 20 percent up;
fuel costs, electricity costs, everything they pay for is up, but not
$250,000 to $5 million. That is a little bit more of a jump than
everybody is used to.
Again, this amendment simply strikes this figure in half to a still
exorbitant $2.5 million.
Mr. Chair, I urge support of this amendment, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose this amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, my friend and colleague from
Pennsylvania once again has been consistent in his opposition to these
regional commissions.
This amendment seeks to cut funding for the Southwest Border Regional
Commission in half. This Commission seeks to create jobs in some of the
most poverty-stricken areas of our Nation. This bill provides $5
million equal to fiscal year 2023. This amount ensures this Commission
can continue its work and cutting it in half would virtually do nothing
compared to the overall spending in the bill.
Mr. Chair, I respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani), my dear friend and also a
fellow member of the Committee on Appropriations.
Mr. CISCOMANI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in respectful opposition to this amendment
by my good friend from Pennsylvania.
The Southwest Border Regional Commission encompasses all five of the
counties that I represent in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, in
addition to 88 other counties in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and
California.
While I appreciate the sentiment of this amendment to rein in Federal
funding that I think we can all agree on, cutting funding from the
Commission is not the way to do so. Of the approximately 35 million
people the Commission serves, nearly 5 million live in poverty.
Additionally, of all the regional commissions, the Southwest Border
Regional Commission has the largest population, about 2.4 million
people living in the most severely economically distressed counties.

[[Page H5097]]

These are communities that are dealing with drought, economic
downfall, and overstretched resources as we see record-high levels of
illegal immigration along the southwest border. Many of the people live
in designated health professional shortage areas and lack access to
clean water and also other necessities.
The Southwest Border Regional Commission finally received its first
Federal co-chair just last December. That means that it was just
recently allowed to begin convening and to begin activities. It would
be a shame to reduce funding that is so desperately needed to promote
economic development in our counties along the southwest border.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I certainly appreciate my good friend from
Arizona. We are sure happy to have him here, as well as the gentleman
from Tennessee, and the work that they have done in collaboration with
my friends across the aisle. None of this is easy, but only in
Washington can you go from $250,000 to $2.5 million and still call it a
cut because you didn't go to $5 million, which is what we are talking
about.
I am not saying $250,000 is too much, but I am saying $5 million is
too much, and saying we should spend $2.5 million, which quite honestly
for me is too much, but I get it.
To the gentleman from Arizona's point, he is absolutely right, their
States are being ravaged and destroyed by the Federal Government's
refusal and obstinance to follow the law and allowing people to flow
across the border illegally into their communities and destroy their
communities.
This cannot be afforded. It can't be afforded by them and it can't be
afforded by anybody else. The solution is not to spend more money
there, to provide more services and encourage more people to come in
illegally while this administration refuses to enforce the law.

I think the gentleman would probably agree with at least that
sentiment at some point. I understand he is trying to do right by his
citizens, and he should. The best way to do right by his citizens, and
he has no control of this, neither does anybody in this body at this
moment, is to actually enforce the law. The President can do that and
clear up this whole disagreement on this side of the aisle and on that
side of the aisle, but that is not going to happen any time soon.
You know what else is not going to happen any time soon, Mr.
Chairman? We are not going to quit putting our country in debt and
bankrupting it. We are taking in $5 trillion in revenue this year but
we are going to spend $7.2.
While my good friend says this will have no impact on the overall
cost of the bill, where I come from, $250,000 is a lot of money, $2.5
million is a huge amount of money, and $5 million is an obscene amount
of money that most people don't have. While it might have a little
impact in this town, it has a huge impact in my town.
Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

Amendment No. 32 Offered by Mr. Perry

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 32
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Page 60, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $2,500,000)''.
Page 101, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,500,000)''.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I don't want to leave anybody out here on
the abuse and the waste, and I know I am going to sound like a broken
record so I will try and keep it short.
First, the Great Lakes Authority has only been authorized since 2022.
It still does not have a Federal co-chair, it has no website, it has no
programs funded. Yet strangely, it is still receiving Federal dollars
to the tune of $5 million for projects supposedly in the watershed
regions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Yes, I said Pennsylvania, and I am from
Pennsylvania, but when you can't afford things and you are wasting
money, I don't care where you are from, you have to say something about
it.
Mr. Chair, we have seen how the other commissions have gone.
President Trump urged the elimination of three of them, and President
Obama recommended cuts and elimination for the Denali Commission. With
that level of bipartisan criticism of the existing commissions, I don't
see why we need to dig ourselves even deeper with yet another one. I
mean, there is not a lot we agree on in this town, but apparently there
is some agreement on this. We ought to try and forge ahead with that
agreement.
I know people in this building will scoff at the difference between
$2.5 million and $5 million, but like I said, where I come from, $2.5
million or $5 million is a lot of money. It might not be to the
President who buys beach homes with cash and all that stuff, but where
I come from, that is a lot of money. That $2.5 million should not be
going toward a commission that cannot even begin operations without a
Senate-confirmed Federal co-chair. It shouldn't be going for that.
There is nobody there to administer it.
Furthermore, all of us here know it is not going to stop at $5
million. This is just the beginning, Mr. Chairman. This Commission,
like the rest, will balloon up to tens of millions of dollars if
Congress, using the power of its purse, does not put its foot down.
This won't be the only commission. I have been through them all
tonight. Every other State and region is going to say, well, shoot,
they have one. They have one over there. They have one down there. Why
don't we have one? It is going to go.
Again, I would just remind everybody that we are just a little bit in
debt--just a little bit--$2.2 trillion this year, $33 trillion overall.
Mr. Chair, somebody has to say no. Somebody has to say no.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, once again, I thank my distinguished
friend from Pennsylvania and colleague for his very thoughtful work on
this entire project. He has covered all of these regions.
Mr. Chair, this amendment seeks to cut funding for the Great Lakes
Authority in half, and I strongly oppose it. This is a newly authorized
regional commission intended to create jobs in communities that need it
most.
As we crafted this bill, Mr. Chairman, we actually listened to
Members and got Members' requests. This Commission, the Great Lakes
Commission received a tremendous amount of bipartisan support for it.
It is newly created, and that is one of the reasons that it has not had
its funding. It has never had funding because it is brand-new.
Mr. Chair, in that regard, especially in terms of the strong
bipartisan support for this bill and for this Commission, I urge a
``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I understand and recognize the good,
intended efforts, the heartfelt efforts of the committee members and on
both sides of the aisle, certainly the Members representing the States
involved. I understand and I recognize that, and I think they mean to
do well.

[[Page H5098]]

There is nobody there to administer this. There is nobody present,
but we are going to give them the money anyhow. We don't have any money
to give, Mr. Chairman. We are borrowing money to give to a program with
nobody there to administer it on projects that we haven't even seen
yet. I don't know about you, but that seems like, to borrow an old
phrase, putting the cart before the horse, or something like that.
People are going to say, well, we have to have the money so we can
set it up. Okay, fair enough. The problem is we don't have the money.
Again, I don't mean to be a broken record here--I know I sound like
one--we don't have any money, number one.
Number two, these are State and local projects. If you are showing me
one that crosses State lines, and building a highway between
Pennsylvania and Ohio or something like that, then we have a
conversation going.
Now, there are already agencies and administrations to do that--we
talked about that before--multiple agencies doing the same things, not
just a couple, a couple dozen, but if that is not enough for you, just
go with the fact that your constituents, your bosses, my bosses, can't
afford this.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania
will be postponed.

{time} 2030

Amendment No. 34 Offered by Mrs. Cammack

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 34
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ___. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to finalize any
rule or regulation that meets the definition of section
804(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code.

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentlewoman
from Florida (Mrs. Cammack) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment,
which would restrict funds at the Department of Energy and related
agencies from being used to finalize any rule or regulation that has an
annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.
Under this administration, the regulatory environment, or regime, as
I like to call it, has never been worse. For too long, the ever-
increasing regulatory costs have harmed consumers and businesses across
the country. Since President Biden took office, the regulatory
landscape has deteriorated by numerous new rules and regulations that
impact all aspects of our economy and, quite frankly, consumers' bottom
line. These are the regulations that have added hundreds of billions of
dollars more in new regulatory costs that are ultimately passed down to
our consumers, who are our constituents.
Recently, we have seen new, outlandish regulatory proposals from
agencies, including the Department of Energy's new regulations that
were implemented under the guise of efficiency standards. In reality,
these efforts are part of the administration's efforts to use every
opportunity to implement the Green New Deal. Just look at the
efficiency standards that take aim at banning gas stoves and furnaces.
These regulations are absurd, unnecessary, and make these appliances
unattainable or simply unaffordable, particularly in this economy, or
Biden economics, as we have been told this is.
My amendment would rein in the actions of the Department of Energy
and related agencies covered by this bill and restore accountability.
Congress, not the executive branch, is the sole legislative body in
this country. It is time that we restore the accountability and
transparency to our constituents by reasserting our Article I
authority. Congress makes the law, not the White House.
This amendment would limit the overreach of these agencies and
prevent costly regulations from going into effect that ultimately
impact our constituents negatively. It is time that we stand up for our
constituents and rein in this overgrown, bureaucratic government.
Mr. Chair, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this
amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, this amendment is one more controversial
poison pill policy rider that sadly shows extremist Republicans are not
interested in bills that can gain bipartisan support and become law.
Now, let's have a little math. In 2012, before the Bush tax cuts, the
Congressional Budget Office showed revenues exceeding primary spending
for the next 65 years and that debt as a percentage of GDP, our gross
domestic product, everything that we make in a year, would decline
indefinitely. How about that. That was 2012.
Since then, tax cut extensions and the Trump tax cuts have added $10
trillion to the debt to date, and their cost will increase enough over
time to account for the entire long-term growth in debt ratio. The
Trump tax cuts are costing us $2 trillion per year. Just look at it. It
is unbelievable. Remember, those benefits are disproportionately
enjoyed by the most wealthy.
If we truly want to protect the American taxpayer, we should be
marking up bills at levels agreed to between the President, Speaker
McCarthy, and signed into law in the Fiscal Responsibility Act rather
than bringing the government to the verge of a shutdown and now marking
up bills that don't just break the deal but obliterate it by cutting
critical domestic investments.
I can't wait for the Debt Commission to actually get the facts out
there for the American people, because I have been listening to this
all evening. It is very much off the mark. Let's get serious about
passing bills that can gain bipartisan support and become law.
Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful
amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, I am confused. My colleague across the aisle
said that this is a controversial poison pill. Just this year, this
exact same language was passed off of this floor in this Chamber not
just with Republican support, but Democrat support. This is not a
partisan issue.
Reasserting the will of the people, empowering the people that hired
us to do this job, that is not a controversial issue, nor is it a
poison pill. None of our constituents sent us to Washington to cede
power to an unelected nameless, faceless bureaucrat somewhere in a
basement in Washington.
I disagree tremendously that this piece of legislation, this
amendment specifically, would be a poison pill to the very thing that
we are trying to accomplish here, one of our critical appropriation
bills.
I would also say that today, because of the Biden administration's
overreach and aggressive regulatory environment, we now spend more than
$2 trillion a year in our economy on compliance and additional costs.
Families are paying more than $14,860 a year in additional regulatory
costs and burdens on them. I don't know many families, certainly not in
my district, that can afford an additional $14,860 a year in additional
costs.
I agree with my colleague, however. It is time to get serious. When I
say serious, it means reasserting our authority as Representatives of
the people. This amendment does just that.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).
The amendment was agreed to.

[[Page H5099]]

Amendment No. 35 Offered by Mr. Fallon

The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 35
printed in part B of House Report 118-242.
Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to implement, administer, or enforce the final rule
of the Department of Energy entitled ``Energy Conservation
Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer
Furnaces'' signed on September 28, 2023 (Docket ID: EERE-
2014-BT-STD-0031; RIN 1904-AD20).

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 756, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Fallon) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment that
prohibits funding for the Department of Energy's new rule on gas
furnaces. It is a regulation that would drastically impact consumers in
a negative way, unfortunately.
Under this rule, manufacturers would only be allowed to sell furnaces
that convert at least 95 percent of fuel into heat, within 6 years. The
Department of Energy is forcing consumers to choose between an electric
heat pump or expensive home renovations.
Once again, unelected bureaucrats are gaslighting--yes, pun
intended--Congress and the American people about what they can do under
the law. Under the guise of improving energy efficiency, as prescribed
by the Environmental Policy and Conservation Act, or EPCA, this
administration has attacked every single affordable appliance on the
market. This gas furnace rule is just the latest salvo. We have been
having hearings in the Oversight Committee about just this kind of
thing: Are we going to have gas stoves, things like that.
EPCA states that any standard must result in significant energy
conservation and be ``technologically feasible'' and ``economically
justifiable.''
We have the authority to question the extent of these proposed
standards to determine whether they can be construed as both
technologically feasible and economically justifiable.
Like many of the home appliances standards rammed through by this
administration, this rule falls short of these criteria. The National
Propane Gas Association estimates that this rule would impact at least
40 percent of gas-furnaced homes and would remove up to 60 percent of
current residential furnaces off the market. Additionally, the
Department of Energy estimates affected homes will have to pay $2,300
for renovations plus thousands of additional dollars for actual
furnaces.
Propane customers in Texas have already faced a 37 percent increase
over the last 3 years, and this administration, quite frankly, should
focus on lowering costs and not increasing them.
Agency actions that remove consumer choice operate on the assumption
that the Federal Government knows what is best for its citizens, even
more so than the citizens themselves. That is why I have always been a
big, limited-government person. I trust you, Mr. Chair, more so than I
would trust the Federal Government to know what kind of stove or gas
furnace you want to heat your home. News flash: You know and the
bureaucrats don't.
If we want to have something that severe, it should be legislated.
There are 435 of us here for a reason. When we come here, if we want to
change the law or create laws, there is a process for that. It
shouldn't be unelected, nameless, faceless bureaucrats with that kind
of power.
This amendment is a check on arrogant bureaucrats who think that they
know best for you, Mr. Chair, many of our constituents, and everyday
Americans across the country.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, the Department of Energy is charged with
implementing congressionally directed energy efficiency standards. When
the gentleman blithely says he doesn't like unelected bureaucrats, the
people who work in these departments are trained and actually help
consumers.
Frankly, I think it is helpful for consumers to know, when they are
going to buy a blouse, let's say, whether it is cotton or rayon. It is
sort of nice to have the label on there. If you are driving a car, it
is nice to know how many miles per gallon the car is going to get. You
sort of get a sense of if you are going to buy this one or another one.
With refrigerators, I think it is really great that you see how much
energy it uses so you can buy a more efficient refrigerator, so you
have your electricity bill go down.
I don't know why the gentleman is objecting to helping the American
consumer make better choices. In accordance with the statutes that we
have passed, the Department of Energy has published regulations in the
Code of Federal Regulations--in other words, it is not by some whim--
for more than 60 categories of appliance and equipment types. That
helps consumers make good choices.
The Department of Energy drafts the energy efficiency regulations
with the full participation of equipment manufacturers and the public
at large. The process includes thorough consideration of all comments
and concerns.
In following the law, the Department of Energy has issued proposed or
final standards for 24 product categories so far this year. Again,
these actions are by congressional direction. They just don't pick them
out of the air. Actually, it is a process of law. These actions result
in direct energy savings while also improving the reliability and
performance across household appliances and commercial and industrial
equipment.
There is a quote from Daniel Webster in this House that tells us in
our time and our generation, may we perform something worthy to be
remembered. That is a really good quote to think about.
I think it is safe to assume that virtually all Americans, let alone
all of the people in this room, have benefited from some of these types
of efficiency standards over the course of their lifetimes.
The benefits are real. As a result of the Department of Energy's
efficiency actions, cost savings for American families and businesses
are projected to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2030. The Department of
Energy estimates that this specific rule would slash household utility
costs by $1.5 billion annually, which is something the American people
want to do, and save consumers $24.8 billion on their energy bills over
30 years. That is a big deal.
Further, if Congress does not like these standards, that should be
addressed by new laws through the Energy and Commerce Committee, not by
funding prohibitions. I would suggest to the gentleman, he might want
to go before that committee.
Stopping the Department of Energy from finalizing, implementing, or
enforcing energy efficiency standards will only create uncertainty for
manufacturers and consumers.

{time} 2045

With respect to the energy efficiency standards for consumer
furnaces, if my Republican colleagues are concerned about the rule's
potential to increase costs for homeowners, then I would suggest that
they should not be seeking in this bill to rescind the Inflation
Reduction Act funding for home energy efficiency rebates, which will
help many hardworking Americans afford energy efficient heating units
that will actually save them money on their utility bills in the long
term.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas has 1\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I will not be able to say everything I want
to, but I do want to thank my colleague for correcting me. It is not
unelected bureaucrats. They are trained unelected bureaucrats. I wanted
to thank her for that.
The Department of Energy relies upon modeling techniques within the
technical support document, or TSD,

[[Page H5100]]

that overstate the calculated climate benefits of reduced emissions in
order to justify more stringent energy efficiency standards. They did
the same thing, the same rule, with the gas stoves.
The gentlewoman said it is not on some whim, Mr. Chairman. In the
rulemaking, the Department of Energy uses random assignment modeling--
that sounds like close to a whim to me--to guess consumer decisions and
ignores economic considerations consumers use to make decisions.
The rule states that EPCA is not fuel neutral. This isn't the case.
I have a lot more to say, Mr. Chairman, but we are on a 5-minute
limit time, and it is late at night.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon).
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Fallon) having assumed the chair, Mr. Moran, Acting Chair of the
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4394)
making appropriations for energy and water development and related
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other
purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

____________________