Rep. McCollum Statement in Advance of Interior Appropriations Full Committee Markup
"Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Committee will mark up the $30.17 billion FY16 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. I am the Ranking Member on the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which provides funding for our National Parks, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency and various arts and humanities programs. The bill before the committee will be impossible for me to support. It has some minor increases in funding for investments in our National Parks and for schools and hospitals in Indian Country – which I was glad to see. However, all of these increases are paid for by drastic cuts to environmental protections – most notably programs to ensure that Americans have access to clean water, including drinking water.
"The cuts in this bill to the Environmental Protection Agency amount to a war on clean water. Families in California are in the midst of a drought and communities in North Carolina and West Virginia are just a few months removed from seeing their water contaminated by pollution. The need to protect access to clean water systems in this country is as pressing as ever. This bill slashes more than $580 million in funding from the EPA’s Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water state revolving loan funds– programs that have garnered praise for their effectiveness from former Republican Governors like Sarah Palin and Jeb Bush. Since 1989, Minnesota has received more than $1B in funding from these programs to help communities build storm water and drinking water infrastructure systems. The bill also has riders that further limit the EPA’s ability to enforce current water protections and it trims funding for Brownfield restoration and economic development programs.
"This bill does include some long-overdue investments in critical areas. We are making strides forward on funding for Native American schools and hospitals which have been woefully underfunded. The National Parks Service received some of the funding necessary to proceed on repairs and operations coinciding with their centennial next year, but the bill still places them $381 million below the President’s request. A small increase to the Bureau of Land Management would also allow them to continue their good work.
"However, the deep cuts to clean water funding are simply an unacceptable way to pay for these increases. Clean drinking water is an essential human need. If people do not have access to clean drinking water, our other investments will not have the same impact. An increase in funding for our parks means very little if the water that flows through them is polluted. The public health gains from a new hospital for a tribal nation are mitigated if their water supply is contaminated. This is simply not a trade I am willing to make.
"I hope that we are able to improve this bill during tomorrow’s markup process. We must find a way to pay for these long overdue investments that does not jeopardize public health."