Katie Porter: “I am not opposed to this amendment. I congratulate my colleague, Representative Harder, for getting it made in order for…”

“I am not opposed to this amendment. I congratulate my colleague, Representative Harder, for getting it made in order for consideration today, but I do want to take this opportunity to comment on the overall process we have seen on the underlying bill. This amendment is an example of the sort of thing we could have figured out months ago if Republican leaders had not insisted on such a rushed, chaotic process for this bill. The hearing was on a discussion draft, which meant that it happened without testimony from one of the affected Federal departments. Then my Republican colleagues ignored extensive technical assistance and red flags provided by the Department of the Interior and by the Forest Service. I emphasize again: I am not even talking about policy differences here. I am talking about serious concerns that the bill doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, the sponsor ignored those red flags. Throughout the process, committee Democrats have asked to be included so that we could try to reach consensus on this bill. We could have made suggestions, such as this amendment before us. We could have offered improvements to address the administration's concerns, but we were excluded. Now we are here with a bill that doesn't comply with the Republican Conference's own CutGo protocols and that, as of this morning, didn't even have a CBO score.…”