Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Interior division of this omnibus bill attempts to fairly balance the needs of our subcommittee's many diverse agencies and programs. It continues the subcommittee's critical work on addressing wildland fire, domestic energy production, the needs of our national parks, and meeting the obligations to Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. I look forward to working with the new leadership at the Interior Department in the FY 2018 appropriations process. This bill provides funding for fire suppression at the 10-year average level. It includes $407 million in the FLAME wildfire suppression reserve account to help avoid borrowing resources from other forest programs to put out wildland fire. This bill provides additional funding for the National Park Service, including efforts to address the maintenance backlog, the Service's Centennial, and the Centennial Challenge matching grant program. The bill makes significant investments in health care, law enforcement, education programs in Indian Country, honoring the longstanding commitments to the American Indians and Alaska Natives. This bill builds on the Trump administration's efforts to promote domestic energy and mineral development both onshore and offshore. Before I close, I want to thank our ranking member, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota.…”