Political Quotes

“It is my distinct honor to bring to the House floor the fiscal year 2019 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Before I go into details about the bill, I would like to commend Chairman Frelinghuysen for his leadership and support throughout this process. As reported by the Appropriations Committee, the fiscal year 2019 Interior and Environment bill is funded at $35.252 billion, which is equal to the FY18 enacted level. We have made sincere efforts to prioritize critical needs within our subcommittee allocation and in reviewing more than 5,200 individual requests. In the interest of time, I won't outline all the problems or programs and activities funded in this bill. I would like to point out a few highlights. The bill provides robust wildland fire funding totaling $3.9 billion. It fully funds the 10-year average for wildland fire suppression costs and provides an additional $500 million in suppression funds for the Forest Service. The committee has also provided a $30 million increase over fiscal year 2018 for hazardous fuel reduction. The bill provides $500 million in fiscal year 2019 for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes, PILT program, which is a top priority for many Members on both sides of the aisle. The bill also makes critical investments in Indian Country, a top priority of this committee.…”