Madam President, I come to the floor today to introduce the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2022. Of course, that is the fiscal year that began on October 1. Like my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, I am thrilled about the great work that has been done over many months to craft spending bills that lift up the ideals of our country and put the needs of workers and families ahead of the desires of special interests. As chair of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee, I can say that this is certainly true for the Interior bill that Senator Murkowski and I, along with members of the subcommittee, have worked so hard to create. And I want to especially thank Senator Murkowski and our fellow subcommittee members for their contributions to this bill. The Interior bill raises some of the more complex and challenging issues facing America, so we are delighted that it has been filed today. Together, we have crafted a bill that recognizes not only the danger that hotter, more devastating wildfires, longer fire seasons themselves pose, but the dangers of smoke from them. That smoke is making a bigger and bigger impact back home on our crops and on our entertainment because of outdoor venues being shut down and certainly upon people's health. The bill makes critical investments to lessen the peril. It doubles the funding for hazardous fuels reductions.…
On the recordOctober 20, 2021
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