Derek Kilmer

We will not cease our efforts to lower lake levels, but we cannot afford to wait for the IJC to prioritize the livelihood of our constituents.

Folks are already experiencing the consequences of climate change--from rising sea levels, to more frequent and severe storms--which are costing our communities their livelihoods.

The Federal Government needs to invest in dedicated resources and technical assistance to support these efforts.

As the ranking member, I want to work with the subcommittee to move the ball forward on many of the 50 bipartisan recommendations that have passed the Modernization Committee.

Yet during the same 10 years, we have approved the following budget increases: 113 percent, a $10.7 million increase, to the Sergeant at Arms.

Today more than ever, Members feel the repercussions of a growing lack of resources in all aspects of our job.

In my over 20 years either working first as a staffer or being a Member of Congress, congressional reform has become one of my greatest priorities.

I think our thinking was that it would be a central feature.

I feel like it should be mandatory reading for every member of Congress.

I will also just thank you for referencing the great leader, Billy Frank, Jr.

I think that we should have a section that is dedicated to tribal communities, and, specifically, to frontline communities that are going through what you are going through right now.

I want to thank our chairwoman for her leadership, and partnership, and advocacy in making that happen.

I call on you to further fund the EPA, and we have all those details available for you so that we as clinicians can do job well done, too.

The ask is for an addition $87 million to adjust for 15 years of holding it steady on the paycheck.

The Billy Frank, Jr. Refuge is really incredible, and is appropriately named after someone who was a real champion for tribal justice and for environmental justice.

The concern about offshore drilling is real, you know. It is perceived in our region by Democrats, Republicans, you name it, as a real threat to those livelihoods, to our maritime industry, to commercial fishing, sport fishing, tourism.

The Administration would suggest that we should drill. It would be a huge challenge to our fishing industry, it would be a disaster to our tourism industry.

The very idea that we are supporting that is unthinkable.

We are not investing in that, yet we are encouraging and supporting and subsidizing oil and gas leases, is ridiculous at this moment in time.

We think of these as national treasures.

The idea that there would be any mechanism that would reduce the amount that we receive, and also that there is no transparency, is really unthinkable.

Thanks again to Representative Kilmer for his leadership on this bill

Maintaining a strong naval presence is going to be all the more important in the years ahead.

I share the disappointment expressed by many of my colleagues that the administration is, once again, proposing elimination of ARPA-E.

I keep coming to the thought that we are missing an opportunity to make smart investments on the front end in resilience rather than waiting until these structures fail.