Alan Simpson: “I would like to thank my ranking member, Marcy Kaptur, for her hard work over the many months we have spent preparing…”

“I would like to thank my ranking member, Marcy Kaptur, for her hard work over the many months we have spent preparing this bill for consideration today. I would also like to acknowledge the work of our Senate partners, Lamar Alexander and Dianne Feinstein. There are a number of good reasons to vote for this bill, and many of them are in the Energy and Water Development section. This bill provides strong funding for our defense. It makes important infrastructure investments that will keep America's waterways open for business. And, this bill includes critical funding to ensure the security of our Nation's electrical grid. Weapons Activities, which provides funding to support our aging nuclear weapons stockpile, is $660 million more than last year. This includes full funding for critical warheads such as the B61 bomb and the Long Range Standoff cruise missile. The Naval Reactors Program has been increased by $141 million, including the full request for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement reactor. Funding for the Army Corps of Engineers includes more than $1.2 million for HMTF activities--hitting the WRRDA target. The bill also provides for full use of the annual IWTF revenues.…”