Political Quotes

“I would like to first thank my ranking member, Marcy Kaptur, for her efforts and input as we have worked through this bill over the past year and developed and completed the final fiscal year 2018 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. I would also like to acknowledge the work of our Senate partners, Lamar Alexander and Dianne Feinstein. I rise today in support of the fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill. It was negotiated in a bipartisan manner, but the end result has a strong emphasis on Republican priorities. Within the Energy and Water Development division specifically, those priorities include national security and infrastructure. Funding for DOE's nuclear weapons security programs is at $14.7 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion above last year and $738 million above the budget request. These funds will ensure the reliability and effectiveness of our nuclear weapons stockpile and will address a backlog of deferred maintenance at aging nuclear weapons facilities. The bill makes targeted investments to protect our Nation's energy infrastructure against cyber and other attacks, including an increase of $18 million above last year's level for research and development activities to strengthen the security of our electric grid. In total, the Energy and Water Development bill increases funding for energy and water resources infrastructure by $1.5 billion above fiscal year 2017.…”