Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chair, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 5895.

But before I do that, I want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for his tremendous hard work and efforts and also the ranking member, Mrs. Lowey, for her hard work on this bill as well.

Mr. Chair, this bill combines the appropriation bills for Energy and Water Development, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch.

As the vice chairman of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, I am especially proud to support this bill, which reflects the hard work of the subcommittee members and staff under the leadership of Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Kaptur.

This bill provides robust funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration to maintain the safety and readiness of our Nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, addresses aging infrastructure in our weapons complex facilities, and supports current and future missions of our great nuclear Navy.

Another issue that is near and dear to me is nuclear cleanup, as both Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have significant ongoing cleanup missions.

As the chairman of the Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, I know that addressing the legacy of the Cold War in communities around the Nation is a vital Federal commitment. This bill provides the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management with the funding it needs to continue to live up to this commitment.

I am also pleased with the strong support in this bill for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Notably, this bill supports continued investment in the area of supercomputing and supports the Department of Energy's goal to deploy a first-in-the-world exascale supercomputer. Much of that critical research will take place at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

There is also continued support for Oak Ridge National Laboratory's high-flux neutron sources, which enable novel scientific research into the fundamental nature of matter that can be formed nowhere else in the world.

Funding in this bill provides critical infrastructure for our waterways, which is essential to our economy.

Mr. Chair, I will close by reiterating my full, strong support for this bill and encouraging all of my colleagues to support this bill and support the incredibly important national priorities that it funds.

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