Interior, Environment, Financial Services, and General Government Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, we are beginning to wrap up the appropriations package, which includes the fiscal year 2019 bills for the Subcommittees on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Agriculture, Rural Government, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; as well as Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, or T-HUD.

This is really quite an accomplishment this morning. It is perhaps not necessarily noted in the trade press out there, but the fact is, we are doing our business here. We are doing the business of lawmakers and legislators when it comes to our annual spending bills.

The fact that this is August 1 and we will be wrapping up in a matter of an hour or so, a couple of hours, 4 appropriations bills on top of the 3 that we have previously done--so 7 out of the 12 appropriations bills--is good progress. This is important progress. Some might say it is historic progress. I say it is progress that is long overdue.

I believe it is because of the leadership of Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy. They came together to basically lay down a path forward for the Appropriations Committee, urging us, as chairmen of our respective subcommittees, to go back to a process that was a working and functioning process where we do the work of appropriators--not as authorizers but as appropriators--in advancing these multiple spending bills. In my view, where we are today is the result of good leadership at the committee, good leadership that says that committee work matters.

To be able to lead the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee has been a very distinct privilege and an honor for me. These are areas that are clearly of interest to my home State. When we talk about our Nation's public lands, when we talk about support for our indigenous people and the agencies that support them--whether it is the BIA or the IHS--when we think about the arts and the contribution of the arts to our Nation, the issues that are within this subcommittee's jurisdiction are good, are important, and it is necessary that on an annual basis we work to advance these priorities.

We haven't been able to really advance them, not only not here on the full floor but actually through the full committee. It has been many years--actually, since fiscal year 2010 that we have had an interior bill before the full Senate for full consideration. So, again, this is truly a milestone.

As I mentioned, I want to thank Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for their leadership on this. I also want to acknowledge and thank Leader McConnell for placing a priority on the appropriations process. He urged us to advance, without delay, this multitude of spending bills to return us back to regular order.

He set forth a pretty aggressive schedule for us. In fairness, there were a lot of folks out there who said: The Senate is not going to do this one. There were a lot of skeptics who said: They can't get their act together on this one.

Well, it is kind of nice to be able to demonstrate that, in fact, we can, and we have, and we continue to do this good work. We are on track to meet our goal of avoiding what we have come to just accept as the regular course of business around here--that there is going to be a large omnibus package at the end of the year. Instead, we have allowed for a process on this floor where all Members of the Senate, not just those of us who serve on the Appropriations Committee but all of us, have an opportunity to weigh in, to dig in, and to review these measures that have come through the committee, offer up amendments, and have the ability to debate and amend them. Granted, we haven't had as many amendments on the floor as I think some of us might have wanted. We haven't had the hours-long debate on some of the, perhaps, more contentious matters, but what we have done is we have really focused on outlining the spending priorities and ensuring that we can find consensus. Finding consensus around here is the hard part of the responsibility because it means I have to stand down on some of my priorities, and others have to stand down on some of their priorities, in order for any of us to be able to advance the broader priorities.

So we are here with a process that has been delayed over the years, but I feel good, I feel optimistic that we have pushed the reset button when it comes to the Appropriations Committee and how we will be able to move forward.

We know there is more than just one body in the Congress, and we are going to have to deal with our colleagues on the other side, the House of Representatives, as we move into conference, but we can't get to conference until we have taken the first step, and we will be able to take the first step with these four appropriations bills that are part of this package this morning.

I want to highlight just some of the provisions in the Interior bill that our committee worked so hard on. As I mentioned, this is a subcommittee that has oversight in so many different areas. It is not only our Nation's public lands, it is matters relating to our Native people. It includes environmental issues with the EPA. It is arts and culture. So we have a broad array of responsibilities.

Some of the highlights here--folks are always very interested in what we have done to meet our responsibility when it comes to payments to those communities, those counties, those bureaus, and municipalities through the PILT Program, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program. We fully fund the PILT Program at $500 million. This is going to be important to so many of our communities out there.

Another issue that has generated its level of support and some opposition in terms of wanting to see some additional reforms is the Land and Water Conservation Fund Program. We fund LWCF at the current level of $425 million to ensure that the important work that is advanced for conservation is able to proceed.

There is a lot of focus on what is happening with the devastating forest fires that we are seeing right now in the West, particularly in California. We provide robust levels for firefighting funding to ensure that both the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service have the resources they need at the time they need them. When you have a fire underway, they don't want us to be arguing about whether we have the resources. The resources are there, and we will be there to help.

I mentioned the matters that relate to our first people, American Indians, Alaska Natives. We do right by Indian Country within this bill.

For the two main agencies that deliver services for the Indian community, both the BIA--the Bureau of Indian Affairs--and the Indian Health Service, we have restored the cuts that were proposed of over $1 billion in critical program funding. The bill increases funding for the IHS facilities program, for construction, maintenance, and sanitation facilities improvements. We hear, time after time, in Indian Affairs as well as in the Appropriations Committee about the dire situation with so many of our facilities within not only our Indian hospitals around the country but also within the schools, truly leaving these children behind. So we do provide substantial funding for the BIA to help with construction of Indian schools. Also, we include irrigation systems and public safety facilities, so truly the full picture there.

For both accounts, we provide the fully estimated level of contract support costs for healthcare. This is very significant in ensuring that we are being honest by these accounts. We are not forcing IHS to effectively dip into other pots of funding to fund another, so it is important that we fully fund contract support.

In IHS, we also provided $10 million in critical new funding to provide grants to Tribes for combating the opioid crisis. So, again, we all know, all throughout the country, the issues we are facing with opioids. It is almost even more accentuated on our reservations and in many places where our Native peoples are facing this terrible scourge.

When it comes to public lands, how we did right by public lands-- whether it is our Forest Service, the BLM, the National Park Service-- is we worked to address contaminated land matters. We worked to provide support for construction and deferred maintenance not only within our National Park System but within our other public lands. We focused on areas of hazards. Most people didn't give a lot of thought to what was going on with volcanoes until the situation we are seeing on the Big Island of Hawaii, and now there is a lot of attention. So we are making sure we are doing right in understanding some of our natural hazards, whether they are volcanoes or earthquakes. On mapping, which is so critical for us--USDS does such a great job on that--we need to be doing more.

We have also made responsible investments in the EPA that will lead to cleaner air and water. So within our bill, we provide additional funding to States that have delegated responsibility for environmental programs.

We provide an increase above last year's level for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. This builds on critical water infrastructure in communities across the country. I think we all recognize, when it comes to that role, the mission of EPA--clean air, clean water. What are we doing to make sure they are able to fulfill that mission? These accounts truly do make a difference.

We also continue to provide the highest funding level ever for the WIFIA Program. This leverages Federal funds for water infrastructure projects, and these programs have a direct impact on improving water quality in communities around the country.

Then, another small category that is not small for the arts and the cultural communities--but, again, we do right by our Smithsonians here in our Nation's Capital, helping to ensure that the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities receive the level of support that I believe is important.

Again, those are some of the greatest hits coming out of the Interior appropriations bill this morning. We have heard similar comments from my colleagues in the other three Departments, whether it is Financial Services, Agriculture, or Transportation and Housing.

Again, I look forward to working with colleagues as we advance these measures through the full process not only here in the Senate but in the conference with the House later.

I would like to close by again expressing my appreciation to my friend and the ranking member of the committee, Senator Udall, who is here this morning. He and his staff have been excellent to work with, and I appreciate his efforts and those of his staff as we have worked to shape this bill so it reflects the priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle. I think we have worked very hard to do that. I know I am pleased with where we are right now with this measure.

I look forward to the passage of this bill, again, in working with him and my other colleagues, as we move through the conference process.

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