Rep. Bishop Remarks during USHR Approp. Cmte. FY27 Interior & Environment Funding Bill Markup

The U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee marked up its Fiscal Year 2027 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies funding bill. The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee has funding jurisdiction over nearly all of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many other agencies including the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, the U.S. Forest Service, and many educational and arts related federal agencies such as the Commission on Fine Arts, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution. Congressman Bishop is a senior member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. During the full committee markup, he noted that funding cuts in this bill to programs that strengthen our energy grid, diversify sources and locations for energy production, and which address the impact climate change is having on communities across the country. Taken together, these cuts make the cost of energy increase for America's families and businesses. It also makes significant cuts to state and tribal agencies for environmental projects. The funding bill walks away from programs that help communities provide clean, affordable drinking water. He noted that the bill kicks the can on much needed infrastructure projects which, left undone now, will only get more expensive as time progresses. It cuts funds to agencies and programs that are stewards of our natural resources. It cuts programs to the arts at a time when the Administration is promoting vanity projects, policing thought, and limiting the freedom of artistic expression.