As the House considers H.R. 7608, the first minibus package of four appropriations bills for the Departments of State, Agriculture, Interior, and Veterans Affairs for Fiscal Year 2021, NTU urges all Representatives to support amendments that reduce expenditures, eliminate waste, increase efficiency, reduce regulatory burdens, and otherwise uphold free market principles.
To that end, NTU urges a “YES” vote on the following amendment in Division A:
Amd. 1, (filed as #11) Allen (R-GA): This amendment would reduce spending in the State-Foreign Operations section (Division A) of the underlying bill by 5 percent. A 5 percent reduction in spending would result in a nearly $3 billion savings, thereby lowering the overall spending levels of H.R. 7608.
NTU urges a “NO” vote on the following amendment in Division B:
Amd. 42, (filed as #33) Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR): This amendment would increase funding for the nutritional assistance program in Puerto Rico by $529 million without providing any spending offset.
NTU urges a “YES” vote on the following amendments in Division C:
Amd. 62, (filed as #11) Allen (R-GA): This amendment would reduce spending in the Department of the Interior, Environment section (Division C) of the underlying bill by 5 percent. A 5 percent reduction in spending would result in a nearly $1.5 billion savings.
Amd. 66, (filed as #19) Biggs (R-AZ) & Gosar (R-AZ): This amendment would strike language from the underlying bill that transitions Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) allocations from discretionary to mandatory spendingThis would add around $900 million per year to the federal government’s mandatory obligations, and would add LWCF to a long list of mandatory federal programs whose funding levels should be assessed, debated, and reassessed as discretionary spending from year to year.
Amd. 76, (filed as #2) Gosar (R-AZ) & McKinley (R-WV): This amendment would ensure funds made available in this legislation do not conflict with a 2017 executive order that streamlines the approval process for construction projects. The president's executive order helps more infrastructure projects on time and under budget.
Amd. 102, (filed as #48) Smith (R-MO): This amendment would reduce the budget for the Environmental Programs and Management by $564 million to match the president’s budget request.
Amd. 103, (filed as #50) Smith (R-MO): This amendment would reduce the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science and Technology programs by $260 million to match the president’s budget request.
NTU urges a “NO” vote on the following amendments in Division C:
Amd. 72, (filed as #53) Dingell (D-MI) & Malinowski (D-NJ): This amendment would prohibit the administration from implementing a proposed rule to speed up the approval process for construction projects under the National Environmental Policy Act. The new NEPA rules will give infrastructure and construction projects, among others, a much more streamlined approval process to allow more projects to be delivered quicker, and save taxpayers money.
Amd. 83, (filed as #5) Huffman (D-CA): This amendment would prohibit funds from being used to offer any areas within the ANWR to be developed for resource extraction.
Amd. 105, (filed as #71) Tlaib (D-MI) & Kildee (D-MI): This amendment would increase spending on lead pipe replacement by $500 million without corresponding offsets to spending elsewhere in the bill.
Roll call votes on these amendments will be included in NTU’s annual Rating of Congress.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Policy and Government Affairs Manager Thomas Aiello at Thomas.Aiello@ntu.org
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