'You're On Your Own If You Want Your Families To Have Clean Air': Hoyer Clobbers GOP Over EPA Budget

5 months ago

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing in July, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) spoke about Republican proposals to cut the Environmental Protection Agency's budget.

Transcript

00:00From Maryland, Mr. Hoyer is recognized for general remarks on the bill.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:06I have referred to many of these bills over the last several years as the product of the yo-yo philosophy.

00:17The yo-yo philosophy says you're on your own.

00:22You take care of yourself.

00:25We're not going to help you.

00:30This bill, in many respects, reflects that philosophy.

00:36And I say that with extraordinary respect and affection of the chairman of the subcommittee,

00:45who I believe is one of the most responsible members of the Congress.

00:53But that's the message this bill sends to the American people.

00:56You're on your own if you want to save money on electricity with this legislation cutting funding from green energy projects

01:03that generate a fifth of America's energy.

01:09You're on your own in your community, if your community lacks access to clean water,

01:15with a 62 percent cut in this bill to drinking water and sewage infrastructure projects.

01:23You're on your own if you want your families to have clean air to breathe,

01:27as this bill includes dozens of rioters that roll back the federal government's ability to crack down on pollution.

01:35Crucially, you're on your own if you want to protect our public lands.

01:42These cuts affect every corner of the country.

01:47In Maryland, for instance, I'm concerned about what the nearly 5 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency's geographic program

01:54will mean to the Chesapeake Bay.

01:57Not only an extraordinary asset for the state of Maryland, but an extraordinary asset for our country.

02:04This bill, Mr. Chairman, will also have severe impact on the National Park Service,

02:10cutting it by roughly 6 percent below the fiscal year 25 budget,

02:15which was, of course, the fiscal year 24 budget.

02:17My office has been in contact with the team down at Piscataway Park in my district,

02:26and they're rightfully worried about what the cut to the Park Service will mean for their institution and the community it supports.

02:35The same is true of the parks across the country in your districts,

02:41especially at a time when the Trump administration has illegally purged some 1,000 National Park Rangers.

02:53One of them used to work at the Fort McHenry National Monument,

02:59a historic shrine in Baltimore, said this in a letter to me.

03:03My skills were not looked into.

03:06The work that I had been doing was not looked into.

03:09It was just an arbitrary slash and burn.

03:14I've said this before.

03:16Doge had no idea of the consequences of their actions.

03:19It was sort of like the 3,000 a week objective.

03:24It was not based upon analysis.

03:27It was based upon a number.

03:29I urge my colleagues to help stop that slash and burn by voting against this legislation.

03:36And very frankly, allowing Mr. Simpson and Ms. Pingree to bring a bill to the floor,

03:46bring the bill to this committee, that we get votes on both sides.

03:52That was true at one time.

03:54Some of you have never been here when that's been true.

03:57And that's a shame because it was a productive process.

04:03The chairman said when we left after the last bill last week that these numbers were not going to be the same.

04:13This language was not going to be the same.

04:14It was going to be different.

04:15I think that's true.

04:18But it's going to be much more difficult and much more probable that we'll have a CR

04:25or maybe an omnibus in December or maybe March 15th of 2026,

04:32halfway through the fiscal year, pass the 26 appropriation bill.

04:37That's unfortunate.

04:38We ought to be working together.

04:42And this bill deals with, as the ranking member said,

04:48the legacy we will leave our children and our obligation as stewards of our land, our water, and our air.

04:59Sadly, I'm going to be voting against this bill.

05:03I do mean that because this is an important bill for the country, for the future.

05:08For the legacy that we will leave.

05:11I yield back.

'You're On Your Own If You Want Your Families To Have Clean Air': Hoyer Clobbers GOP Over EPA Budget

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