Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the 2027 Energy and Water Development Funding BillPress ReleaseTradeJobs and the EconomyEnergy

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the full committee's markup of its fiscal year 2027 bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your gracious Chairmanship and constructive demeanor of this Committee. Chairman Fleischmann, I truly appreciate, working with you and, to all of our colleagues. I'm sure they know that we work hard at, being, friends and collegiality matters. This Committee has the ability to develop and pass bipartisan bills, and we hold an imperative to build a new energy age on a livable Mother Earth. So I'm disappointed, the bill before us has has tilted to a partisan framing, and my hope going forward is we can course correct. Let me thank our diligent staff on both sides, including Scott McKee, Ippo Dellatolas, Adam Wilson from the Minority staff, Jed Bullock and Margaret McInnis on our personal staff.

US energy independence in perpetuity is an imperative. Respect for Mother Earth must be our North Star. US national security requires US energy security, and we meet today in an historical moment where energy and water and war are again hyperlinked. Due to President Trump's war of choice on Iran, gas prices have risen to above $4 a gallon. A major facility in my Congressional District informed me yesterday, their energy bills have tripled. History instructs us that as gas exceeds $4 per gallon in our nation, deep recession follows. We are headed in this descent now. Our citizenry suffers from rising costs for transportation, fuel, heating, electricity, and so much more. Energy is woven deeply into all of these. Moreover, new AI and data facilities are causing energy and water prices to skyrocket.

The American people are feeling the pinch. They want a fair energy cost structure to help local ratepayers to deal with doubling and tripling of rates. This Congress has an obligation to defend our people, not stick our heads in the sand or pretend it's 1946. The imperative of US energy independence is clear. I cannot compliment enough those citizens who get little public credit advancing our nation's energy future in advanced fission, new fusion, thermal recovery, nonpolluting energy systems, including advanced biofuels, solar, geothermal, and thermal recovery, advanced building materials, and energy conservation technologies. Our nation has been amassing Trillions in debt on oil wars that disrupt global supplies. Of our nation's $40 Trillion of debt-$40 Trillion. At least $10 Trillion, or 25% has been added by Middle East oil wars.

The American people are asking, when is enough enough? America cannot remain energy vulnerable. We need broad innovation, and we need competition and investment across the broad range of the energy sector, not fealty to any one source. To reach bipartisan agreement, funding levels and provisions require adjustments. First, we must revise balances of top line funding for defense and non-defense spending. The bill increases defense programs by $774 Million, or 2%, while non-defense programs are cut by $1.8 Billion, or 6%, and that's where innovation lies. We cannot cede our future to the past. This imbalance needs correction so that domestic energy and water programs be enhanced. Our citizenry wants a secure energy future, not captivity.

We must address the most harmful cuts in the bill. These include-and I'll tick off five, a $1.3 Billion cut, or 40% cut to critical minerals and energy innovation. That's driving the car backwards. We seek no less than $3.1 Billion to meet global competition for a cleaner energy future. We must address the irresponsible accumulation of atmospheric pollutants that are powerful indications that we must not ignore. Number two, a $50 Million cut, or 14% to Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPA- Energy for a livable future. With our global population going to head to 10 billion-10 billion over the next 50 years, we seek no less than $350 Million for transformative clean energy technologies. Third, with energy prices rising, a $25 Million cut for electricity and grid deployment programs is a nonstarter. We seek no less than $260 Million to modernize our aging grid, to drive down electricity prices. Fourth a $282 Million cut, or 12% for nuclear nonproliferation activities, is unwise in a dangerous world made more risky by the current war in the Middle East. We seek no less than $2.367 Billion to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. We cannot retreat as nuclear threats increase. And fifth, total elimination of the Army Corps Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. In other words, cleaning up the mess FUSRAP from the nuclear industry is unacceptable to the health of our citizenry. We seek no less than $200 Million to continue cleaning up nuclear contamination across this country.

And critically, this bill should only repurpose Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds through bipartisan agreement embracing an all of the above energy strategy. That means supporting a diverse portfolio of daunting technologies like geothermal, electric grid upgrades, fusion, and advanced nuclear. The bill must be free of riders, including provisions that allow firearms on Corps of Engineers public lands. Secondly, prohibit clean energy solutions for new and renovated federal buildings. And third, prohibit funds for private consolidated interim storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel. Glaringly, the bill is missing a key provision necessary to protect Congress's power of the purse. Any bipartisan bill must prevent and reverse the Department of Energy's project terminations of over $9 Billion nationwide. Funding for these projects were duly passed and signed into law. The bill should require transparency and accountability for federal spending, and they need to follow the law. The Trump Administration must follow the law.

Until these changes are made, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill in its current form. Let us work together to improve it as it moves forward. Together, I know we can meet the new frontiers of energy and water, and I yield back. Thank you.

A summary of the bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here. Watch the full committee markup here.

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