As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have been fighting to balance our budget and bring a common-sense conservative approach to federal spending. Last Congress, more than $3 trillion dollars was spent outside of normal annual spending—making it more important than ever to rein in reckless spending and pass fiscally conservative bills. Our job is to focus our limited resources on the core responsibilities of the federal government, including national defense, our veterans, seniors, and securing our border to protect our communities.
While this year’s appropriations process took longer than usual, House Republicans have delivered on our promise of reining in the out-of-control D.C. spending.
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture, Energy and Water, and Homeland Security, I will be strongly supporting the first package of six appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024, and I am proud to deliver on Central Washington’s priorities.
The 2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill supports our rural communities and strengthens our national security and food supply. I prioritized critical investments in agricultural research and maintaining crucial “Buy American” provisions to maximize domestic production of goods, while providing funding for important projects in Central Washington, including the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation project, Astria Toppenish Hospital Facilities improvement, and the Adams County Correctional Facility improvements.
I have also been an unwavering advocate for ensuring our farmland is kept out of the hands of our foreign adversaries, such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The FY24 Agriculture Appropriations bill includes many of my priorities in this arena, including addressing the broken land purchase reporting process inside the United State Department of Agriculture and positioning the Secretary of Agriculture to better manage suspicious land transactions with foreign countries. While there is always more work to be done, we are guaranteeing American supply chains have the necessary resources needed to flourish and rejecting President Biden’s out of touch economic policies that have left Central Washingtonians paying more for basic goods.
As Chairman of the Western Caucus, I am particularly pleased to see this Appropriations package includes key forestry provisions needed to protect our rural communities during wildfire season. This package provides $3.2 billion for wildfire activities while also maintaining wildfire pay and capacity—a $260 million dollar increase from FY23— and doesn’t use any irresponsible budgetary tricks we saw under one-party rule in D.C.
The 2024 Energy and Water Appropriations bill is also included in the package, and funds agencies and programs that bolster our national security, energy security, and economic competitiveness. In Central Washington, we are all aware of the substantial impact the Hanford Site had on our history, and this package reinforces my work in support of the cleanup effort. The package also supports the Bureau of Reclamation resources and the Department of Energy’s clean energy development projects, while cutting funding for radical environmental initiatives.
The full appropriations package delivers on numerous wins for Central Washington—and will save the American taxpayer more than $200 billion over the next ten years while providing more cuts to bloated initiatives. The originally proposed full year Continuing Resolution would have simply cut 1% of funding across the board—exactly what House and Senate Democrats wanted—while this new package includes stronger cuts and safeguards important conservative priorities.
It is past time for American families to stop footing the bill for fiscally irresponsible spending, and I am looking forward to passing this new budget and will continue to fight for a new, more responsible era of federal spending.
