Hill Heat

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the infrastructure needs of the U.S. energy sector, western water and public lands, and to consider the legislative proposal attached, the Energy Infrastructure Act.

Opening Remarks

• Sen. Joe Manchin, Chairman, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Witnesses

• Dr. Kathleen Hogan, Acting Undersecretary for Science and Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
• Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Chris French, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum
• Collin O’Mara, President and CEO, National Wildlife Federation
• Mark P. Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute

On Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. (EDT), the Committee on Natural Resources will hold a virtual, fully remote legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 660 (Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-VI), To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to benefit coastal habitats, resiliency, and the economy, and for other purposes. Shovel-Ready Restoration Grants for Coastlines and Fisheries Act of 2021.
• H.R. 1415 (Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-WA), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to authorize grants to Indian Tribes to further achievement of Tribal coastal zone objectives, and for other purposes. Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act.
• H.R. 1689 (Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, R-PR), To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to apply to territories of the United States, to establish offshore wind lease sale requirements, to provide dedicated funding for coral reef conservation, and for other purposes. Offshore Wind for Territories Act.
• H.R. 2750 (Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-OR), To establish an Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon, and for other purposes. Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act.
• H.R. 3160 (Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to establish a Working Waterfront Task Force and a working waterfronts grant program, and for other purposes. Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act.
• H.R. 3228 (Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY), To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to improve science, data, and services that enable sound decision-making in response to coastal flood risk, including impacts of sea-level rise, storm events, changing Great Lakes water levels, and land subsidence. National Coastal Resilience Data and Services Act.
• H.R. 3692 (Rep. Julia Brownley, D-CA), To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a climate impact management plan for the conservation of certain marine mammal species, and for other purposes. Marine Mammal Climate Change Protection Act.
• H.R. 3748 (Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-OR), To improve data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, and for other purposes. BLUE GLOBE ACT.
• H.R. 3764 (Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-AZ), To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to provide for the conservation and restoration of the ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other purposes. Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2021.
• H.R. 3817 (Rep. Charlie Crist, D-FL), To allow coastal States to participate in regional ocean partnerships with one or more other coastal States that share a common ocean or coastal area with the coastal State to conserve living resources, expand and protect valuable habitats, enhance coastal resilience, and address such other issues related to the shared ocean or coastal area as are determined to be a shared, regional priority by those States. Regional Ocean Partnership Act.
• H.R. 3864 (Rep. Anthony Brown, D-MD), To express the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall be the primary representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesapeake Bay, to require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other purposes. Chesapeake Bay Oyster Research Act.
• H.R. 3892 (Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA), To improve the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, and for other purposes. National Oceans and Coastal Security Improvements Act.
• H.R. 3906 (Rep. Jared Huffman, D-CA), To establish a Blue Carbon program to conserve and restore marine and coastal blue carbon ecosystems, and other purposes. Blue Carbon Protection Act.

Witnesses

Panel I: Congressional Panel

• Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (H.R. 1689)
• Rep. Chellie Pingree (H.R. 3160)
• Rep. Don Beyer (H.R. 3892)
• Rep. Jared Huffman (H.R. 3906)

Panel II: Administration

• Stephen Guertin, Deputy Director for Policy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Nicole LeBoeuf. Acting Administrator, National Ocean Service
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Panel III: Invited Witnesses

• State Senator Chris Lee, Hawaii State Legislature
• Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Co-Founder, Urban Ocean Lab
• Marce Gutierrez-Graudins, Founder and Executive Director Azul
• Mauricio Guardado, General Manager, United Water Conservation District

Hearing page

Witness

• Shalanda Young, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget

Biden Budget Sets Nation Up for A Strong, Prosperous Future

The Biden Administration began in the midst of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic was raging, and the public health response was chaotic. At the same time, the related economic fallout kept many out of work. The President’s American Rescue Plan helped get shots into arms, rescue checks to families, workers back in jobs, and needed funds to State and local governments. But the work was not complete. Our Nation faces serious deficits in our communities that long predate the pandemic: failing infrastructure, limited access to high-quality education and health care, a workforce without the skills needed to succeed in today’s economy, growing income inequality, systemic racism, climate change, and more. The President’s budget for 2022 lays out a visionary plan to address these needs and build a better and more secure future for America.

In releases over the past two months, the President has previewed his approach to strengthening our economy and improving the lives of American families. His American Jobs Plan makes the broad range of infrastructure investments that are essential for a modern economy. His discretionary request highlights the federal government’s vital role in innovation, research, and other investments in our people, and responds to years of chronic underfunding and disinvestment. The American Families Plan focuses on creating a more inclusive economy that expands opportunities for all families to share in our prosperity. At the same time, the President seeks to reform our tax code to ensure that wealthy corporations and individuals pay their fair share. Today’s budget shows how these proposals fit together to transform our country and meet the challenges ahead.

Creating Jobs and Revitalizing U.S. Manufacturing While Building 21st Century Infrastructure

The budget invests $2.2 trillion over 10 years in fortifying and modernizing American infrastructure, while creating good-paying jobs and revitalizing U.S. manufacturing. Although physical infrastructure – roads, bridges, mass transit, the electric grid – is critically important and rightly receives significant funding, the budget takes a comprehensive approach when considering what is crucial to advancing our economy and securing our place in the global marketplace. The United States currently lags behind our competitors, ranking only 13th in the quality of our infrastructure and falling behind in research and development. The budget rectifies this to protect American livelihoods and strengthen our competitiveness.

Builds world-class transportation infrastructure — The budget ends decades of underinvestment in transportation infrastructure and supports a historic shift to help our transportation system respond to climate change. The plan invests $596 billion over 10 years in our transportation network. It includes $112 billion to modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are in most critical need of repair. Repair efforts will be designed to improve air quality, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce congestion. An additional $19 billion will improve road safety for all users. The plan provides $77 billion to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand, doubling federal funding for public transit.

The plan would also invest $74 billion in Amtrak and other programs that support passenger and freight rail. The budget accelerates the transition already underway to a more electrified transportation system that has a lesser impact on climate change. It invests $157 billion in electric vehicles, including support for manufacturing of batteries and vehicles, incentives for consumers, funding to build a network of charging stations, and electrification of school buses. The budget also includes funding for other modes of transportation that are critical to jobs and the economy, providing $25 billion for airports and the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as $17 billion to support freight transportation by investing in inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries. Finally, it makes some broader transportation investments, spending: $24 billion for a new program to redress historic inequities by restoring and reconnecting communities; $42 billion to accelerate transformational projects and build the future of transportation; and $49 billion for infrastructure resilience, including the safeguarding of critical infrastructure and services, defense of vulnerable communities, and deployment of green, nature-based resilience solutions.

Makes transformative investments in a renewed electric grid and energy-related economic development — The budget invests $98 billion in building a resilient and upgraded electric grid and modernizing the power sector through clean energy block grants and clean energy support for rural electric cooperatives. This funding also supports economic development in distressed and disadvantaged communities through remediation and reclamation of abandoned mines, oil and gas wells, and other industrial brownfield sites; investments in next-generation carbon capture and hydrogen industrial facilities; and grants for critical new physical and civic infrastructure and community-driven environmental justice efforts. It also creates a Civilian Climate Corps to help build resilience, support environmental justice, and conserve public lands and waters. Together, these investments will increase energy resilience and security, lower energy costs, improve air quality, create good-paying jobs, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness on the pathway to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.

Ensures highspeed broadband reaches all Americans — The budget includes $100 billion for a digital infrastructure, adoption, and affordability initiative that connects families to highspeed internet service. The initiative prioritizes extending broadband service to underrepresented and hard-to-reach communities and allowing municipal and nonprofit service providers to compete with private entities. The budget envisions closing the digital divide by lowering the cost of service to make high speed broadband available and affordable for all families.

Improves public health by rebuilding clean drinking water infrastructure — In addition to funding requested through the appropriations process, the budget provides $111 billion to replace the Nation’s lead pipes and service lines and reduce lead exposure in homes, schools, and child care facilities; modernize drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, including in rural communities; and monitor and remediate new drinking water contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Invests in research and development (R&D) and cutting-edge technologies to spur American innovation, competitiveness, and job creation — The budget provides $180 billion in new, direct funding for researchers and laboratories, primarily in emerging technology areas critical to U.S. economic leadership, such as semiconductors, advanced computing, biotechnology, and advanced clean energy. It supports a new technology directorate at the National Science Foundation, upgrades research capabilities at Department of Energy and other federal laboratories, and invests in R&D across the country and at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). It addresses a full range of breakthrough technologies needed to address the climate crisis and establish the United States as the global clean energy leader, including by launching an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Climate (ARPA-C) and supporting demonstration-scale energy projects. This funding also includes $25 billion for R&D investments and fellowships at HBCUs and other MSIs, to help eliminate racial and gender inequities and unleash the full innovation capacity of the nation.

Revitalizes American manufacturing and small businesses, creating economic and job growth across the country — The budget includes $130 billion in direct funding for a supply chain resilience fund to support domestic production of critical goods, semiconductor manufacturing and research incentives, and protection against future pandemics by accelerating vaccine, therapeutics, and other medical countermeasure development and production. It further provides $100 billion to increase access to capital and establish early markets for domestic manufacturing through expanded financing facilities, investments in biobased product manufacturing and automotive supply chain modernization, and Federal procurement of carbon-free power, sustainable buildings, and electric vehicle fleets. It also includes $68 billion to establish regional innovation hubs and to support advanced manufacturing research, small- and medium-sized manufacturing business incubators and assistance, and innovative community-led economic development projects. These efforts will collectively emphasize rural, Tribal, and disadvantaged communities outside the current U.S. high-growth centers.

Builds and retrofits buildings across the country for energy efficiency and expanded housing options — Addressing the affordable housing crisis, the budget includes $212 billion to build, preserve, and retrofit more than two million homes and commercial buildings. The budget includes funding to build and repair affordable housing units – such as the $45 billion increase in the Housing Trust Fund and $40 billion in public housing capital funding – but also investments in energy efficiency and sustainability. Rising home utility costs have contributed to the affordability crisis. The budget addresses long-term housing sustainability with $27 billion for a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to leverage private sector resources to retrofit homes with energy efficient technology and solutions, $18 billion in weatherization grants, and $13 billion in energy efficiency block grants. The budget also invests $87 billion in upgrading and building schools, including community college facilities, and child-care facilities to ensure they are safe, healthy, accessible, energy-efficient, and resilient.

Invests $400 billion in home or community-based care for seniors and people with disabilities — The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a longstanding caregiving crisis, as families struggled to afford the costs of caring for aging relatives and family members with disabilities. At the same time, many of the essential workers who provide this critical care are chronically underpaid and undervalued, and they are disproportionately women and people of color. The budget’s investment of $400 billion in home and community-based services will expand access to services and strengthen the workforce that provides this care by creating new and better-paying jobs. The budget also extends the Money Follows the Person program, which allows people to have a choice of where they live and where they receive long-term services and supports.

Supports workforce development — The budget invests $87 billion over 10 years in workforce development so that America will have a stronger, more agile workforce. This includes a $16 billion for a new Dislocated Workers Program to help retrain workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own, $11 billion to train workers facing the highest barriers, like the formerly incarcerated, $8.7 billion to support efforts to expand career pathways for middle and high school students, along with $10 billion to enforce rules to help keep workers safe and healthy and earning fair pay.

Strengthening Families and Ensuring More Broadly Shared Prosperity

Even before the pandemic, too many American families struggled to make ends meet. Underlying inequities and widening income inequality – exacerbated by the pandemic-driven recession – have negatively impacted many working Americans’ financial security. In the United States, the wealthiest nation on earth, this is neither acceptable nor inevitable. We have the means and opportunity to make sure that all families – regardless of race, gender, or place of residence – can meet their basic needs and participate in an economy with broadly shared prosperity. The budget lays out policies that will create a better future and expand opportunities for all American families.

Provides four additional years of free education — A more educated workforce means a stronger economy in the future. The budget makes this possible by providing quality pre-k and community college. Research shows that early investments in education pay off for years to come. The budget follows those findings and invests $165 billion over 10 years to provide free, high-quality, accessible pre-k to all three- and four-year-olds. At that same time, to increase college access and affordability, the budget invests $109 billion for two years of free community college, as well as $53 billion for evidence-based strategies to improve community college retention and $84 billion to increase Pell grants. In addition to investments discussed above, the budget spends $6 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions; and $8 billion to train, equip and diversify America’s next generation of teachers.

Makes critical investments in child care — The crushing cost of child care in America is a burden to families and makes it harder for parents, and particularly mothers, to work outside of the home. The budget invests $225 billion over 10 years to make child care more affordable. For families with the lowest income, child care will be free, while low- and middle-income families will only pay 7 percent of their income in child care costs. Meanwhile, child care providers will receive funding to cover the true cost of high quality care, including providing a living wage to child care workers.

Creates universal paid family and medical leave — The budget creates a new national paid leave program so that workers no longer have to make a difficult decision to forgo income when it is important to take time away from work to care for themselves or a loved one. Once fully phased-in, the program would provide workers up to 12 weeks of paid parental, family, and personal illness leave, replacing up to $4,000 per month of earnings. The leave program will cost $225 billion over 10 years.

Delivers nutrition security to America’s vulnerable families — The budget builds on the antipoverty and food security initiatives in the American Rescue Plan by expanding critical nutrition assistance so that families have healthy food options for their kids at school and at home. The budget invests $45 billion over 10 years in four primary ways. First, it makes the summer EBT demonstration permanent and increases the number of children in low income families that can purchase meals during the summer when out of school. With a $26 billion investment, this expansion will further decrease food insecurity among the 29 million children that receive free and reduced-price meals. The budget also provides $17 billion for free school meals to all students in high poverty school districts. An additional 9.3 million students receive free meals under the Administration’s proposal. So that schools can provide healthier food choices, the budget invests $1 billion in a demonstration project for schools that exceed current healthy food standards. Finally, the budget invests almost $900 million to provide SNAP eligibility to individuals formerly incarcerated for drug offenses so they can feed their children when they return to their families.

Extends key tax benefits for lower- and middle-income workers and families — The budget provides nearly $800 billion of tax benefits for workers and families over 10 years by extending the expanded tax credit provisions enacted in the American Rescue Plan, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. These key benefits not only help lower- and middle-income families make ends meet, but also have been shown to boost children’s academic and economic performance over time. The budget extends through 2025 the expanded Child Tax Credit, increasing the credit amount to $3,000 for children aged 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under 6, and makes this credit fully refundable on a permanent basis so that this benefit becomes fully available to families with no earnings or low earnings. Furthermore, the budget permanently extends the expanded Marketplace tax credits enacted in the American Rescue Plan, which are lowering health insurance costs by an average of $50 per person per month for nine million people and will enable millions of uninsured people to gain coverage.

Properly Funding Non-defense Discretionary (NDD) Investments

Discretionary priorities have faced chronic underinvestment for years due to a self-inflicted austerity regime. The pandemic and related economic downturn shined a bright light on the serious repercussions of conflating forced austerity with fiscal responsibility. Our Nation was not prepared for the challenges and crises we faced. This budget, the first after the expiration of discretionary caps put in place a decade ago, provides funding levels that will meet the needs of the American people, spur short- and long-term economic growth through responsible investments, and begin to counteract the detrimental effects of disinvestment in our people. This funding will also reverse the hollowing out of our federal agencies, a goal of “disruption” in the previous Administration. It is not enough to fund programs and agencies: we must also fund the people and resources needed to make them successful. Investing in the federal workforce will ensure programs are well-functioning, and that those who are entitled to benefits receive them while those who owe taxes pay them. The budget provides a 16.5 percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending for 2022, which together with the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan will finally set the stage to not only meet ongoing challenges but also responsibly prepare for whatever problems may arise.

Invests in the knowledge, technologies, and actions needed to tackle the climate crisis and lead in the clean energy economy — The budget supports major new climate change investments to put the United States on a path to net-zero emissions no later than 2050 while generating economic growth and new clean energy job opportunities. In addition to the resources provided in the American Jobs Plan, the 2022 discretionary budget invests more than $10 billion in clean energy innovation and technologies across non-defense agencies, a nearly 30 percent increase above 2021 that will enhance U.S. competitiveness and reduce emissions. It provides more than $4 billion for climate science and sustainability research across agencies that also supports regional and local adaptation and resilience decision-making. It supports incorporating climate impacts into pre-disaster planning and projects and strengthening the resilience of ecosystems, federal facilities and operations, and vulnerable and underserved communities to wildfires, flooding, and drought. And it includes more than $2.3 billion for international climate programs, multiple times the investment enacted for 2021, to assist developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate disruptions. Overall, the budget includes more than $36 billion to combat climate change by investing in resilience and clean energy – an increase of more than $14 billion compared to 2021—and prioritizes support for disadvantaged and other communities that have been left behind.

Protects our air, water, environment, and health and supports distressed and disadvantaged communities — The budget provides $11.2 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, an increase of $2.0 billion (or 22 percent) above 2021, including to restore critical staff capacity and programmatic capabilities, implement climate change programs, and accelerate toxicity studies and regulatory development. It invests more than $1.4 billion to secure environmental justice for marginalized and overburdened communities, in addition to ensuring that 40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments accrue to these communities. The 2022 discretionary budget also includes $3.6 billion, which is $625 million above 2021, for drinking and waste-water infrastructure improvement. And it supports communities transitioning away from coal and other fossil fuel plants and production by funding remediation of abandoned wells and mines and a new multi-agency POWER+ Initiative to transform local economies and assist, reskill, and reemploy workers.

Makes historic investments in education — The COVID-19 crisis forced students to learn remotely for over a year, a challenge for students and teachers. The budget makes significant investments in our kids throughout their education. The 41 percent increase for the Department of Education’s discretionary budget (to $103 billion) is the largest increase provided to any cabinet agency. Notably this funding includes $36.5 billion for Title I grants to support under-resourced schools – a $20 billion increase over the 2021 enacted level and the largest single increase ever for Title I grants. The budget also provides $16 billion, a $2.7 billion increase over 2021, for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants to increase the federal share of special education and related services for the first time in eight years. To support the physical and mental well-being of students after this challenging year, the budget provides an additional $1 billion for counselors, nurses, and mental health professionals in schools. While the budget makes historic investments in K-12 education, it also provides significant support to higher education, including increasing the maximum Pell grant by $400, that in combination with new mandatory spending will increase the maximum award by $1,875.

Strengthens public health infrastructure to enhance our ability to address existing and emerging threats — The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that the chronic underfunding of public health has serious costs. The budget builds on the public health investments in the American Rescue Plan to strengthen our nation’s response to future public health crises and drive innovation in biomedical research. It provides $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of $1.6 billion over the 2021 enacted level – the largest increase for the agency in nearly two decades. These new resources will rebuild core public health infrastructure, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, deploy public health approaches to reduce violence, and address the effects of climate change on health, among other initiatives. Finally, the Budget includes $51 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $9 billion over the 2021 enacted level. In part, this funding establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which will accelerate the development of treatments and cures for cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Increases the supply, quality, and affordability of rental housing — Congress and the White House provided emergency rental and homelessness assistance in the American Rescue Plan as at-risk families struggled to keep a roof over their head during the pandemic. That critical support continues to save households from eviction so that they do not have to make an impossible choice between paying their rent or feeding their family. But ending the pandemic will not end our nation’s housing crisis. For almost two decades before the pandemic, modest growth in renters’ real income (3.4 percent) did not keep pace with a significant increase in rent (15 percent after inflation). Federal rental assistance programs have not helped enough families fill that gap – with three out of four at-risk, eligible households not receiving support.

The President’s discretionary request makes a big investment in the country’s rental assistance programs and affordable housing infrastructure to help more at-risk families afford quality, modern housing. The budget includes $30.4 billion in Housing Choice Vouchers, a $5.4 billion increase over 2021 enacted funding, to continue rental assistance for families currently receiving aid but also to support 200,000 new families. To address the homelessness crisis, the budget requests $3.5 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, an increase of $500 million over the 2021 enacted level, to support an additional 100,000 families through emergency shelters, rapid-rehousing, transitional housing, and permanent solutions. Families supported through these assistance programs will have new and rehabilitated housing options. In addition to the investments included in the American Families Plan, the discretionary request includes an $800 million increase for programs to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of affordable housing, a $435 million increase in public housing modernization grants, and a $500 million increase in the HOME Investment Partnership Program to build and rehabilitate affordable rental housing.

Strengthens American leadership in science, technology, and innovation — In addition to the transformative R&D investments in the American Jobs Plan, the budget provides $171 billion in 2022 discretionary R&D funding across the federal government, an increase of $13 billion, or 9 percent, above the 2021 enacted level. This funding supports foundational research that advances the frontiers of knowledge and underpins our innovation economy. It also advances applied research and development in areas that are crucial for addressing climate change, accelerating health breakthroughs, and securing U.S. leadership in critical technologies – strengthening U.S. competitiveness and economic growth and improving Americans’ lives and livelihoods. Highlights include $10.2 billion for the National Science Foundation, an increase of $1.7 billion (or 20 percent) above 2021; $24.8 billion for NASA, an increase of $1.5 billion (or 7 percent); and $1.5 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and increase of $463 million (or 45 percent) that includes more than doubling funding for its manufacturing programs.

Makes global leadership a priority — U.S. global leadership is essential to our national security. It serves as a first line of defense by protecting democratic values, fostering goodwill, and stabilizing vulnerable areas around the world through diplomacy and development. After four years of an administration bent on hobbling our diplomatic corps and ceding global influence to China and other foreign powers, this budget once again makes U.S. global leadership a high priority. It provides $64 billion for international affairs activities, an 11 percent increase above the 2021 enacted level. This increase will help rebuild our diplomatic corps and make important investments in global health programs to combat the pandemic, international programs to mitigate the destabilizing effects of climate change, and development programs to address the root causes of irregular immigration from Central America, among others.

Fulfills sacred obligation to our veterans — The budget provides $113 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), an $8.5 billion or 8.2 percent increase from 2021. This funding includes $97.5 billion for VA medical care, including increases in funding for women’s health, mental health, suicide prevention, and veterans’ homeless programs to improve access for underserved veterans. The funding also includes $882 million for medical and prosthetic research—including the largest increase in recent history—to advance VA’s understanding of traumatic brain injury, the effects of toxic exposure on long-term health outcomes, and the needs of disabled veterans. The budget also provides $111 billion in advance appropriations for VA medical care programs in 2023.

Supports needed reforms in justice system — The budget provides $35.3 billion for the Department of Justice, a $1.8 billion, or 5.3 percent, increase above the 2021 enacted level. Funding is targeted to make progress on a number of important reforms, including efforts to reduce prison populations, advance police reforms, support the prosecution of hate crimes, end gender-based violence, reduce gun violence and domestic terrorism, and ensure equal treatment and protection of all people under environmental policy and law.

Meeting National Defense Needs

The budget provides $753 billion for national defense for 2022, a 1.6 percent increase from the comparable 2021 level. With this funding, our military will have the resources it needs to meet challenges around the world, modernize and secure domestic defense systems, and ensure that military members and their families get the support they deserve. The budget ends the use of the “overseas contingency operations” designation, which limited budget enforcement over defense dollars, bringing more accountability to the budget process.

Funds national defense based on comprehensive security strategy — The Administration prioritizes deterring the threat from China as its top security challenge and focuses on a more comprehensive security strategy that involves all elements of our national power. The defense budget includes $715 billion for the Department of Defense and $38 billion for the nuclear weapons-related activities of the Department of Energy and for various security activities at several other agencies including the Coast Guard and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Beyond the budget year, the budget includes placeholder estimates pending final review of the national security strategy. Those estimates increase 2.2 percent per year, roughly inflation levels, over 2023 through 2026, and 1 percent per year over the remaining five years of the 10-year budget window. That lower annual rate is a proxy for long-run efficiency savings the Administration believes the Pentagon can achieve in the defense budget.

Ends the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) loophole — For 2021, Congress enacted $69 billion of OCO-designated funding for defense and $8 billion for nondefense. Most of that funding was used to finance regular activities unrelated to overseas operations, a practice that has become an annual exercise to skirt budget caps. The abuse of this designation has gone on far too long and the budget finally ends this practice by moving defense and nondefense activities previously funded with OCO-designated funds to the base budget. This will ensure better management of resources by providing more predictable funding streams and eliminating a long-abused mechanism to circumvent regular budget processes to avoid making budget tradeoffs.

Ensures NDD components of national security fulfill their roles — This budget recognizes that strong national security depends on more than just our military. It requires strong diplomacy, robust veterans’ programs, effective homeland security activities, aggressive mitigation of the destabilizing effects of climate change, readied pandemic defenses, and an economy poised to compete and win, which underpins our national strength. The budget makes significant investments in each of these areas. On all counts, this budget marks a stark departure from the haphazard security approach of the last administration, which eschewed U.S. global leadership, cozied up to dictatorships, and relied on our military as our first and last line of defense against security threats.

Making a Fairer Tax Code

The budget raises $3.6 trillion in new revenues over 10 years, and enough to offset the costs of the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan over 15 years. Families earning less than $400,000 per year are not asked to contribute more and instead are provided with greater tax benefits, including extensions of the higher Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Marketplace tax credit enacted in the American Rescue Plan (see discussion above under Strengthening Families). The new tax code will encourage investment in the United States and ensure that corporations and the wealthy contribute to the betterment of our Nation by paying their fair share.

Ensures big corporations pay their fair share — The budget raises $2.3 trillion in new corporate tax revenues over the next decade and enough in the next 15 years to fully pay for the investments in the American Jobs Plan. The President’s Made in America corporate tax plan incentivizes job creation and investment in the United States, stops unfair and wasteful profit-shifting to tax havens, and ensures that large corporations are paying their fair share. The tax plan reverses the damage caused by the 2017 tax law and fundamentally reforms the way the tax code treats the largest corporations by increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, returning corporate tax revenue as a share of the economy to approximately its 21st century average before the 2017 tax law; increasing the minimum tax on U.S. multinational corporations to 21 percent and calculating it on a country‑by‑country basis to discourage shifting profits and jobs overseas; preventing U.S. corporations from relocating operations overseas or claiming tax havens as their residence; enacting a 15 percent minimum tax on large corporations’ book income; and making other corporate tax changes. The plan also eliminates tax preferences for fossil fuels, extends and enhances incentives for clean energy, energy efficiency, and electricity transmission, and ensures polluting industries pay for environmental cleanup by restoring payments into the Superfund Trust Fund.

Ends tax loopholes for the wealthy — The budget reforms the tax code so that the wealthy have to play by the same rules as everyone else. The budget raises more than $750 billion in new revenues over 10 years by making sure the highest-income individuals pay their fair share. Major proposals include restoring the top individual tax rate to what it was before the 2017 law (39 percent), which would apply only to those with incomes within the top one percent of taxpayers; ending capital income tax breaks for households making over $1 million so that these households pay the same tax rate on investment returns as wages; eliminating the loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to entirely escape tax on their wealth by passing it down to heirs by ending the practice of “stepping-up” the basis for gains in excess of $1 million per individual or $2.5 million per couple; closing the carried interest loophole so that hedge fund partners will pay ordinary income rates on their income just like every other worker; and making other reforms in the tax code to reward work and not wealth. The Administration’s plan will protect family-owned businesses and farms being passed down heirs who continue to run the business.

Provides the IRS with the resources it needs to crack down on wealthy tax cheats and improve taxpayer services — The budget provides $78 billion over 10 years to restore the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) resources, including $71 billion of mandatory funds and $6.6 billion for a new discretionary program integrity adjustment. This would fund the IRS’s priorities, including hiring new specialized enforcement staff to audit those with the highest incomes, modernizing antiquated information technology, and investing in meaningful taxpayer services, such as the implementation of the newly expanded tax credits aimed at providing support to American families. The increased audits would focus on those with the highest incomes, who earn income in opaque categories like partnership and proprietorship income, where misreporting rates are high. Audit rates will not rise for those with less than $400,000 in income. Increased audits of high-income individuals and improved financial account information reporting would build a more equitable tax system and help close the tax gap, which is estimated to raise $779 billion in new revenues over the next decade and $1.6 trillion more in the second decade.

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a markup to consider H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, and H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act.

The Green New Deal Network is supporting three of Rep. Chuy García’s amendments to H.R. 3684 – #026, to ensure public transit gets funding on par with roads and bridges, #027, to cut all forms of pollution from transportation, and #028, to fully electrify public transit buses and commuter trains.

“Giving the Department of Transportation a bunch of money for new highways is the climate equivalent of giving energy companies money to build new coal plants,” García tweeted.

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021

• Managers amendment to H.R. 1915
• Garamendi 047
• Garamendi 048
• Garamendi 049
• G. Graves 001
• G. Graves Staff 01
• G. Graves Staff 02
• Gonzalez Colon 070
• Mast 021
• Rouzer 002
• Westerman 001
• Wilson 048
• Wilson 049

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act

• Manager’s Amendment to HR 3684
• Auchincloss 029
• Babin 016
• Babin 017
• Babin 018
• Balderson 009
• Balderson 010
• Balderson 011
• Balderson 012
• Bost 022
• Bost 184
• Brown 045
• Brown 046
• Brownley 028
• Brownley 029
• Brownley 030
• Brownley 031
• Burchett 074
• Burchett 075
• Burchett 076
• Burchett 078
• Burchett 080
• Burchett 080
• Burchett 081
• Burchett 082
• Burchett 083
• Burchett 084
• Burchett 085
• Carbajal 024
• Carbajal 025
• Carter 001
• Cohen 041 REV
• Crawford 038
• Crawford 042
• Crawford 043
• Crawford 186
• D. Johnson 033
• D. Johnson 037
• D. Johnson 038
• D. Johnson 039
• D.Johnson 036
• Davis 024
• Davis 025
• Davis 028
• Delgado 031
• DeSaulnier 045
• Fitzpatrick 141
• Gallagher 060
• Gallagher 061
• Gallagher 062
• Gallagher 063
• Gallagher 064
• Garamendi 041 REV
• Garamendi 042
• Garamendi 043
• Garamendi 044
• Garamendi 045
• Garamendi 050
• Garcia 022
• Garcia 024
• Garcia 026
• Garcia 027
• Garcia 028
• Gibbs 011
• Gibbs 12
• Gibbs 191
• Gimenez 14
• Gimenez 15
• Gimenez 16
• Gimenez 16
• Gonzalez-Colon 066
• Gonzalez-Colon 071
• G. Graves 091
• G. Graves 092
• G. Graves 093
• G. Graves 094
• G. Graves 096
• G. Graves 097
• G. Graves 098
• G. Graves 099
• G. Graves 100
• G. Graves 101
• G. Graves 103
• G. Graves 104
• G. Graves 107
• G. Graves 108
• G. Graves 109
• G. Graves 110
• Guest 017
• Guest 018
• Guest 019
• Guest 020
• Guest 021
• Guest 022
• Guest 023
• Huffman 026
• Katko 017
• LaMalfa 155
• Lamb 023
• Lamb 025
• Lamb 027
• Lamb 028 REV 2
• Lamb 029
• Larsen 025
• Larsen 026
• Larsen 032
• Lowenthal 016
• Lynch 043
• Lynch 044
• Lynch 045
• Lynch 047
• Lynch 048
• Lynch 049
• Malinowski 018
• Malliotakis 183
• Malliotakis 183
• Napolitano 008
• Nehls 013
• Nehls 020
• Nehls 021
• Nehls 022
• Nehls 024
• Nehls 025
• Nehls 026
• Nehls 027
• Nehls 028
• Nehls 194
• Newman 032
• Pappas 028
• Pappas 029
• Payne 023
• Perry 77
• Perry 088
• Perry 090
• Perry 091
• Perry 92
• Perry 093
• Perry 094
• Perry 095
• Perry 096
• Perry 097
• Perry 098
• Perry 099
• Perry 100
• Perry 101
• Perry 102
• Perry 103
• Perry 104
• Perry 105
• Perry 106
• Perry 107
• Perry 108
• Perry 109
• Perry 111
• Perry 112
• Perry 113
• Perry 114
• Perry 115
• Perry 116
• Perry 117
• Perry 118
• Perry 119
• Perry 120
• Perry 121
• Perry 122
• Perry 123
• Perry 124
• Perry 126
• Perry 129
• Perry 130
• Perry 131
• Perry 132
• Perry 133
• Perry 136
• Perry 137
• Perry 138
• Perry 139
• Perry 141
• Perry 142
• Perry 145
• Perry 146
• Perry 147
• Perry 148
• Perry 149
• Perry 151
• Perry 154
• Perry 155
• Perry 156
• Perry 157
• Perry 158
• Perry 160
• Perry 161
• Perry 162
• Perry 167
• Perry 168
• Perry 169
• Perry 170
• Perry 171
• Perry 172
• Perry 173
• Perry 175
• Perry 177
• Perry 195
• Stanton 012
• Stauber 032
• Stauber 033
• Stauber 034
• Stauber 036
• Stauber 038
• Stauber 039
• Stauber 193
• Strickland 008
• Strickland 009
• Strickland 010
• Strickland 011
• Titus 072
• Titus 072
• Van Duyne 019
• Van Duyne 020
• Van Duyne 022
• Van Duyne 023
• Westerman 019
• Westerman 020
• Westerman 021
• Westerman 023
• Westerman 024
• Williams 028
• Wilson 043
• Wilson 046

Over the weekend, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) embraced the Republican filibuster, giving Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) veto power over all future legislation.

Manchin, the chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, penned an essay in the Charleston Gazette-Mail unequivocally stating, “I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster.”

Current Senate rules require 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, which gives Republicans veto power in the 50-50 Senate. In May, McConnell announced that “One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.”

In an interview with Fox News’s Chris Wallace on Sunday, Manchin sharply criticized McConnell’s partisan obstruction: “I think he’s 100% wrong in trying to block all the good things that we’re trying to do for America.”

In his essay, Manchin repeatedly invoked the possibility of bipartisanship as his justification for rejecting legislation such as the voting-rights For the People Act (H.R. 1).

However, Manchin also admitted there are only seven Republicans, not ten, that are willing to even potentially break with Mitch McConnell or Donald Trump.

Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy

Manchin’s low threshhold for bipartisanship – opposing Trump’s incitement of insurrection that led to an assault on the Senate chambers – was met by only seven Republicans. The vote required a 2/3 majority to convict Trump, but failed 57-43.

Manchin said to Wallace he’s aware of the numbers: “[W]e have seven brave Republicans that continue to vote for what they know is right and the facts as they see them, not worrying about the political consequences.”

He has not explained how 57 votes is sufficient to break a filibuster, since it’s not.

To wit: at the end of May, McConnell and 34 other Republicans successfully filibustered the legislation to create a bipartisan committee to investigate the attack on our democracy.

An independent analysis of the CLEAN Future Act (H.R. 1512) finds that its provisions intended to phase out fossil-fueled electricity production by 2035 are dangerously flawed.

The so-called Clean Electricity Standard in Title II of the legislation establishes a cap-and-trade system of “zero-emission electricity” tradable credits for electricity generators. The cap of allowances for greenhouse-pollution-emitting electricity declines until 2035, when all electricity is meant to be “zero-emission,” a definition which encompasses renewable and nuclear energy.

In “Review of the Credit Trading System in Title II of the CLEAN Future Act,” Bruce Buckheit, a former director of the EPA Air Enforcement Division, finds that the system “is flawed to the point that it is unlikely to achieve zero emission electricity from the power sector by 2035.”

Specifically:

The CLEAN Future Act draft (dCFA) defers any serious disincentives for gas-fired generation until 2031 and then hopes to replace all of the growing gas-fired electric generating unit (EGU) fleet with renewable energy (RE) over a short 4-year period. This is not feasible and sets itself up for failure.

The starting baseline for “Zero Emission Electricity” (ZEE) requirements is based on the 2017-2019 generating mix. This ignores ongoing retirements of coal plants and RE capacity that is under construction today and will be online in 2023. The consequence is a large initial surplus of ZEE, disincentivizing necessary early investment in non-fossil fuel energy.

He expects that “gas-reliant regions, such as the Northeast U.S., might not have to take any significant action until 2031.”

Furthermore, Buckheit finds that the legislation as written doesn’t even require “zero-emission” electricity, but instead “permits generation at less than 0.4 mt (882 lb) CO2e/MWh.”

He also notes that, given regulatory timelines, the “trading system cannot begin to operate in 2023 as the draft bill contemplates.”

Read the full report.

A broad coalition is asking the U.S. Congress to ensure any clean electricity standard (CES) passed into law be a renewable standard, which includes only renewable resources, particularly solar and wind energy, and excludes natural gas, biomass, and new nuclear plants.

Major signatories to the letter to Democratic congressional leaders include 350.org, Indigenous Environmental Network, the NAACP, Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, Food & Water Watch, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, National Family Farm Coalition, Mothers Out Front, GreenLatinos, Greenpeace, Labor Network for Sustainability, Stand.Earth, California Environmental Justice Alliance, Oil Change International and The Democracy Collaborative.

The letter addresses provisions in the text of the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act (H.R. 1512), which admits gas and carbon capture and storage as qualifying energies. The letter cites an analysis of the CLEAN Future Act’s CES credit-trading system, which finds that the bill offers “little incentive for operators with a full mix of generation to replace gas with renewable energy until 2035, since they get a much better benefit from retiring coal.”

The signatories write:

The definition [of clean energy] must exclude all fossil fuels and false solutions, including but not limited to: gas with and without carbon capture and storage and other fossil-based technologies; waste incineration and other combustion-based technologies; bioenergy including biomass, biofuels, factory farm gas, landfill gas, and wood pellets; new nuclear; and new, large-scale and ecosystem-altering hydropower, and all market-based accounting systems like offsets. Energy efficiency and demand-side management technologies must also be paired with renewable energies to vastly reduce energy consumption.

Writing for Politico, Michael Grunwald criticized the signatories as a “circular firing squad” of “utopian” “eco-purists” engaging in “political lunacy.” The only named critic of the letter he quoted was Data For Progress’s Julian Brave Noisecat (“There’s just no reason to take positions that aren’t politically defensible in Congress, and probably aren’t even technically defensible”).

Politico not only accepts advertising and sponsorship from corporate polluters but also collaborates with them on lobbying events.

Robinson Meyer, a journalist at the Atlantic, was similarly dismissive. Like Politico, the Atlantic collaborates with the fossil-fuel industry on lobbying and propaganda.

Text of the letter:

On Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will host a virtual, fully remote legislative hearing titled, “Protecting Coastal Communities and Ocean Resources from Offshore Drilling,” including the following bills and other related measures.

• H.R. 570 (Rep. Donald McEachin) To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes. Offshore Accountability Act
• H.R. 2643 (Rep. Julia Brownley) To require the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to further develop, finalize, and implement updated regulations for offshore oil and gas pipelines to address long-standing limitations regarding its ability to ensure active pipeline integrity and address safety and environmental risks associated with decommissioning, and for other purposes. Offshore Pipeline Safety Act
• H.R. 2836 (Rep. Kathy Castor) To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit oil and gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities in certain areas of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida, and for other purposes. Florida Coastal Protection Act
• H.R. _ (Rep. Frank Pallone) To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Atlantic, and Straits of Florida planning areas. COAST Anti-Drilling Act
• H.R. _ (Rep. Mike Levin) To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act to prohibit oil and gas leasing in the Southern California planning area. American Coasts and Oceans Protection Act
• H.R. _ (Rep. Jared Huffman) To amend the Other Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit oil and gas leasing in certain areas of the Outer Continental Shelf. North Pacific Ocean Protection Act

Witness List

Panel I

• Rep. Donald McEachin, Virginia, 4th District
• Rep. Julia Brownley, California, 26th District
• Rep. Kathy Castor, Florida, 14th District
• Rep. Mike Levin, California, 49th District
• Rep. Jared Huffman, California, 2nd District
• Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey, 6th District

Panel II

• Terra Lawson-Remer, Supervisor, District 3 San Diego County, CA
• Tom Kies, President, Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast President, Carteret County NC, Chamber of Commerce Morehead City, NC
• Cynthia Sarthou, Executive Director, Healthy Gulf New Orleans, LA
• Dr. Cliff Kapono, Professional Surfer, Chemist, and Journalist Hilo, HI
• Chett C. Chiasson, Executive Director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission Cut Off, LA

Hearing page

• H.R. 1512, the “Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act” or the “CLEAN Future Act

Witnesses

• J. Alfredo Gómez, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Amanda Goodin, J.D., Staff Attorney, Earthjustice
• Laurie Droughton Matthews, J.D., Of Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, On behalf of the Superfund Settlements Project
• Amy Catherine Dinn, J.D., Managing Attorney, Environmental Justice Team, Equitable Development Initiative, Lone Star Legal Aid

Hearing page

• John Porcari, Managing Partner, 3P Enterprises, former deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Rachel Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
• Phillip Washington, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles County, California
• Danielle Eckert, International Representative, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO
• Carbett Duhon, Director, Texans Against High Speed Rail; Director, Gulf Coast Rail District
• Andy Kunz, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. High Speed Rail Association

Panel II

• Carlos Augilar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Central High Speed Rail
• William Flynn, Chief Executive Officer, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
• Josh Giegel, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Virgin Hyperloop
• Andrés De León, Chief Executive Officer, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies
• Michael Reininger, Chief Executive Officer, Brightline Trains
• Wayne Rogers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Northeast Maglev