Key Votes on Amendments to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 6147

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote in the manner prescribed for each amendment below to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 6147. As is always the case, FreedomWorks reserves the right to key vote any amendment brought to the floor for a vote.

NO – Amendment #25 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), this amendment would strike the proposed repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the United States Rule. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has blocked the rule from taking effect because it lacks clarity. As the Heritage Foundation has explained, “[T]o the government, an area can be a ‘water of the United States’ even if it cannot possibly be used for transportation, etc., because it is too small and, even more surprising, despite the fact that it is not always wet (and in some instances rarely is). Learning that a patch of dry land is ‘water of the United States’ simply because it can hold water at some point, however ephemerally, is jarring to most people, and properly so.”

YES – Amendment #138 (Division A): Sponsored by Reps. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funding for the enforcement of the EPA’s Methane Rule. The EPA estimates the annual cost of the Methane Rule at $520 million.

YES – Amendment #149 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), this amendment would prohibit the EPA from using funds to give formal notification under, or prepare, propose, implement, administer, or enforce any rule or recommendation pursuant to, section 115 of the Clean Air Act dealing with international air pollution.

YES – Amendment #163 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), this amendment would ensure that no funds would be available to the Environmental Justice Small Grants made by the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). These funds have been misused to fund projects that should be left to state and local leadership, and that are unrelated to the organization’s mission. If enacted, the Hice amendment will save taxpayers $70 million over the next ten years.

YES – Amendment #168 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), this amendment would reduce discretionary budget authority by 1 percent in 2019 for the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and related agencies.

YES – Amendment #25 (Division B): Sponsored by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funds to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from being used to administer ObamaCare’s Multi-State Plan (MSP) Program. Section 1334 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that OPM contract at least two national health insurance plans, one of which is statutorily required to be contracted with a nonprofit entity. The MSP Program was included in ObamaCare when the so-called “public option” proved politically untenable. The MSP Program could be used as a vehicle for a public option.

YES – Amendment #40 (Division B): Sponsored by Reps. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Mark Walker (R-N.C.), and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funds from being used to implement the District of Columbia’s recently passed Health Insurance Requirement Amendment Act.

YES – Amendment #69 (Division B): Sponsored by Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.), this amendment would prohibit the District of Columbia from using funds from being used to seize property to enforce the individual mandate. The Council of the District of Columbia recently passed legislation that would require residents to have qualified health insurance. If a resident fails to purchase such a health insurance plan, the new law allows the D.C. government to place a levy on his or her property, the property may be seized and sold.

FreedomWorks will count the votes on these amendments to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 6147, on our 2018 Congressional Scorecard and reserves the right to score other amendments. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks