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LCV’s Chispa Statement on House Leadership’s Interior-Environment Spending Bill and Department of Homeland Security Budget

Jul 12, 2017

Betsy Lopez-Wagner, blopez-wagner@lcv.org, 202-454-4570

Washington, D.C. – In response to the release of the House leadership’s appropriations bill to fund the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and related agencies, as well as the proposal of funds for a border wall (DHS), League of Conservation Voters’ Chispa National Director Ernesto Vargas issued the following statement:

“House Republican leaders and President Trump are pushing dirty budgets forward at the expense of the health, safety and rights of people across this country. The $528 million dollar cuts to the EPA mean more pollution that makes people sick, while slashing programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund hurts our thriving outdoor economy. Alarmingly, buried in the bill is an extreme provision giving the Trump administration carte blanche to withdraw the Clean Water Rule behind closed doors. Additionally, designating $1.6 billion dollars for a border wall is a flagrant error by this administration and the elected officials who support it – this wall has wide-ranging implications for the more than 15 million people who call the U.S.-Mexico border region home and the lands and waterways they depend on. The border is also home to endangered species, national parks, monuments and a rich cultural history that reflects a nation dependent on international cooperation. We urge Congress to reject these dirty spending bills filled with harmful anti-environment policy riders and instead pass clean bills that offer justice to communities burdened by pollution and already impacted by the climate crisis—bills with robust funding to safeguard our air, water, lands.”