Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04), Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024. Cole supported the legislation.
“While spending American dollars more wisely and reining in Green New Deal policies, the bill passed in the House today provides strong funding to the U.S. Department of Energy and sets the interests of America first,” said Cole. “This bill advances initiatives to strengthen our energy security, continue the modernization of our nuclear weapons stockpile and infrastructure and reduces the U.S.’s reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals. The legislation also provides for harbor maintenance and inland waterways construction to ensure goods can be moved safely to and from global markets and increases water supply and drought resilience programs.
“Finally, I am proud this legislation codifies the Supreme Court’s reversal of President Biden’s overreaching Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule to return control of waterways such as streams, ditches, ponds and creeks from the federal government to individual states and private owners. This is significant to Oklahomans and rural Americans by ensuring regulatory certainty to landowners to responsibly steward their own property.”
