Nevada Congressman Amodei votes for omnibus spending package

U.S. Representative Mark Amodei (NV-02) issued the following statement after voting for the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus spending package, H.R. 2471 – Consolidated Appropriations Act:

“Thanks to continuing resolution after continuing resolution over the past several months, Congress has maintained the Trump Administration’s funding levels for well over a year into the Biden Presidency. For all of those “vote no” amnesiacs in favor of government shutdowns, let me remind you that while this process has been the height of irresponsible decision making by the majority party, the only thing that’s worse than Congress’ dysfunction right now is shutting down the government and disrupting our veterans, social security operations, defense and border security operations, to name a few.

“With all due respect to my colleagues who voted “no”, no one is fooled by the “vote no, hope yes” culture. The domestic spending portion of the Omnibus is a classic example of that because no one will be championing that they voted against life, against saving border wall money, and against veterans’ programs. Further, livestock producers and the agriculture industry were rescued from burdensome Green New Deal requirements Democrats had insisted on pursing. While there is no such thing as perfect, we think this combination of conservative provisions allows us to continue the fight in the face of the dysfunction of the majority in the House, Senate, and White House.

“In this Omnibus package, there are some fundamentally-American results achieved by those of us who didn’t give up the fight, and as a result, produced several policy home runs despite being in the minority. Some of these provisions include:

— An increase of $32.5 billion in funding for the Department of Defense (DOD), including a 2.7% pay raise for our troops;

— An increase of $400 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and an increase of $800 million for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in part to address the crisis at our Southern border;

— A $211 million increase to Wildland Fire Management for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service;

— Allowing for continued domestic energy and mineral development by preventing sage grouse from being listed in the Endangered Species Act (ESA);

— Exempting farmers and ranchers from greenhouse gas permitting and reporting requirements;

— A prohibition on closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and transferring detainees; and

— A prohibition on the use of funds from being used to implement the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which urges greater record-keeping of lawful firearm owners, moving closer to the left’s long-sought goal of a national firearm ownership registry.

“Another successful aspect of this bill is that several Democrat poison pill provisions were eliminated through the conference process between the House and Senate. While it is part of the “woke” agenda of the majority party to remove Hyde Amendment protections, this long-standing amendment was preserved in the Omnibus package, preventing taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions. Moreover, anti-energy provisions, which would dramatically further reduce domestic mineral production, and a provision demanded by progressives to cancel $1.9 billion in border wall funding, further fueling the border crisis, were also eliminated.

“And because multi-tasking is important, I was also glad to see the inclusion of several Nevada-specific wins that I directly advocated for over the fiscal year:

— All 10 submitted Community Project Funding designations, including funding to purchase emergency responder communications equipment for the cities of Sparks and West Wendover, upgrades to municipal water plants and sewer systems, and pedestrian improvements in Carson City, just to name a few;

— The largest ever appropriations package for Lake Tahoe, including $7 million specifically to improve waterline infrastructure on Highway 50 for wildfire response capabilities;

— Funding to support Nevada-based companies’ technology production, such as the Sierra Nevada Corporation and Rocky Research;

— Funding for the Desert Research Institute (DRI) to carry out studies preventing urban flood damage, hydrological and climate forecasting, and improved data sharing capabilities; and

— Funding to support research activities to improve geothermal and solar efficiency production, both of which have a strong presence in Nevada’s energy grid.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, the dysfunction of the majority party in Congress is off the charts. Although long overdue in its passage, now that Fiscal Year 2022 deck has been cleared with this vote, I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to secure funding for many more Nevada priorities again in Fiscal Year 2023, all while pushing back against provisions that serve a far-left, political agenda.”