The House Committee on Agriculture will hold a business
meeting
to consider the elements of the reconciliation package under their
jurisdiction.
Included in this package are multiple bipartisan proposals will provide
resources to mitigate climate change, improve quality of life in rural
communities, and commit millions of dollars to agricultural education
across the country.
Investments include:
$7.75 billion in investments in agricultural research and
infrastructure; other countries like China are outspending the US on
research investments and this money will help close the gap.
$18 billion in rural job-promoting investments to ensure those living
in rural America, on tribal lands, and our insular areas have access
to clean water and reliable and efficient renewable energy. This
funding will also support investment in renewable biofuels
infrastructure important to farmers and our fight against climate
change, and flexible funding for rural community growth.
$40 billion in investments in forestry programs to help combat forest
fires and contribute to healthy, resilient forests, including $14
billion for “hazardous fuels reduction,” and $4.5 billion for the
Civilian Climate Corps for “managing National Forest System land” and
“rural and urban conservation and tree planting projects”.
$300 million divided equally to the Forest Service for the following
six climate-related projects:
to carry out greenhouse gas life cycle analyses of domestic wood
products
to assess the quantity of carbon sequestration and storage
accomplished by different forest practices when applied in diverse
ecological and geographic settings
to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to
strategies to increase carbon stocks on National Forest System land
to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to the
impacts of climate change and weather variability on national forest
ecosystems
to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to
strategies to ensure that national forest ecosystems, including
forests, plants, aquatic ecosystems, and wildlife, are able to adapt
to climate change and weather variability
for activities and tactics to reduce the spread of invasive species
on non-Federal forested land
The Committee on Education and Labor will
meet
to consider its portion of the Build Back Better Act, which invests
$761
billion
to lower costs for families, secure good-paying jobs for American
workers, and set a strong foundation of America’s children.
Their bill invests:
roughly $450 billion in lowering the cost of child care and securing
universal pre-K for three- and four-year-olds
$111 billion to lower the cost of higher education
$82 billion in America’s public school infrastructure, for safe,
healthy, energy efficient, and environmentally resilient public school
facilities
nearly $80 billion in workforce development programs
$408 million for the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy
$20 million for the Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and
Carbon Management
$1.08 billion in general funds for Department of Energy National
Laboratories, including
$377 million for Office of Science
$210 million for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
$40 million for Office of Nuclear Energy
$190 million for Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
$102 million for the Office of Environmental Management
$2 billion for fusion research and development
$1.1 billion for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
demonstration projects, including wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower,
vehicles, bioenergy, and building technologies
$70 million for a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute
$52.5 million for university nuclear reactor research
$10 million for demonstration projects on reducing the environmental
impacts of fracking
wastewater
$20 million for the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity
$50 million for the Office of the Inspector General
Environmental Protection Agency
$264 million to conduct environmental research and development
activities related to climate change, including environmental justice
FEMA
$798 million for Assistance to Firefighters Grants
NASA ($4.4 billion)
$4 billion for infrastructure and maintenance
$388 million for climate change research and development
NIST ($4.2 billion)
$1.2 billion for scientific and technical research, including
resilience to natural hazards including wildfires, and greenhouse gas
and other climate-related measurement
$2 billion for American manufacturing support
$1 billion for infrastructure and maintenance
NOAA ($4.2 billion)
$1.2 billion for weather, ocean, and climate research and forecasting
$265 million to develop and distribute actionable climate information
for communities in an equitable manner
$500 million to recruit, educate, and train a “climate-ready”
workforce
$70 million for high-performance computing
$224 million for phased-array radar research and development
The Committee on Small Business will hold a hybrid
markup
at 10:00 A.M. (EDT) on Thursday, September 9, 2021, in Room 2360 of the
Rayburn House Office Building and on Zoom. Members who wish to
participate remotely may do so via Zoom, information to be provided
separately. The Committee will consider Committee Print (providing for
reconciliation pursuant to S. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on
the Budget for Fiscal Year 2022).
Includes provision for $2.1 billion in federal debentures to back
small-business loans to acquire renewable energy equipment such as solar
panels, wind turbines, or battery storage.
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
EDT via Webex, and livestreamed on the
Committee’s YouTube pages, the Committee on Natural Resources will
meet
to consider the following postponed recorded votes that were requested
at the Committee’s most recent business
meeting,
and to continue its consideration on legislative
proposals
to comply with the reconciliation directive included in section 2002 of
the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2022, S. Con.
Res.14.
The votes will be on the [following Republican
amendments](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210909/114022/HMKP-117-II00-20210909-SD002-U1.pdf):
On Thursday, September 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
EDT via Cisco Webex and livestreamed on the
Committee’s YouTube page, the Committee on Natural Resources will meet
to
consider
legislative proposals to comply with the reconciliation directive
included in section 2002 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for
Fiscal Year 2022, S. Con. Res.14.
This
hearing
will consider the nomination of Dr. Homer L. Wilkes to be Under
Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment.
Dr. Wilkes was the state conservationist for Mississippi from 1994 to
2010. Since 2010, he has served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
From 2013 to present, he has been the Director of the Gulf of Mexico
Ecosystem Restoration Division at USDA, part
of the federal government’s long-term response to 2010 BP Deepwater
Horizon disaster.
Dr. Homer L. Wilkes, USDA
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee