Washington, D.C. (September 14, 2017) The U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 3354, the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act of 2018, which finishes the FY18 appropriations process for the House of Representatives by providing funding levels for eight funding bills. This package included two Pearce amendments that rollback excessive and duplicative regulations on the oil and gas industry. Inclusion of these amendments will greatly benefit New Mexico.
"New Mexico's oil and gas industry represents nearly 40% of the State's budget. Implementation of these Obama era rules would have a profound impact not only on the success of oil and gas in New Mexico, but the success and livelihood of the State overall. The money oil and gas contributes ensures our roads are safe, our schools are modern, and our law enforcement departments have the resources they need to keep us safe.
Beyond the benefits to the State, New Mexico is a national leader in energy resource development, and by hindering the production of oil and gas in New Mexico, we are not only increasing our reliance on foreign oil, but it also hurts the economy and costs jobs. I appreciate my colleagues understanding the importance of New Mexico oil and gas for our nation and supporting the passage of these amendments," said Rep. Pearce
For the first time since 2009, the House of Representatives have completed consideration and passed all twelve appropriations bills prior to the start of the new fiscal year.
"One of the House's essential functions is to establish federal spending for the year to come," continued Rep. Pearce. "Setting funding levels provides both federal agencies and the businesses around the nation that support the government with certainty. With the passage of H.R. 3354 today, the House did just this. Not only does this bill allow Congress to meet its commitments to the nation, it expands opportunity for economic growth and development, ensures federal agencies have the resources they need to complete core functions, and also sets our country on a more sustainable financial path. I look forward to my colleagues in the Senate taking action on our work and providing the nation with a stable budget for the year to come."
Background
H.R. 3354 included the passage of agriculture and rural development, commerce, justice, science, financial services and general government, homeland security, the interior and environment, labor, health and human services, education, state and foreign operations, and transportation, housing and urban development appropriations bills. In addition, the bill included the passage of two amendments sponsored by Rep. Pearce to block the enactment of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Onshore Order #3 rule and the Waste Prevention rule, otherwise known as the Venting and Flaring rule. The Onshore Order #3 regulation would create multiple duplicative and unnecessary regulations for the production of oil and gas on federal lands. The BLM's Venting and Flaring rule would attempt to regulate air quality for energy production on federal lands even though methane emissions have decreased 21% since 1990 while production has increased 47%.
On July 27, 2017, the House of Representatives voted to pass funding for critical defense programs including the Department of Defense, military construction – Department of Veteran's Affairs, energy and water development, and legislative branch funding bills.