The bill provides annual funding for national defense nuclear weapons activities, the Army Corps of Engineers, various programs under the Department of Energy, and other related agencies. In total, the bill funds these programs at $35.4 billion, which is $1.2 billion above the last year's amount, and $633 million below the President’s request.
Whitfield is Chairman of the House Sub-committee on Energy and Power, and said he was able to get language inserted into the fill urging the DOE to develop a long term acquisition strategy at the Paducah site.
“The federal government has a responsibility to complete cleanup at the Paducah site and I remain dedicated to ensuring the funding and resources are available to accomplish this along with reindustrialization efforts,” said Whitfield. “It is also imperative that the DOE develop a long term strategy for the site to ensure the decontamination and decommission work is done properly and in a timely fashion.”
The bill is one of 13 annual appropriations bills that combine to fund the entire federal government, and they must all be enacted before the start of a new fiscal year, designated as October 1. The U.S. Senate must also take action before the bill can become law.
On the Net:
U.S. House Appropriations website with bill details