STATEMENT: Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Dems vote “No” on Interior Appropriations Bill

Bill passed Wednesday night would harm wildlife, public lands, oceans and more

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 8998) with a vote of 210-205. PennEnvironment and Environment America sent a letter to members of Congress on Monday urging them to vote no on the bill and its anti-environmental measures. H.R. 8998 attempts to block protections for endangered Right and Rice’s whales, undermine policies that could protect old-growth trees and forests, open pristine wild lands in the Arctic to drilling, allow toxic mining near the beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and strip Endangered Species Act protections from threatened species, among other destructive environmental actions.

The measure was opposed by Pennsylvania Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Brendan Boyle, Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan, Susan Wild, Matthew Cartwright, Summer Lee and Christopher Deluzio.

In response, PennEnvironment issued the following statements:

“We were gratified to see Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation show bipartisan opposition to this travesty of a bill,” said PennEnvironment Clean Water and Conservation Advocate Stephanie Wein.  “At a time when we need more nature, the House of Representatives is pushing the country in the wrong direction. If passed, this legislation will harm wildlife of all shapes and sizes, from grizzly bears to lesser prairie chickens. It will harm Americans who need more places to hike, camp and enjoy now, and it will hurt our children who will grow up in a world with fewer wildlife species and fewer beautiful places to enjoy in the future.”

“Pennsylvanians love our forests – Penn’s woods – and the Forest Service has undertaken an historic process to change the way they manage our national forests, like Allegheny Forest here in Pennsylvania. This bill would prevent the Forest Service from finalizing that process, including stopping the ongoing 90-day public comment period in its tracks. The Biden administration should finish what they started and swiftly develop policies to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests. Once these trees are logged, they take decades, or even centuries, to grow back.”