madam chairman , i rise to speak on the appropriations bill for the department of the interior , environment , and related agencies . 
this measure is part of the first wave of appropriations bills to be considered under the fiscal year 2006 budget resolution , and provides for the resource management needs for our nation , clearly a national priority . 
the bill , which is in compliance with h. con . 
res. 95 , the concurrent resolution on the budget , provides appropriations for most of the department of the interior , the environmental protection agency , the forest service , the indian health service , the smithsonian institution , and the national foundation for the arts and humanities , among others . 
for the first time , the house appropriations subcommittee on interior , environment , and related agencies marked up a bill with their new jurisdiction , reflecting additional responsibility for all discretionary programs under the environmental protection agency and losing some energy department programs previously under their jurisdiction . 
h.r. 2361 provides $ 26.1 billion in appropriations for fiscal year 2006 , which is $ 653 million , or 2.2 percent , below the fiscal year 2005 level . 
the level is $ 432 million over the president 's request . 
the bill complies with section 302 ( f ) of the budget act , which prohibits consideration of bills in excess of an appropriations subcommittee 's 302 ( b ) allocation of budget authority and outlays established in the budget resolution . 
this measure , like government spending on the whole , has been drawn up under a tighter-than-normal budget constraint . 
however , this does not mean that needed services are cut in a meaningful way . 
two examples from the bill are useful in illustrating this point , one in firefighting through the forest service and the department of the interior , and the other in water programs for the epa . 
regarding firefighting , i would point out that the base we are using for comparison , had higher-than-normal spending due to a one-time appropriation of $ 500 million to be used as insurance in case regular fire fighting appropriations become exhausted . 
excluding this one-time appropriation means that the measure before us is $ 153 million less than the 2005 level rather that $ 653 million less than 2005 . 
moreover , some of this one-time money is still available , and will remain available for obligation next fiscal year too for its intended use if regular funding becomes exhausted . 
in the water program area , the committee looked for ways to secure funding for epa 's clean water program , a program mentioned even during our own budget resolution proceedings . 
i understand that gao found over $ 100 million in expired epa grants , contracts , and inter-agency agreements , and that the bill rescinds this money in order to fund an increase in the level of clean water program funding to $ 850 million from the president 's request of $ 730 million . 
while it maybe the case that the $ 100 million found in these accounts , some dating back to the 1980s , would never have been actually been spent , the savings constitute legitimate efforts under the budget act . 
i also note that because this account carries hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances from year to year , the impact from budget reductions relative to the current fiscal year are not likely to result in reductions in community investments next fiscal year . 
h.r. 2361 does not contain any emergency-designated ba , which is exempt from budget limits . 
the bill reduces a national park service contract authority account by $ 30 million -- an account not subject to annual appropriations -- thereby offsetting discretionary spending through changes in a mandatory spending program . 
if this provision were stricken ( because it constitutes legislating on an appropriations bill ) the measure as reported would exceed its allocation under section 302 ( b ) of the congressional budget act . 
as we enter the appropriations season , i wish chairman lewis and our colleagues on the appropriations committee the best in maintaining their admirable pace of bringing bills to the floor . 
in conclusion , i express my support for h.r. 2361 . 
