The League of Conservation led 12 environmental organizations in sending the below letter to the House of Representatives urging Members to oppose the following amendments to H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025, when they come up for votes. The League of Conservation Voters will strongly consider including votes related to these amendments in our 2024 National Environmental Scorecard.
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June 26, 2024
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Amendment Vote Recommendations on H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025.
Dear Member of Congress,
On behalf of our many members and supporters, the 12 undersigned groups call on you to OPPOSE the following amendments to H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025. While not all undersigned organizations work directly on each of these issues, we appreciate your consideration of these pro-environmental positions.
Thank you for your consideration,
League of Conservation Voters
Americans for Financial Reform
CCAN Action Fund
Clean Water Action
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
Earthjustice
Friends of the Earth Action
Interfaith Power & Light
Natural Resources Defense Council
Oceana
Ocean Defense Initiative
Sierra Club
Vote NO
56. Greene (GA) Any amendments to arbitrarily and punitively eliminate or drastically cut salaries for federal government officials are personal financial attacks on individuals whose job it is to carry out the administration’s policies and are wholly inappropriate and unwarranted. Top officials directing important federal government business should be fairly paid for their work, and any attacks on government officials’ pay should be rejected.
129. Moore (AL) This spending reduction amendment would cut the climate change research capability of the Department of Defense, hamstringing its efforts to understand, be prepared for, and respond to this growing national security threat. This amendment would put at risk the health and welfare of the American people, and national defense would be directly compromised. This is yet another baseless attack on the benefits of science, and specifically climate science, to society.
163. Tenney (NY) President Biden’s Executive Order on Access to Voting is a critical effort to increase nonpartisan voter registration and participation when people interact with government agencies. This amendment would thwart common-sense, good-government innovations to better serve voters of all stripes, frustrating the goals of the decades-old, bipartisan National Voter Registration Act.
164. Tenney (NY) This amendment would prevent the GSA and other agencies from finalizing a rule so that “major” Federal contractors receiving more than $50 million in annual contracts, who make up 1.3% of all contractors and over 85% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the federal supply chain, would be required to publicly disclose Scope 1, Scope 2, and relevant categories of Scope 3 emissions, disclose climate-related financial risks, and set science-based emissions reduction targets. Without these disclosures, the US cannot substantiate or track progress against its own commitment to the Paris Agreement, nor protect the federal government from transition risks.
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