Kilmer Named to Coveted Spot on Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Will Also Represent Region on Interior & Environment, Energy & Water Subcommittees
Move will help Kilmer advocate for drivers of region’s economy including Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Base Kitsap, Puget Sound and coastal fisheries, tribes, Olympic National Park, federal forests.
Washington, DC.—Representative Derek Kilmer announced today that he will take a coveted spot on the House Committee on Appropriation’s Defense Subcommittee. He will also join the subcommittee for Energy & Water and retain his seat on the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies.
“These Appropriations subcommittee assignments will help me protect and create jobs in every corner of our region where tens of thousands of people work in public service—from the folks prepping timber sales and working in Olympic National Park, to the men and women serving in the Navy and at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard,” Kilmer said. “I’m looking forward to using my position on these subcommittees to help Congress invest in solutions to promote healthy fisheries, maintain a strong national defense, and generate innovative ideas that create more economic opportunities for more people in more places.”
With his assignment to the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Kilmer will have a direct say in how the federal government spends money on funding for the United States Navy and other branches of the nation’s military, servicemember pay and benefits, and other defense priorities.
Previously, Kilmer secured funding for Naval Base Kitsap and for research into innovations to reduce airplane noise within the Defense Appropriations bill.
Through his work on the Interior and Environment Subcommittee, Kilmer has led the charge on Puget Sound recovery, coastal fisheries, funding for our national parks and the Forest Service, and issues impacting Native American tribes.
On the Energy & Water Subcommittee, Kilmer will have the ability to advocate for funding for coastal priorities through the Army Corps of Engineers and to shape the nation’s investment in solutions and infrastructure that address climate change.
Kilmer has served on the House Appropriations Committee for four years. He is the third-most senior member of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. By moving to Defense and the Energy & Water Subcommittees, Kilmer will work directly on the spending bills that fund the Armed Forces, including the Navy and the nation’s Naval Shipyards, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers and the Pacific Northwest National Lab.
The House Appropriations Committee is historically one of the most powerful in Congress and one of the oldest of Congress’s committees. It is tasked with determining how much money each piece of the government receives every fiscal year. Bills that fund the government are drafted and debated at the subcommittee level before being approved and sent to the full Appropriations Committee and then to the floor of the House for a vote.
In addition to his Appropriations work, Kilmer was recently selected to chair the House’s Select Committee on Modernization, a bipartisan effort to assess the House’s use of rules and procedures, to examine potential inefficiencies in technology and innovation, and to promote diversity in the House – making it a more responsive and representative body to the American public.