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The federal government must be held responsible to ensure abundant, affordable energy is available for all Americans, and the development of this energy is key component of American tribes' economic success. 30% of America's coal reserves west of the Mississippi River lie on tribal lands, but the actions of the Biden Administration have locked out these tribes from harnessing the resources to provide affordable power and economic investment in their communities.

Water is the most valuable resource that exists for western states, yet a lack of viable infrastructure has prevented the American West from fully harnessing its benefits for decades. From watering crops to producing energy that in turn funds our communities, we must seek ways to use the water we have to achieve long term prosperity.

The State Department’s remote work practices are even more absurd than the DoD. Not only are the agency employees not returning to work, the State Department is authorizing remote work agreements where the employee is living outside their locality of pay. This means employees are living and working remotely in a location that has a substantially less expensive cost of living (think Lovell, Wyoming), while receiving pay as though they live in an urban area with a much higher cost of living (think Denver, Colorado).

DHS continues their woke agenda by also creating the DHS Environmental Justice Strategy, which seeks to reorient the department's work in light of "environmental justice" principles and is developed by the DHS Climate Change Action Group. Much like my efforts to defund their Climate Literacy Strategy, I offered an amendment to block the allocation of money to this program in order to make sure that funds designated for securing our nation go to projects that actually protect Americans from the real threats we face.

President Biden has made clear that he believes climate change is the most pressing national security threat facing our nation, and Secretary Mayorkas has followed suit; earlier this year his department published the DHS Climate Literacy Strategy, which is supposed to educate employees on the threats climate change poses to the DHS mission. Meanwhile, the DHS mission is rapidly eroding through our porous border and the department's anti-free speech actions.

Earlier this year, Secretary Mayorkas, the chief architect behind the border crisis, advertised his visit to a Polish-Ukraine border town to oversee the use of U.S. technology to facilitate the safe passage of people over the border and to greet border patrol offices. If only Mayorkas would pay the same amount of attention to our own borders. Until he fixes the disaster and crisis that he created he should not be taking taxpayer funded trips abroad.

Over 3.8 million employees in the DoD are able to access classified information, yet many of these individuals are eligible for or have been granted telework requests. Not only is it absurd that massive portions of our largest federal department are working from home each and every day, but it creates a significant security risk. My amendment, which passed by voice, will bring an end to regular telework authorizations that are not justified for a health, emergency or other specialty circumstances.