An attempt to defund the Denali Commission in the House of Representatives has failed. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
Ohio Republican Congressman Steve Chabot attempted to add an amendment to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2015 on Thursday. It would have removed the funding for the Denali Commission, an independent federal agency that provides grants for a variety of projects, mostly infrastructure and utilities, around Alaska. The amendment failed by a 176 to 243 vote, after an impassioned floor speech by Alaska Republican Don Young. He said the Commission has provided significant assistance to rural communities.
“What it has done, it has taken and provided, number one thing when it was created, was to move the fuel tanks away from the waters the EPA said it couldn’t be close to. These communities could not do that, and the process of the federal government and the other agencies would have taken too long, so we move these fuel tanks across. Yes it’s been used for clinics, and it’s been used for sewer and water. 44 of our villages don’t have water yet, don’t have sewage, they carry honey buckets. Why they call it honey buckets, I have no idea. I will say this is what this commission’s bugaboo is to take and provide the proper thing for just as your constituents use every day and take it for granted. This commission has worked.”
Chabot’s amendment was a response to a 2012 investigation of the commission by the Inspector General. Their report concerns Repair and Replacement accounts, a required element in many of Denali’s grants. Said grant conditions stipulate that cities and communities put money into these bank accounts each year so that repairs and maintenance could be made on projects such as power plants. The idea is by accumulating money over a facility’s full lifespan, it could remain sustainable.
However, the IG was unable to find sufficient records to prove these bank accounts exist, even after repeated subpoenas. Because of this, one of their report’s recommendations was to not reauthorize the Denali Commission until the accounts could be found.
Young strongly disputed the report’s conclusions in his floor speech.
“The IG report by Mr. Marshall, totally incompetent. It’s been unfounded, his finding was unfounded, in fact, we can’t find it. We’d like to find out where he is. He no longer exists. What he said about this commission is totally inaccurate.”
Chabot’s amendment was simply the latest attempt to carry out the IG’s recommendations. Full text of the report can be found at oig.denali.gov.