Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington’s 4th district issued a statement following the House passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The legislation includes funding for nuclear energy initiatives and related national security measures.
“The House has just sent a clear message about the role nuclear will play in the future of American energy,” said Rep. Newhouse. “This legislation makes historic investments into small modular nuclear reactors and expands licensing for new reactors, like the one coming to the Tri-Cities, which will help America become the global leader in nuclear power.”
Newhouse also commented on budget priorities affecting his region: “As we work to get our fiscal house in order, tough decisions must be made. The cleanup effort at Hanford and the research and innovation at PNNL are vital to our region, and I will continue to prioritize their missions as we negotiate with the Senate on funding the government.”
The appropriations bill allocates $57.3 billion in discretionary spending, which is $766.4 million less than last year’s enacted level. Of this amount, $33.223 billion is designated for defense programs while $24.077 billion supports non-defense activities.
Key elements of the bill include support for advanced reactor demonstration projects, increased funding for regulatory review of new nuclear reactors, investment in critical minerals extraction technologies to reduce foreign dependence, improvements to ports and waterways infrastructure, expanded geothermal energy development, and continued cybersecurity efforts for grid reliability.
For national security purposes, it provides over $20 billion toward modernizing U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure; more than $2 billion for maintaining naval nuclear capabilities; nearly $2 billion aimed at reducing risks from hostile nations or terrorist groups; bans sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China; restricts access by citizens of China and Russia to certain facilities; blocks Department of Energy assistance to foreign entities of concern; and prohibits purchase of specific technology from adversarial countries.
Dan Newhouse has represented Washington’s 4th district in Congress since 2015 after previously serving in the state legislature from 2003-2009 (https://newhouse.house.gov/about). He was born in Sunnyside, Washington in 1955 where he continues to reside.
###
