Ranking Member DeLauro Remarks: Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee Markup

-- Remarks As Delivered --

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and Chairman Cole it is good to be here this morning dealing with the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. I think it is the center of whatever the Congress does with regard to the overall lives of people in this nation – this bill touches on every single aspect of their lives. I view it as a critical effort for all of us so I thank you for the work on the bill.

I also want to say a thank you to the subcommittee staff for all of their work: Stephen Steigleder, Jackie Kilroy, Laurie Mignone, and Philip Tizzani for the minority, and Kathryn Salmon, Emily Goff, Kirk Boyle, Jaime Varela, Michaela Boudreaux, and Alexandra Mandewo on the majority side. Thank you for all the work that you do.

Before I make my comments on the bill, I want to acknowledge that I believe it is the last subcommittee markup for Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Watson Coleman. And I just want to say thank you to both of them for their work.

Steny, you were on this committee, the Labor-HHS subcommittee, long before I got on to the committee so you have a great history with this effort. And it has been a privilege to work with you on these efforts, and these issues which I know are so near and dear to your heart, and you will be missed in this body for the values and the attributes you have brought from your years of experience in public service. So thank you, very, very much.

And to my colleague, Bonnie Watson Coleman, I would just say she is a force to be reckoned with. She approaches her work with great compassion, and with great moral clarity I might add. Thank you for being such a fierce advocate for those who oftentimes do not have a voice in what is happening. We will miss you on this committee.

So my congratulations to the two of you for remarkable careers, and we still have work to do in the next several months. Now, on to the business before us this morning.

I do not think it comes as a surprise I am opposed to the bill that we are considering today. Americans are struggling to afford everything from gasoline to groceries; from utilities to health insurance; from mortgage payments to medical bills. But instead of doing anything to address the affordability crisis – which is a real crisis, it is not a hoax or a con job as the president claims – this bill makes the problem even worse.

Healthcare costs are going up, and hospitals are shutting down. The president’s signature piece of legislation – the One Big Beautiful Bill – cut Medicaid and nutrition assistance by $1.2 trillion. It will push 15 million Americans off their health insurance. And all of this just to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.

The president said we do not have money for day care, for Medicare, for Medicaid, because, quote, “we are fighting wars.” The president wants to increase the Defense budget by half a trillion dollars. Meanwhile, this bill cuts funding for education, public health, reproductive health, and job training.

Horace Mann called education the “great equalizer.” Lyndon Johnson called it, “the only passport from poverty.” FDR called it, “the real safeguard of democracy.” The belief in education as an inalienable right is woven into the fabric of our country. It is the promise we make to each succeeding generation that they will be better off than the last.

Yet this bill cuts $8 billion – 10 percent – from the Department of Education. That includes a $2 billion cut to Title I grants, which will push tens of thousands of teachers out of their classrooms, and leave countless children with a worse education. This is a step down the path toward eliminating public education in this nation, but I believe that is the ultimate goal of the majority. 

As new technology upends the workforce, and inflation outpaces wage growth, this bill eviscerates funding for employment and training programs by $3.3 billion – one-third below the 2026 level. It eliminates funding for adult and youth job training entirely, while cutting funding for the Job Corps in half.

This bill cuts funding for Health and Human Service programs by $4.5 billion, including a $1 billion cut to the CDC. The majority of these cuts target programs that combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, jeopardizing the extraordinary progress we have made toward defeating this disease.

The recent Ebola outbreak threatens to become the deadliest in history. But this bill leaves funding for CDC global health activities stagnant, which will not be nearly enough to sustain our global presence after the State Department’s decision to restructure the PEPFAR program.

This bill continues the decades-long Republican crusade against women’s reproductive health. Even now, years after Roe was overturned, they are still pushing to restrict access to reproductive care – regardless of what state you are in.

The bill cuts funding for Title X Family Planning, leaving 2.6 million men and women without access to preventive care services, including cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, mental health services, and contraception. It eliminates the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program entirely. And it includes dozens of partisan provisions that target reproductive health care access.

And as if the healthcare cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill were not enough, this bill cuts $2 billion in operations funding from the Affordable Care Act marketplace, threatening health care coverage for millions of Americans. Even if you qualify for an affordable plan through the program, you will have a harder time accessing it.

The Trump Administration and House Republicans are squeezing American families from both ends—increasing costs of daily necessities while hollowing out health, education, nutrition, and housing programs that help families make ends meet. 

Despite these objections, there are some bright spots in this bill that deserve recognition.

First, I am glad to see the overall funding level for the National Institutes of Health is increased under this bill, especially targeted increases for research on cancer, Alzheimer’s, ALS, diabetes, women’s health, and rare diseases.

Second, during our subcommittee hearing on the Science of Reading earlier this year, I called for this committee to reestablish a National Reading Panel to explore ways to improve how we teach our children to read. I am pleased that this committee has answered that call, and I want to commend Congressman Harder for his advocacy on this issue. I support these provisions and applaud their inclusion. However, I remain overwhelmingly opposed to the legislation as a whole. 

Taken together, the bill undermines education, jeopardizes public health, and limits workers’ opportunities. It does nothing to address the rising cost of living, while stripping away crucial support that helps families who are navigating the affordability crisis.

I encourage a “No” vote on this legislation, and call on my Republican colleagues to work with Democrats to craft a bill that meets the needs the American people are facing.

Thank you, and I yield back.