Commerce, Justice, Science

"With these investments, we can promote economic development, research and mitigate against climate change, address gun violence, and promote criminal justice reform."

"To address the many challenges faced by the wide variety of agencies under this subcommittee’s jurisdiction, this bill includes a net discretionary total of $73.985 billion in funding for fiscal year 2020, an increase of $9.8 billion over fiscal year 2019. This amount includes a budget adjustment for the 2020 Census, which is an extremely high priority in this bill. Within this allocation, this bill makes significant investments in justice reform, economic development, our country’s engines of innovation and research, and the decennial census. We have also been able to increase funding for programs and research focused on climate change, and for efforts to address gun violence."

"On top of funding issues associated with the Census, this administration’s decision to include the citizenship question is highly offensive and, as multiple federal courts have held, unconstitutional. It is an unnecessary addition and a clear attack on immigrant and other minority communities. It must be stopped."

"Unfortunately, as we discuss the funding needs for fiscal year 2020, we seem to have more uncertainty than I have ever seen at this point in the decennial cycle. That is almost entirely the result of the decision to try and add an untested citizenship question to the form."

"From eliminating Economic Development Administration grants, which provide funding and technical assistance to economically distressed communities, to seriously underfunding the Census, this request is completely out of touch with the needs of our constituents."

"I strongly believe in transparency and accountability. And that starts at the top of every government agency- including the Commerce Department. The Secretary has a lot of questions that he should answer directly."