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The deep funding cuts necessitated by the 302(b) allocation, as well as the various special interest riders and funding limitations that were included in the subcommittee bill, would cause real harm to the environment and to efforts to preserve America's natural and cultural heritage.

I am also extremely concerned about the level of funding at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the SEC receives a $50 million increase from last year, this increase is essentially offset by restrictions placed on the SEC Reserve Fund. Moreover, this level of funding is nearly 200 million dollars below the Administration's request. America's investors need a strong cop on the beat to ensure that past abuses are not repeated, and to ensure that the SEC's new powers under Dodd-Frank are vigorously enforced. The funding level in this bill is inadequate given these needs.

As much as I appreciate the process, I can't support the product. The deep funding cuts to important conservation and environmental protection programs would, if enacted, cause serious harm to our environment. Likewise, this bill again includes a number of riders and funding limitations that I believe do not belong in the bill and whose effect would be to undermine important environmental law.

Last year, the leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO, not usually bedfellows, agreed that we must have greater investment in our nation's infrastructure in order to create jobs and to be competitive in the global economy. A modern, well maintained transportation network is absolutely necessary for our economy to grow and the country to prosper.

Dodd-Frank expanded CFTCs oversight 8-fold from the $37 trillion futures market to the over-the-counter swaps market -- a domestic market of over $300 trillion in notional value. So just when the CFTC needs to scale up, theyre being slapped with deep cuts that strangle their ability to safeguard against another financial collapse.