Chair DeLauro Closing Remarks at Final Fiscal Year 2022 Full Committee Markup

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on the revised 302(b) allocations and the fiscal year 2022 appropriations process at the Committee's final markup of the fiscal year 2022 bills: 

We have one more item of business, but first, I need to offer a few words of gratitude to all who have made this process possible.

You know the expression, ‘this is not my first rodeo.’ This is my first rodeo. So I want to say thank you to all of you for your cooperation, for your indulgence. I really appreciate it. Thank you to all the Members on a productive and successful markup season. We did 24 markups at sub and full committee in ten days, ten legislative days.

So, it’s really pretty incredible to all of you. The strength of the bills that we have considered and the quality, the tenor, of the debate was outstanding, it reminds us all and it should remind us all that this is the best committee in the House of Representatives and, in fact, our work is at the center of the government and it doesn’t go forward without us.

I also want to just say a thank you to a few others:

House Legislative Counsel for their drafting assistance.

Thank you to the Congressional Budget Office—the Scorekeeping Unit—for their analysis.

Thank you to the Front Office Appropriations staff. From the Majority: Robin Juliano, Matt Washington, Ryann Kinney, Adam Berg, Raquel Spencer, Adam Wilson, Jason Gray, Stephanie McGuire, Evan Hollander, Celine Wolff, Lauren Mueller, Malachi White, Danu Rojzman, Tom Tucker, Sebastian Franco, Victoria Kasonde, Jim Cahill, Cathy Edwards, Cathy Little, Eric Jackson, Lori Bias, Lonnie Johnson and Heather Nelson.

From the Minority: Anne Marie Chotvacs and Johnnie Kaberle, and Alec Davis and Alyssa Hinman, thank you so so much.

My personal office staff: Liz Albertine, Christian Lovell, Marie Gualtieri, Caitlin Peruccio, Jack Spasiano, Katelynn Thorpe, John Neureuther, Hadar Arazi, Alicia Porile, and Harper White.

The Subcommittee Clerks, bravo to the Subcommittee Clerks. They are Martha Foley with Ag, Bob Bonner with CJS, Chris Bigelow with Defense, Jamie Shimek with Energy and Water, Matt Smith with Financial Services, Derek Newby with Homeland, Interior with Rita Culp, Labor-H with Stephen Steigleder, Leg Branch with Steve Marchese, MilCon with Lisa Molyneaux, SFOPS with Craig Higgins and THUD with Christina Monroe.

And thank you to all of your personal offices and associate staff members.

Now, for the last item, approval of the Revised Suballocations for fiscal year 2022.

There are no substantive changes in these revised suballocations—they simply reflect the funding recommendations in the 12 bills we just approved.

With these allocations we will create good-paying American jobs, grow opportunity for working families and small businesses, and provide a lifeline to the vulnerable.

I urge my colleagues to support them.