Chair Ryan Statement at the FY 2022 Budget Hearing for House Officers

Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), Chair of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the FY 2022 Budget Hearing for House Officers​.

I would like to welcome the officers and officials of the House of Representatives to present the fiscal year 2022 budget request.

Testifying before us today we have: the Honorable Cheryl L. Johnson, Clerk of the House; the Honorable Tim Blodgett, Acting Sergeant at Arms; the Honorable Catherine Szpindor, Chief Administrative Officer; Mr. Wade Ballou, Chief Legislative Counsel; Mr. Douglas Letter, General Counsel; Mr. Michael T. Ptasienski, Inspector General; Mr. Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel; and Ms. Kemba Hendrix, Director, Office of Diversity & Inclusion.  Thank you all for joining us today, we welcome you back to our Subcommittee. 

Before we begin with the testimonies, I would like to thank all the officers, officials, and their staff for the extraordinary work over the past year.  Through the pandemic, a violent mob of insurrectionists, and just life on Capitol Hill, you continue to serve this body and ensure the Members of Congress can continue to work.  Your work is invaluable to getting the taxpayer the most from their tax dollars and we hold you and your staffs in the highest regard.

The request for the House of Representatives is $1.737 billion an increase of $260 million over what was provided last year.  While this is a healthy request and would provide Members and committees the resources necessary for us to represent our constituents, I am afraid that the subcommittee allocation may not be increasing at a reciprocal rate.  As you know budgeting is a zero-sum gain and it will be hard to accommodate the full request.  But we’ll do our best.