Chairman Ryan Statement at Hearing on FY 2021 House Officers Budget Request

Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), Chair of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2021 budget requests for House officers:

Good afternoon. Today, we gather to discuss the FY 2021 budget request for the House of Representatives. To begin, I would like to welcome the officers and officials of the House to our subcommittee hearing. Testifying before us are the Honorable Cheryl Johnson, our Clerk of the House; the Honorable Paul Irving, Sergeant at Arms; and the Honorable Phil Kiko, Chief Administrative Officer. Before we start with the testimonies, I would like to take time to thank all the officers, officials, and their staff for the extraordinary work over the past year.

The fiscal year 2021 budget request for the House of Representatives is $1.5 billion, which is $165 million over the FY 2020 enacted level. This request will allow us, Members, an opportunity to retain and hire the best and brightest. The work we do here is important, and it requires a certain set of skills to negotiate legislation that will move our country forward.

While this is a healthy request and would provide Members and committees the resources necessary for us to represent our constituents by effecting policy and implementing laws that will address our country's critical needs, we have to be realistic because the budget caps only allow for a $2.5 billion increase across all Non-Defense Agencies.  This limited increase concerns me especially when looking at House of Representatives because for far too long we have put many of this body’s issues on the back burner and some point we have to make investments to protect this institution to ensure it is in good shape for the next generation of leaders. To give everyone some food for thought, the FY 2011 enacted level for the House was $1.3 billion, the FY 2020 enacted level was $1.4 billion.