Ranking Member DeLauro Floor Remarks in Opposition to Republicans’ Six-Month Continuing Resolution

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in opposition to H.R. 9494, House Republicans’ Six-Month Continuing Resolution:

Mr. Speaker, I oppose this continuing resolution, which would shortchange our veterans, absolve the House Republican majority of their responsibility to govern, and move us closer to a shutdown, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.

The majority’s proposal completely abandons our nation’s veterans. We have been informed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget that $12 billion more is required to provide necessary medical care for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances.

Despite the urgency, the majority has decided to provide nothing – zero – for veterans’ medical needs. I cannot understand how anybody could support this bill and go home to look their veteran constituents in the eye and tell them that they voted to shortchange the medical care they earned with their service.

I am glad that the majority heard House Democrats’ protests when we pointed out how cruel and misguided this bill was when it was first introduced. The original proposal would have shut off all funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which would have undercut support for over 1 million families. And while the majority may have fixed that, House Republicans’ bill demonstrates a belief that the need to care for veterans who have been exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances is less of a priority than everything else in this bill. It is disgraceful.

We could have solved this issue, had the majority considered a bipartisan path forward at any point in this entire process. But instead, just like last year, House Republicans squandered an entire year by taking us down a partisan path and forcing us to waste time considering extreme funding bills based on Trump’s Project 2025 that they could not pass and that have no chance of becoming law. And, just like last year, House Republicans’ refusal to meet House Democrats at the table has left us without time to pass all 12 full year appropriations bills before the end of September.

And now, rather than admitting the inevitable defeat of their Project 2025 spending bills and passing a bipartisan bill to keep the government open while we finish our work, the majority proposes abandoning their obligation to govern and forcing a new Congress to clean up their mess – and they have included an extraneous, partisan, and controversial measure nongermane to Appropriations that guarantees this continuing resolution will not become law.

The majority all but admitted this bill could not pass the House last week, but they are forcing us to waste more time on it anyway, despite the looming threat of a government shutdown. Even if it has the votes in the House, this bill will not pass in the United States Senate. The President has said he would veto it. This bill has no path to becoming law. If the government shuts down, Republicans bear the responsibility.

A six-month continuing resolution is a ploy to force the extreme Project 2025 manifesto agenda on the American people. They want to slash domestic investments in health care, education, job training, and every other discretionary program, which will hurt the middle class and the economy. Project 2025 is no wish list, I might add. If you look at the appropriations bills that are coming forward, you can see the direction and the cuts that Project 2025 proposes to make.

The Republican majority believes a continuing resolution to the end of March provides them with more leverage to force their unpopular cuts to services that American families depend on to make ends meet.

The majority knows that the fiscal year ends September 30, and that we cannot fund the government without the support of Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate. But for the second time in the 118th Congress, the majority does not want Congress to finish its work until March, nearly halfway through the fiscal year – wasting time, avoiding the inevitable, and failing to meet our obligations to the American people. A half-year continuing resolution is no way to govern. This is no way to serve the American people.

The American people have a choice to make in November. And come January, we will have a new President, and we will have a new Congress. While we presumably disagree on who we think will be leading our country and which side of the aisle will hold the gavels, we should agree that it is not right, and not in the interests of the American people, for us to punt this year’s work deep into next year for a different Congress and a different White House to be confronted with.

We must pass a continuing resolution that allows us to finish our work before the new President and Congress are sworn in, and which addresses the immediate needs of American families, workers, and veterans. A continuing resolution that ends in December – rather than one that lasts a half year – better serves our national security and military readiness, veterans and their families, victims recovering from natural disasters, and all hardworking American taxpayers.

Instead, the majority’s bill fails our veterans. The majority’s bill fails our military. Putting government funding on autopilot for six months means the Department of Defense cannot execute its strategic priorities, such as investing in cutting-edge technologies and capabilities. Investments in our defense industrial base will be put on hold, including the submarine and ship building bases.

Last weekend, Secretary Austin said in a letter, and I quote, “Asking the department to compete with the [People’s Republic of China], let alone manage conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, while under a lengthy [continuing resolution], ties our hands behind our back while expecting us to be agile and to accelerate progress.” He continued, “The single most important thing that Congress can do to ensure U.S. national security is to pass timely legislation for all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025.”

The majority’s bill fails our seniors and Americans with disabilities on Social Security.

In a letter sent last week to the Appropriations Committee, Social Security Administration Commissioner O’Malley warned of the ramifications of a six-month Continuing Resolution, stating, quote, “we would likely be forced to reduce the hours field offices are open to the public and would need to close offices over time, extending wait times for seniors and individuals with disabilities.” He continues, quote, “Through a lifetime of hard work, the American people have paid for and earned their Social Security benefits – and they have also paid for and earned the customer service they need to access those benefits. Another six months at current funding levels as the House has proposed would be devastating for the many Americans we serve every day.” End quote.

The majority's bill also fails the communities devastated by disasters by shortchanging emergency funds for FEMA. The bill provides nothing to rebuild the Key Bridge in Maryland, and nothing for block grants to help communities recover from devastating natural disasters, including the horrifying wildfires in Hawaii, and tornadoes that devastated communities in places like Oklahoma.

And the majority is failing to live up to their own promises to the American people, that they are capable of being entrusted to do the hard work of governing. They have unequivocally demonstrated that they cannot. This bill is an admission that a House Republican majority cannot govern. They would rather gamble on an intervening election than attempt to complete their work on time.

Let us hope the majority does not drive us straight to a Republican shutdown. But if they do shut down the government, I have no doubt the American people will know who is to blame.

Vote no on this Continuing Resolution. Abandon this partisan game. Join Democrats at the table. It is past time to govern.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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