Ranking Member DeLauro Floor Remarks on Republicans’ 2025 Legislative Branch Funding Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in opposition to the 2025 Legislative Branch bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank my colleague Congressman Espaillat. I want to associate myself with his words about our colleague, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. I believe that we all are inspired by Jennifer, and she, for us and for me, is the face of courage, of tenacity, of determination. And in fact, she is someone who was elected to this office and knows why she came to serve, and she serves every single day in the face of great adversity. Thank you, Jennifer.

I would first like to congratulate Chairman Valadao on reaching this milestone in your first year as Chair of the Legislative Branch subcommittee, and I thank you and Ranking Member Espaillat for your hard work on this effort, and the majority and minority staff for your work on this bill, especially Faye Cobb and Raquel Spencer.

As I said when we marked this bill up in committee, this bill is not far removed from one that I would support. It builds upon our investments in the Legislative Branch that have enabled us to better serve the American people.

But unfortunately, the majority has included harmful policy riders that hurt our ability to attract and retain diverse and talented staff, unwind important measures that ensure we are doing our part to protect the environment, and undo sensible, historical restrictions in statute on compensation for outside work for certain Members of Congress.

Partisan policies in this bill hurt our ability to attract and retain talented staff – and every one of us knows that it is our staff that keep our names on the door. The bill would create a license to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and block diversity and inclusion programs, and I remain frustrated that we continue to bar DACA recipients from employment in the Legislative Branch.

These policies all make it harder for us to build a Congressional workforce as diverse and talented as the country they serve.

A strong and well-functioning Legislative Branch is essential to ensuring the House of Representatives can do the work Americans sent us here to do. If we cannot create an environment where staff of all backgrounds feel safe and welcome, we will not be able to serve the American people in the ways that they expect and deserve.

The bill also includes a provision that would allow medical and dental professionals serving in the Congress to receive compensation for outside work in addition to their congressional salary, opening the door to changing the rules we all must follow when it comes to external professions, unfairly benefiting certain Members, and potentially creating conflicts of interest.

This body considers legislation touching every single facet of the economy, including health care – we should be focusing on helping people, not doing the job of authorizers or the Ethics Committee to amend current law to help a select few Members receive outside income.

The bill’s reasonable funding levels are proof that House Republicans are capable of writing bills that can get bipartisan support and have a path to becoming law – if they could simply abandon their obsession with partisan riders which they know will be removed from the final agreement.

A clean version of this bill could pass with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans.

But at this time, I cannot support this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote against it. I hope Republicans will reconsider their strategy. Please join us at the table to support our staff, our constituents, and workers and families around the country. Above all, it is time to govern.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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