Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Member Day Hearing

Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's fiscal year 2024 Member Day hearing:

Thank you, Chairman Aderholt, for hosting this Member Day hearing. Congratulations on hosting your first hearing as Chairman of this Subcommittee. And welcome, Representative Landsman, thank you for joining us.

It is so important for this subcommittee to gather input from Members as we begin the 2024 appropriations process.

This Subcommittee’s bill is the largest of all of the non-defense appropriations bills. In the 2023 LHHS bill that we passed and enacted in December, we supported middle class and working families, helped lift up vulnerable Americans, and prepared our nation for future crises.

These achievements were possible with and because of the input that our colleagues provided throughout the process, including through Community Project Funding requests. 

Because of the positive impact these projects continue to have in our communities, and the Chairman has heard me say this before, I am saddened that the majority has chosen to exclude LHHS from the process going forward. I think we should be building on what we have done in the last couple years, and not decrease the availability of resources that have benefited our communities.

I also want to mention a worry I have about a reported proposal by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to cap 2024 discretionary spending at the 2022 level. Cuts would be detrimental to the American people, our economy, and essential government functions that our constituents rely on.

As we begin the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process and look forward to receiving the President’s Budget request, it really is critical that we work together to not lose ground on the progress we have made in recent years.

And as we begin to draft the bill, it is important that we continue to hear from our colleagues about their constituents’ priorities, their priorities, as we put the bill together. Because it is that input that creates bills at the end of the process.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.