Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Funding Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2026 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank Chairman Womack, Chairman Cole, Ranking Member Clyburn, and the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard work, in particular, Christina Monroe, Jackie Kilroy and Nora Faye.

I oppose this bill, which will make affordable housing and quality transportation options more expensive and out of reach for more Americans.

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and housing and transportation are two of the largest expenses for American households. The burden of everyday necessities – rent, mortgage rates and housing prices, home insurance, car insurance – has skyrocketed. Americans are desperate for help with housing and transportation costs, but President Trump is not laser-focused on the cost-of-living, which he is actually making worse. With this bill, I have to conclude, that nor are House Republicans. 

Their Big Ugly Bill is handing massive tax breaks to billionaires and the biggest corporations while driving up the cost for middle class families to buy a home and abandoning neighborhoods devastated by natural disasters and struggling with historic disinvestment. 

And today, we are considering another House Republican bill which will raise costs for struggling American families and make it harder for them to get by.

Never mind that we have no complete budget, we are holding this markup in a completely unprecedented time, as the Congress’s authority is being challenged by a lawless Administration. 

Since taking office, President Trump’s Administration has stolen resources, appropriated by Congress, Democrats and Republicans, for programs and services across the federal government, including several in this bill that help to grow the middle class, protect workers, and support American businesses. We cannot continue with the appropriations committee to abdicate the power that we have, the power of the purse to the executive branch.

Grants for non-profits to fight the scourge of housing discrimination were terminated, meaning many Americans, including people with disabilities, will go without safe and sufficient housing. 

As seniors and families face increased energy costs this Administration is freezing a program that helps make their housing more energy-efficient and resilient from natural disasters. 

Taxpayer funded investments to repair our roads, bridges, transit systems, and ports that create jobs and boost local economies have been stolen, creating costly delays, and risking jobs. 

All of these programs Congress enacted and appropriated funding for in law. It is the law of the land. They are substituting Congress’ decisions and judgment with their own. 

These cuts affect all of our constituents.

Recently, NeighborWorks New Horizons was able to assist one of their residents in fulfilling her dream of purchasing her own home. Jan, a longtime employee of the Yale New Haven Hospital, was a NeighborWorks tenant for over ten years, and when she expressed that she wanted her piece of the American dream, NeighborWorks provided her with counseling services like budget coaching and homebuyer education. 

When she discovered that NeighborWorks was building a house down the street from her apartment, she asked if she was qualified to buy it. NeighborWorks helped her navigate the process, and connected her to another organization that offered her downpayment and closing cost assistance.

NeighborWorks makes the American dream possible for people who otherwise may not have reached it, and later in this markup, I will offer an amendment to restore funding for the HOME Program, Legal Assistance Grants, Housing Counseling, and for NeighborWorks.

But the Trump Administration’s stealing, and the bill before us today, puts the American dream further out of reach for the working class and middle class, and makes it more difficult for those struggling to keep a roof over their head to secure and remain in affordable housing. 

It fails to prevent several hundred thousand evictions across the country by shorting rent payments for Public Housing by $1.5 billion and the Section 8 voucher program by $3 billion. 

This bill falls short of providing vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities the safety net they need to stay secure in their homes.

Nearly three quarters of a million Americans experience homelessness, but this bill shortchanges Homeless Assistance Grants, which would mean nearly 28,000 fewer people, who are currently living on the street, will receive the help they need to secure housing.

While housing costs are escalating faster than Americans can keep up, so too are the costs of transportation. New cars, used cars, and insurance are all making transportation unaffordable. So, what does the majority’s bill do to help? Gut investments in our transit networks that relieve Americans of high transportation costs. 

The majority is zeroing out investments for Amtrak, forcing the railroad to dig into the couch cushions in hopes of finding what they need to pay their workers, maintain service, and keep their train system safe. 

This bill delays rail infrastructure improvements already underway from New York to Norman, Oklahoma. 

This bill’s evisceration of commuter transportation halts improvements for rail and bus transit everywhere from Miami, to Salt Lake City, to Columbus, to San Antonio, and yes, to New Haven, Connecticut. Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto reached out after reviewing the majority’s bill, alarmed by the cuts and transfers of funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

He said, and I quote, “With over $10 billion in capital needs on the New Haven Line, which the state of Connecticut inherited from a bankrupt private railroad that failed to invest for decades, we cannot make these repairs on our own. The THUD majority proposal will not only stop progress on improving the Northeast Corridor, but will set us back on our heels just as we have started to see momentum.” End quote.

Americans cannot keep up with the costs of housing and transportation. This committee has the power to do something about it, and we should. 

Unfortunately, with this bill, the majority has instead pursued draconian funding levels, and a pro-eviction, pro-road congestion agenda that will only make household budgets tighter. I cannot support this bill. 

I yield back.

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