Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense 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 Defense bill:

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Ranking Member, and I want to say a thank you to the subcommittee staff for their hard work, in particular Jennifer Chartrand, Jason Gray, and Ed Etzkorn. 

It is unprecedented that we are holding this markup with hardly any detailed information whatsoever from the Department of Defense. No real budget. No detailed spend plans. No specifics for how we are going to get our submarine programs in order; no vision on how the Blackhawk platform will be utilized into the future; no information on the Administration’s claimed priorities, like Golden Dome. 

It is unacceptable for us to move forward with a Defense funding bill without this information, and it is regrettable that the Administration has put us in this position. And unfortunately, it speaks volumes about the competence of this Administration and the Department’s leadership, and I fear what it portends for our national security. 

Through this bill, we have grave and solemn responsibility of appropriating the funds necessary to defend and to protect our nation, and to protect the safety and wellbeing of our men and women in uniform. 

I come from a defense-dependent state – I understand the importance of investments we make in our nation’s defense. But I cannot support this bill, which abandons our allies, damages our readiness, and promotes divisive policies that undermine morale. 

We also need to zoom out and understand the bigger picture here. The cost-of-living crisis is felt by every American family – that includes military families. But the president is not laser focused on the cost-of-living crisis, which he is actually making worse. This Administration and Republicans in Congress are attacking programs that help families make ends meet in order to give billionaires a tax break.

The cost-of-living crisis has a direct effect on our military readiness and capabilities. I am proud that Pratt & Whitney produces the F135 engine, the powerplant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in my district. The highly skilled workers at this plant are critical for our defense industrial base, and the rising cost of living is making it harder for them to make ends meet. They bring immense value to Pratt & Whitney, to Connecticut, and to our national security, and they recently fought for their value to be recognized – I proudly joined them on the picket line. 

Kiana Brown, a worker at the East Hartford plant who has been at Pratt & Whitney for three years, said, quote, “Job security is the biggest thing for me…What is getting money handed worth if you’re not going to be here in a couple of years?” 

This is yet another reason why predictability in budgeting and contracting for our defense industrial base is so important. This is yet another reason why it is unacceptable that Secretary Hegseth has no budget – no budget, and no spend plan. 

And while I am pleased that Pratt & Whitney and the union representing that facility’s workers have agreed on a contract, Congress must do more to address the cost of living.

Instead, what Republicans are pursuing will only make it worse. Safety net programs and other basic services that have been attacked by the Administration and defunded in Republicans’ reconciliation bill not only help with the cost of living – they are critical for national security.

I said this to the Secretary in our hearing on Tuesday: America’s future servicemembers are learning in our public schools. They might rely on Medicaid to see a doctor. They may only have a meal to eat because of WIC or food stamps, or they may live in subsidized housing. 

If tomorrow’s servicemembers are worried today about having their most basic needs met, then they are being held back from their fullest potential – and that weakens our national security. 

Turning to the bill before us – rather than working with House Democrats to strengthen our national security and prioritize the issues that matter most to our men and women in uniform, House Republicans are abandoning our allies, undermining democracy at home and abroad, and failing to support our servicemembers. 

Despite broad support in the Congress for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion, they empower Putin by failing to include the $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. 

The majority’s bill holds the door open for disinformation created by America’s enemies rather than allowing the Department of Defense to counter the threat, allowing extremism and propaganda to proliferate across the Internet and media landscape.

The bill continues House Republicans’ attacks on the right of women to seek an abortion, and the rights of minorities to be protected from discrimination, while destroying the Department’s efforts to build a more inclusive, effective, and modern military.

And the bill weakens the Department by continuing the Administration’s reckless and indiscriminate cuts to vital civilian personnel, and yielding to DOGE and Elon Musk.

In further conceding our prerogatives for funding the Department of Defense to reconciliation and DOGE, the majority directs the Department to find nearly $8 billion in cuts, with everything from military health care to troops’ pay and operations accounts potentially facing reductions – to the detriment of our readiness, and to servicemembers’ and military families’ quality of life. 

Instead of focusing on how to keep the American people safe and improving the quality of life for members of our armed forces, House Republicans are undermining readiness and abandoning our allies. 

I cannot support this bill. But I believe that we can make critical improvements to it in support of our country’s defense and in support of our servicemembers.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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