Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2026 Defense Funding Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the subcommittee markup of the 2026 Defense funding bill:

– As Prepared for Delivery –

Thank you, Mr. Chairman for yielding. 

 And I thank you and the Ranking Member, and the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle for their work on this bill in particular, Jennifer Chartrand, Jason Gray, and Ed Etzkorn. 

This subcommittee has the grave and solemn responsibility of appropriating the funds necessary to defend and protect our nation, and to protect the safety and well-being of our men and women in uniform. 

I come from a defense state – I understand the importance of the investments we make in this subcommittee. But I cannot support this bill, which abandons our allies, damages our military 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 – and 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 that value to be recognized – and I proudly joined them on the picket line. 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 this morning: 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 Congress for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion, they empower Vladimir Putin by failing to include $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 improve 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 we can make critical improvements to it in support of our country’s defense and servicemembers. 

Thank you, and I yield back.

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