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Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Interior-Environment and Financial Services and General Government minibus that fails the American people by slashing environmental protection, rolling back consumer protections, and even cutting basic election security funding.
With bills this bad, it is no wonder Republicans have abandoned all pretense of regular order, grouped two unrelated appropriations bills together, and blocked numerous Democratic amendments. These bills are the product of Republicans' misguided priorities. Instead of using the $18 billion increase in non-defense discretionary spending to create jobs and grow our economy, Republicans have chosen to waste those resources on an unnecessary border wall and cruel attacks on immigrant families.
This week, the House is expected to consider the FY 2019 Interior-Environment appropriations bill as part of a two-bill minibus. This Republican bill puts the health and safety of the American people at risk by slashing critical funding for environmental protection. Ideological policy riders continue the assault on our environment by undermining protections for our land, water, air, and biodiversity. A full summary of the minibus is available here.
In the wake of an indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller detailing Russian intrusion into state election systems during the 2016 election, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Quigley (D-IL) today urged House Republicans to restore funding for election security grants.
In the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill, House Democrats secured $380 million for election security grants to help states fortify and protect election systems from cyber-hacking. However, House Republicans have zeroed out funding for election security grants in the FY 2019 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, which is expected to be considered in the House next week.
The House Appropriations Committee today adopted 12 Democratic amendments to protect migrant children separated from their families by President Donald Trump's cruel family separation policy and to demand an end to family separation during markup of the fiscal year 2019 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.
Despite these successes, House Republicans severely worsened the humanitarian situation for migrant children by adopting a partisan amendment to allow migrant children to be held in unlicensed family detention facilities for prolonged periods of time.
House Republicans also defeated several important child protection and government transparency measures advocated for by Democrats, including an amendment by Rep. Grace Meng to ensure the Trump administration complies with court orders to reunite children with their parents.