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Thank you, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz, and Chairman Rogers for your work on this bill.
Today we consider funding for the operations of our nation’s legislative branch. This is our fourth bill to reach subcommittee markup, yet the House has not passed a budget, and it’s almost certain we never will.
We know why. The right-wing is threatening to renege on the bipartisan budget agreement, and rejects as insufficiently radical, a Republican budget resolution that would devastate good-paying jobs, end the Medicare guarantee, and increase poverty. The majority’s continued dysfunction jeopardizes this Committee’s ability to meet the challenges we face.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This committee gives us all not only an intimate look into the operations of government, but in doing so it develops friendships among the committee members.
I first met Chairman Aderholt on a Mil Con codel to Bosnia and I like to think we bonded over that trip. His wife was pregnant at the time and now their daughter is a young woman.
I think all of us have had such bonding moments. That Mil Con codel was headed up by Dave Hobson. He and I remain good friends.
Being together in the trenches, whether it is on a codel or banging out legislative language for a bill, helps to build bridges across party lines and create respect for the office we hold and the institution we serve.
I thank Chairman Aderholt, Ranking Member Farr, and Chairman Rogers for their work on this bill.
Today, the Committee will mark up its second and third bill of the year. Meanwhile, after Republican Leadership maintained that the budget and appropriations process would return to regular order and adhere to last year’s bipartisan agreement, the House has not passed a budget, and it’s almost certain we never will.
We know why. The right-wing is threatening to renege on the bipartisan budget agreement, and rejects as insufficiently radical, a Republican budget resolution that would devastate good-paying jobs, end the Medicare guarantee, and increase poverty. The majority’s continued dysfunction jeopardizes this Committee’s ability to meet the challenges we face.
2017 mark: $21.3 billion
2017 request: $21.6 billion
2016 enacted: $21.75 billion
The Chairman’s mark provides:
2017 mark: $37.444 billion
2017 budget request: $37.185 billion
2016 enacted: $37.276 billion
The Chairman’s mark provides:
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) today urged Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) to hold a special meeting on the Administration’s request for emergency supplemental funding to respond to the Zika virus.
WASHINGTON - 394 Members of Congress signed a bipartisan letter urging President Obama to veto possible upcoming one-sided initiatives in the United Nations concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
2017 mark: $81.6 billion (including OCO)
2017 OCO: $172 million
2016 Enacted: $79.9 billion
2016 OCO: $0
President's Request: $82.8 billion (including OCO)
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION: $5.6 billion, which is $120 million less than the President’s budget request, is provided for Military Construction programs.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement in response to the Administration’s efforts to halt the spread of the Zika virus domestically and internationally:
“It is inexcusable that the Republican majority’s failure to consider emergency supplemental funding to respond to the Zika virus, forced the Administration to redirect funding that is still needed to monitor and respond to the potential re-emergence of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, where nearly 1,000 cases remain under observation. We do not have the luxury of fighting either Ebola or Zika – we must meet both challenges.
Thank you, Chairman Dent, Ranking Member Bishop, and Chairman Rogers for your work on this bill.
Mr. Chairman, before I turn to the Military Construction-VA bill, I must note that for months, we have heard commitments from Republican leadership that the budget and appropriations process will return to regular order and adhere to the bipartisan agreement enacted in late 2015. Yet at our first markup, the House still has not passed a budget, the smart money says we never will, and the Speaker is threatening to keep appropriations bills off the floor unless a budget is passed.
