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Thank you, Chairman Rogers.

Let me begin by thanking Chairman Crenshaw for his efforts to conduct this subcommittee in a fair and bipartisan manner. We do not always agree on everything, but you are always willing to listen to our side, and you have made efforts to accommodate our side's priorities.

Unfortunately, I think Chairman Crenshaw has been dealt a difficult hand with this bill. This subcommittee received a totally inadequate 302(b) allocation compared to our funding level in fiscal year 2014 onmibus. The bill is $566 million below the level agreed to in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus. This cut is equal to 2.6 percent of the bill, a level that no other subcommittee has been forced to take. The result it is that there are several agencies in this bill that are inadequately funded.

Thank you, Chairwoman Granger and Chairman Rogers. It has been a pleasure to work with you on this bill, and I greatly appreciate your continued commitment to our development and diplomacy efforts worldwide.

The agencies and programs funded by this bill are a vital part of our national security and foreign policy. They also directly impact our ability to focus on domestic priorities like rebuilding the middle class and restoring our economy by providing stability and preventing costly security threats abroad.

Mr. Chairman, I want to congratulate you on the bipartisan and transparent manner in which you crafted the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water bill. I also want to express my gratitude to Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Lowey, and the other members of the Subcommittee for their efforts. Finally, I would like to thank the majority Subcommittee staff and your personal staff for their great work, as well as Taunja Berquam, on our side, for her exceptional diligence and expertise and Ryan Steyer.

Before I get to my remarks on the bill itself, I first want to mention that our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Nunnelee as he recuperates, we hope to see him join us again soon.

Thank you, Chairwoman Granger, not only for your continued bipartisan approach to this bill but also for your friendship. It is a pleasure to work with you. Thank you, also, to the full committee chairman, Mr. Rogers, for the bill allocation's recognition of the importance of foreign assistance and diplomacy.

I also want to express my appreciation for the hard work of our staffs: Anne Marie Chotvacs, Craig Higgins, Alice Hogans, Susan Adams, Clelia Alvarado, Jamie Guinn, David Bortnick, and Johnnie Kaberle; as well as my staff: Steve Marchese, Erin Kolodjeski, Siobhan Hulihan, Sonali Korde, and Marin Stein.

I rise having cosponsored this bill as the ranking member on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. I have to say that I think we have worked very well together. We have worked together as chair and ranking member over a period of time. It is an interesting perspective. I think we have crossed the cultural divide when a Californian can understand the language of an Alabaman, and we have become friends.

I have to say that probably 90 percent of this bill is something we all agree on. Ten percent is what we don't agree on, and it is a horrible 10 percent--a big 10 percent. The bill allocates $20.8 billion, which is the same as what we came up with last year in the conference level.

Mr. Chairman, I want to congratulate you on beginning the markup process for the Energy and Water bill. I would also like to thank the majority Subcommittee staff and your personal staff for their great work.

As you have already pointed out, the allocation for Energy and Water is essentially flat when compared to 2014. I know you were faced with very difficult decisions with this allocation, particularly on the Defense allocation.

Let me first express my appreciation for the bipartisan approach you and your staff took in developing this product. I do believe it is a reflection of interests on both sides of the aisle.

I appreciate the robust funding for the Corps of Engineers, the balanced approach you took to the energy accounts and the levels of funding for science and ARPA-E.

Chairman Frelinghuysen, I want to congratulate you on the bipartisan and transparent manner in which you crafted the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Defense bill. In your inaugural year as the Chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, you have continued the strong collegial tradition set by our predecessors. Further, you have been an unrelenting advocate for the oversight responsibilities and constitutional prerogative of the Subcommittee – thus our full Committee – in areas of the Department of Defense (DOD) that have lapsed and ignored the import of Article I, Section 9.

I also want to express my gratitude to Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Lowey, and the other members of the Subcommittee for their efforts. Finally, I would like to thank the Subcommittee staff and the associate staff for their great work.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am pleased that we are beginning consideration of HR 4745, the FY 2015 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

I want to thanking Chairman Latham for his work on this bill. He has been a good friend and great Chairman over these last few years and I have enjoyed working with him.

I also want to thank the staff on the majority and minority side. They have worked well together over these last few months.

On paper, this bill appears to be nearly $1.2 billion higher than the FY 2014 enacted level.

However, the sharp differences between OMB and CBO on the receipt estimates for the FHA loan program mean that this bill is actually $1.8 billionlower than the FY 2014 bill.