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I rise to offer to the House our support for the base bill. The chairman of this committee, whom I have had the honor to work with for a number of years, has laid out in some detail some of the appropriations in this bill. And as our Constitution requires, no dollar out of our Treasury shall be appropriated, except by act of Congress. So we are here in our constitutional roles.

I want to thank Chairman Wolf for all of the courtesies extended to the minority. Obviously, if we were drafting a bill, we might have a different set of numbers in different areas, whether for legal services or COPS. But in the main, this is a bill that the chairman has extended himself in every effort that could be done to accommodate the minority. I want to thank him for his work with me over these many years, inasmuch as this will be the last bill that he will carry on the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

First, I would like to thank Mr. Latham and Mr. Pastor for including language in the manager's amendment that designates some unexpended funds at the FRA for activities related to improving the rail transport of energy products like crude oil.

I appreciate the efforts of the Chairman and Ranking Member to put this bill together. Their job was made all the more difficult by a much lower than expected FHA and Ginnie Mae receipts.

Unfortunately, the investments in this bill aren't enough to maintain the country's highway and transit infrastructure. I am specifically concerned about cuts to the following critical programs:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I appreciate the efforts of Chairman Aderholt and Ranking Member Farr to put together this bill, which provides adequate funding for vital programs such as international food aid, nutritional assistance, and food safety.

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today decried the proposed allocations for labor, health and education programs, which were opposed by all Democrats on the Appropriations Committee. DeLauro is the senior Democrat on the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The Republican Majority is attempting to cut over $1 billion from programs that fund critical areas such as medical research, early childhood education, job training programs, education for children with special needs, and worker safety programs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It may come as no surprise that I rise to oppose the subcommittee allocations offered today by the Chairman.

Most of us in this room voted for the budget “deal” that prevented another shutdown, averted default, and provided this committee two years’ worth of certainty. I supported that bill and the FY 2014 omnibus bill containing ALL TWELVE appropriations bills.

For Fiscal Year 2015 this committee has a “cap” that is less than $2 billion higher than last year. But scoring differences, mostly due to lower-than-expected receipts to the Treasury, have squeezed these bills by more than the increase. By way of example, yesterday we marked up the Transportation, HUD bill which faced a budget hole of about $3 billion before it even got an allocation.

Neuroscience funding was one of several key priorities championed by Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) that received a boost in today's full Appropriations Committee markup of the FY 15 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Act. As Ranking Member of the CJS Subcommittee, Fattah helped steer more $51.2 billion in net discretionary funding to the Departments of Justice and Commerce, the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and other related agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction.

Funding for neuroscience research received $105 million in the legislation, more than $21 million above the FY 14 level. Fattah, who is architect of the Fattah Neuroscience Initiative, signaled that the increase is a significant victory not only for brain research, but for the entire science community.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I want to thank you for listening to our concerns and for keeping an open dialogue as we have moved through the process.

The Chairman received a tough allocation. On paper, it looks like the allocation is nearly $1.2 billion higher than last year. Don't be deceived.

Because of the sharp differences between OMB and CBO's receipt estimates for the FHA program, this bill is actually $1.8 billionlower than the FY 2014 bill.

With that in mind, the Chairman did try to take care of the safety mission of the Department of Transportation and try to ensure that everyone housed in FY 2014 will be housed in FY 2015.

However, many other programs are frozen at last year's level and others are cut even deeper. For example:

- FTA's Capital Investment Grant program is cut by $252 million;

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First, I want to thank Chairman Rogers and my ranking member, Nita Lowey, for the commitment that they made to regular order, which is why we have our second appropriations bill on the House floor by May 1. It is my hope that we can stay true to this commitment throughout the remainder of this year.