Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (113th Congress)
David Price (NC), Ranking Member
Mike Quigley (IL)
Tim Ryan (OH)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Jurisdiction
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Transportation
Related Agencies
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
Federal Maritime Commission
National Transportation Safety Board
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
2014 Omnibus: $50.9 billion
2015 Request: $59.9 billion
2015 Omnibus: $53.8 billion
Highlights and key points:
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.
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 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;