Conference Report of H.R. 2055, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012
Floor Speech
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are being asked to vote on today will fund the rest of the federal government through September 30, 2012 and provide $8.1 billion for disaster aid and recovery assistance. The bills before us are the result of a long, drawn out and at times contentious process, and the outcome is very much the product of hard fought compromise. In candor, this package contains a number of provisions and policy choices that I would not have made and do not support. But I recognize that is the nature of compromise.
On a positive note, the bill adheres to the bipartisan $1.043 trillion topline agreement from the Budget Control Act. With our national debt now topping $15 billion, it is important that we continue to maintain fiscal discipline. Additionally, the bill provides modest increases to a number of key federal investments. The Title I education program to help our kids gain proficiency in reading and math is funded at $14.5 billion, which is $60 million above the FY 2011 level. Special education gets a $100 million boost for a total of $11.6 billion to help our schools meet the educational needs of all our students. Head Start is funded at $8 billion, which is $424 million more than last year. And the National Institutes of Health receives a $299 increase to sustain its lifesaving research. Renewable energy research and development is level funded at $1.8 billion, small business loans receive a $123 increase, and the maximum Pell Grant is maintained at $5550 so that more of our young people can pursue their dream of a higher education.
These are all genuine achievements in our current fiscally constrained environment and deserve to be applauded.
On the other hand, this bill continues the current majority's relentless and misguided attack on the Environmental Protection Agency, which has already seen its budget slashed by 18 percent over the past fiscal year. To feed the extreme right's ideological fervor, today's legislation targets the EPA Administrator's office with a 33 percent cut, slashes clean air and climate research and decreases the job-creating Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water revolving funds by $101 million. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Americans across the political spectrum want clean air and clean water, and they are depending on their government to provide it to them. While some in other party might think this is good politics, it is terrible policy for the American people. With winter approaching, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, is inadequately funded at $3.5 billion. And despite the elimination of ideologically driven policy riders on priorities like health care and Wall Street reform, this appropriations legislation still includes too much policy interference on issues ranging from reproductive health to workplace safety to light bulb efficiency standards to climate change.
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