Insular Areas and Freely Associated States Energy Development

Floor Speech

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Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the work Chairman Rogers,
Ranking Member Lowey and their staffs put towards drafting legislation
to fund the federal government. Sadly, I cannot support the finished
product due to extraneous provisions that have no business being in an
appropriations bill. These riders, included at the last minute with no
debate and no input from Democratic members, circumvent the will of
American voters, harm retirees, put taxpayer dollars at risk, and allow
a privileged few to have even more influence over our elections.

These extraneous provisions have nothing to do with funding the
government. Instead, they will cut benefits to seniors and roll back
critical Dodd-Frank provisions to protect taxpayer dollars. They will
also increase the amount of money that special interests, private
corporations, and wealthy donors can spend on political conventions and
other election activities, when we know that more money in politics is
not the solution, it's the problem.

Rhode Islanders are still recovering from the financial crisis of
2008, and I cannot in vote for a return to the status quo, which helped
bring about the crisis in the first place. The derivatives provision is
a Christmas gift to big banks at the expense of American taxpayers. It
would remove restrictions included in Dodd-Frank that prevent these
banks from gambling with our constituents' money by using taxpayer-
insured bank deposits in risky derivatives transactions.

I am greatly disappointed that I am not able to support what is in
many other ways a solid bill. This legislation includes funding for
important investments to our infrastructure, the National Institutes of
Health, Ebola response efforts, spinal cord injury research, the
peerless Virginia-class submarines, and so many other initiatives and
programs that are critical to our national defense and our future as a
nation--not to mention that it provides for the brave men and women in
our armed services and intelligence community who are in harm's way
even as we speak. Regrettably, these priorities were eclipsed by
poisonous provisions that could greatly undermine the important work
voters elected us to do--restore the economic certainty we need to keep
our economy growing and our businesses hiring.

Mr. Speaker. I have supported numerous bipartisan efforts in the past
to fund the government, and I know what can be accomplished when
Democrats and Republicans sit down and negotiate in good faith. But the
price Republicans are trying to exact this time is simply too high, and
I will not sacrifice my principles and the interests of my
constituents.

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