Hearing of the House Appropriations Committee - FY 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill

Hearing

I want to commend and thank you both for your work on this bill. The Commerce, Justice,
Science bill is near and dear to my heart. It supports a broad range of federal programs that are
important to our safety, our economy, and our nation's place as a global leader in research and
innovation.

As Chairman Culberson mentioned, the bill totals $51.4 billion, prioritizing law enforcement,
counterterrorism and cyber security, and important science programs.

To highlight some of these priorities --

I'm pleased that this legislation increases funding for federal law enforcement and counter
intelligence efforts that help protect families and communities across the nation. The world is a
volatile place, and there are unfortunately many threats to overcome. We must utilize every
resource within our means to prepare and protect ourselves, and to bring those who wish to do us
harm to justice.

To this end, we have increased funding for the Department of Justice -- which receives $852
million more than last year -- to help root out and fight back against terrorists, criminals, and
other bad actors.

Also, the DEA receives an important increase that will continue efforts to address the scourge of
prescription drug abuse -- a scourge that I am unfortunately all too familiar with in my home
district.

And as the Chairman highlighted, the bill creates a new Community Trust initiative to support
police training and research and provide body cameras and data collection capabilities.
Investments like these will help increase public safety, and build positive relationships between
law enforcement and local communities.

The bill also targets funding to science and space programs that help create jobs and grow our
economy. Making investments like these today will help spur American innovation tomorrow
and into the future.

However, as with all of our bills, we have gone through each and every line of the budget
request, examined closely each and every program and agency, and weeded out the waste and
excess. The subcommittee found savings to the tune of $400 million compared to last year by
trimming lower-priority programs, and the bill rescinds $375 million in unused prior-year funds.

In these tight budgetary times, we simply can't increase the most important programs without
scaling back other, less important ones, and I believe the subcommittee picked the right priorities
and made responsible decisions in this bill.

By investing in programs with proven results and clear economic and security benefits, we are
investing in a better America. So I thank the Chairman, the Ranking Member, the Subcommittee,
and the staff for their good work on this bill, and I urge the Committee to support it today.

I will now turn to our Full Committee Ranking Member, Nita Lowey, for her remarks on this
fine bill.

Source