Providing for Consideration of H.R. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 864 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 864

Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5894) making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. An amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 118-13, modified by the amendment printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived.

Sec. 2. (a) No further amendment to H.R. 5894, as amended, shall be in order except those printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution, and pro forma amendments described in section 4 of this resolution.

(b) Each further amendment printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.

(c) All points of order against further amendments printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules or against amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived.

Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time for the chair of the Committee on Appropriations or her designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of further amendments printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.

Sec. 4. During consideration of H.R. 5894 for amendment, the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate.

Sec. 5. At the conclusion of consideration of H.R. 5894 for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill, as amended, to the House with such further amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the Congresswoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, last night the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 864, providing for consideration of H.R. 5894. The rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5894 under a structured rule with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their designee.

The rule further makes in order 146 amendments. The rule also provides that the chair and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, or their respective designees, may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate. Finally, the rule additionally provides for one motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying bill, H.R. 5894, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority is committed to fulfilling their promises to the American people by ensuring that we pass H.R. 5894 to fund our government and its crucial public health, education, and labor programs.

This bill is a significant accomplishment and the most recent step House Republicans are taking to restore fiscal responsibility to the Federal budget after years of overspending. It is a fact that our Federal spending is out of control, and H.R. 5894 is a step in the right direction, encouraging responsibility and restoring accountability.

H.R. 5894 provides $147 billion for vital programs at the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education while still reducing total Federal spending by over $60 billion.

The bill eliminates 61 programs, 50 of which are currently not authorized. It reduces funding for an additional 54 other programs and prohibits funds from unnecessary regulations and partisan executive orders.

This Congress should aim to prioritize funding programs that can have positive outcomes and deliver results for the American people. Inflated spending for duplicative programs is a sure way to fuel the economic situation in which we now find ourselves.

H.R. 5894 funds key priorities, including maintaining funding for essential education, public health, substance abuse and mental health, and veterans job training programs.

Republicans have fought to ensure that funding is prioritized to help all school districts safely educate children, including children with special needs. H.R. 5894 also contains provisions to support funding for charter schools, Pell grants, and local career and technical training programs for those students who are not seeking a college degree to ensure that our next generation is given opportunity and access to essential education programs.

Especially important to many districts around the country, including mine, this bill maintains vital funding for the Impact Aid Program, which supports school districts affected by a Federal presence such as a military base.

H.R. 5894 promotes American values of freedom, faith, and family by prohibiting the executive order requiring biological boys to be allowed to compete in girls' and women's sports, protecting religious freedom for students on college campuses, and strengthening parental rights for children in school.

Republicans understand that our country is facing a mental health crisis, along with record-breaking rates of substance abuse in the United States; therefore, this bill has designated funding for programs that combat opioid abuse in urban and rural communities. These crucial programs allow Americans to access the proper care that they need, including vital telehealth and response resources.

Democrats seem to disregard the value of the taxpayer dollar. They have continuously proven that they prioritize additional spending, progressive initiatives, and push through woke policies that will have negative consequences on the health and well-being of the American people.

When they were in the majority, congressional Democrats took drastic steps to push through legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, saying that it would lower healthcare costs for America's seniors. In fact, we have already seen that this legislation has resulted in a halt to innovation and disincentivized investment into high-stakes research, such as rare diseases.

This bill, H.R. 5894, contains provisions that fund and support biomedical research programs that work to examine the cures for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, chronic conditions, and rare diseases. Under Republican leadership, the United States will continue to remain a leader in healthcare innovation, while peeling back the partisan politics that would limit access to lifesaving medicines.

The bill also maintains longstanding provisions of the Hyde amendment, bipartisan protections which have been in place since 1976. These pro-life policy protections prohibit Federal funds from being used for abortion while also including essential protections for healthcare providers who refuse to provide abortions.

Under the leadership of Democrats, the right for America's medical professionals to operate under their own autonomy and authority was under constant attack. Future medical professionals are being forced to practice medicine outside their own standards or to not practice at all. Protections placed in this bill ensure that any medical professional who does not wish to perform procedures that are against their religious or moral standards simply do not have to. The Republican Party continues to fight to maintain the balance between the professional practice of medicine and individual values.

Additionally, H.R. 5894 prohibits funding from being used to promote gain-of-function research or from any funding going to EcoHealth Alliance, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or any other lab located in the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Iran, or Russia.

Americans deserve transparency for the years lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to perform biomedical research is a privilege and should not be abused. It is our responsibility to ensure that American dollars do not go toward dangerous research in adversarial countries.

Mr. Speaker, the United States is facing a significant healthcare workforce shortage. The government continues to have a role in deciding what is best for American doctors and their patients. This is, in fact, unacceptable. The combination of low reimbursement rates in the physician fee schedule, the burdensome compliance requirements through the No Surprises Act, and the enforcement of unnecessary vaccine mandates on healthcare workers has only fueled this ongoing shortage.

This bill prohibits the enforcement of regulations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to force a vaccine mandate on healthcare workers. Healthcare providers should not be forced to comply with these mandates that infringe upon their individual freedom of choice.

We must come together and pass this bill and continue our commitment to the health and well-being of our people. The United States is facing record-breaking inflation, government spending is at an all-time high, and our communities continue to face barriers to education, healthcare, and recent partisan policies that stifle healthcare innovation.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, last year when the Democrats were in charge of the United States House of Representatives, I do not recall the Labor-HHS bill being on the floor as an individual bill. In fact, it was not. Everything was grouped together in a large omnibus bill literally a year ago, last December.

Here is the problem: We all recognize, both Republicans and Democrats, additional spending was necessary during the pandemic to protect Americans and get us through this unprecedented crisis. However, last year, when everyone acknowledged that the effects of the coronavirus were on the wane, discretionary spending increased by 15 percent.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents do not understand that. They do not understand why that was necessary. The people struggling to buy gas and groceries for sure don't understand why that was done to light the fires of inflation.

I encourage Members on my side of the aisle to remember, if you do not want a December omnibus, then vote for this bill today.

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Mr. BURGESS. If anyone is just tuning in, the bill we have before us today is a bill to fund the Federal agencies of Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, and Department of Education. It is not to provide public funding to Planned Parenthood. That funding should come from someplace else, but not the pockets of the American taxpayers.

Again, I remind colleagues on my side of the aisle that if they do not want a December omnibus, a giant Christmas tree with all sorts of things hung upon it like they saw last year, then they should understand that we need to pass individual appropriations bills.

Colleagues on my side of the aisle should carefully look at this bill and vote in favor of passing the rule and the underlying bill.

There are over 60 programs that are currently being funded that are not authorized. Well, that is on us as authorizers in the authorizing committees, to be sure. However, at the same time, we cannot continue to write checks, to send money to programs that no one has bothered to authorize. If these are important programs that need to continue, then we on the authorizing committees should do the work, dig into the details of the program, bring in the witnesses, take the testimony, and do the appropriate authorization. The fact that that has not happened in so many programs for so long indicates how broken the process is.

We need to reverse that, reverse that curse, reverse that inexorable spending that results if you just simply fund the government at a 15 percent greater level than you did last year before going back to basics and seeing if the program was even necessary.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation has many conservative policies that deliver results to the American people. H.R. 5894, the underlying appropriations bill, works to reverse the harmful effects of controversial executive orders and the woke politics that have really damaged our country.

Republicans seek to protect life, promote American values in the classroom, prioritize safe medical research, and combat the opioid epidemic, all while reining in unnecessary spending and promoting oversight and accountability. That is why I support the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule. I support the underlying bill and urge my colleagues to support the underlying bill.

The material previously referred to by Ms. Scanlon is as follows: An Amendment to H. Res. 864 Offered By Ms. Scanlon of Pennsylvania

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this resolution, the amendment specified in section 7 shall be in order as though printed as the last amendment in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution if offered by Representatives DeLauro of Connecticut or a designee. That amendment shall be debatable for 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent.

Sec. 7. The amendment referred to in section 6 is as follows:

``Strike section 239.''.
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