Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I am not opposed.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am delighted and relieved to be finally closing out fiscal year 2024, and for that, I thank Chairwoman Kay Granger, Chair Patty Murray, and Vice Chair Susan Collins.

I am proud to have made history with such experienced appropriators. Madam Speaker, 2024 marks the first time negotiations on government funding have been led on all four corners by women.

I have many others to thank--subcommittee ranking members and chairs and staff on both sides of the aisle--and I will be submitting these names for the record.

I strongly support the bipartisan bill, which funds the majority of the United States Government.

This bill sides with the hardworking majority of Americans. It helps to lower the cost of living, protects women's rights and access to reproductive healthcare, reinforces America's global leadership, and helps our communities be safe and secure.

I am pleased that Democrats and Republicans again united to make government work for the people of this country.

Like the funding bill we passed earlier this month, this legislation does not have everything either side may have wanted, but I am satisfied that many of the extreme cuts and the policies proposed by House Republicans were rejected.

I am enormously proud that we are providing an increase of $1 billion for childcare and Head Start, expanding access to quality and affordable childcare for hardworking families.

We increased title I education funding, protecting 224,000 teachers' jobs that House Republicans tried to eliminate.

I am also pleased that we successfully defeated every one of the Republicans' extreme policy riders in the Labor-HHS bill.

In this package, we prioritize the men and women in our armed services and their families by securing pay and allowance increases of over 5 percent, the highest increase in decades.

We invest in global health and support 12,000 special immigrant visas for Afghans who assisted the United States.

Critically, we strengthened our border security.

I urge swift passage of this package, and I look forward to moving on to how we can best serve the American people in fiscal year 2025.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the distinguished Democratic leader.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished ranking member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the distinguished ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), the distinguished ranking member of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, 11,388 Members have served historically in the United States House of Representatives.

We are blessed, and what we are charged with is serving the American people. That is our job. It is not serving our individual philosophies, ideologies, or whatever it is that we believe. We need to govern on behalf of the American people.

I am proud to have been working with Democrats and Republicans united to make government work for the people of this country.

It is a bipartisan bill, it sides with the hardworking majority of Americans, it helps to lower their cost of living, it protects women's rights, it reinforces America's global leadership, and, yes, it helps our communities be safe and secure.

What we do is not about those of us who serve in this Chamber. It is about what we do on behalf of the people of this country outside of this Chamber. This bill serves the American people, and it has Democrat and Republican support to move forward.

We are 6 months into this 2024 year. We have been unable to do the work of the people because some people will hold us back.

Again, it is our job. The reason why we are elected is to serve the American people. That is what we are charged with. Let us never forget that we are blessed to serve here. We have a duty to perform and to do what is right.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. It makes sense for us to do it, and we do it because we represent hardworking families in this country who put their faith and trust in us to do this job on their behalf.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I want to give my thanks and appreciation to my Democratic colleagues on the committee, especially subcommittee Ranking Members Sanford Bishop, Matt Cartwright, Betty McCollum, Marcy Kaptur, Steny Hoyer, Henry Cuellar, Chellie Pingree, Adriano Espaillat, Debbie Wassermann Schultz, Barbara Lee, and Mike Quigley, for fighting hard for the American people and for Democratic priorities in each of your bills.

In the majority, my thanks and congratulations to subcommittee chairs Andy Harris, Harold Rogers, Ken Calvert, Chuck Fleischmann, Steve Womack, David Joyce, Mike Simpson, Robert Aderholt, Mark Amodei, John Carter, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Tom Cole. I thank you all for engaging in these hard-fought negotiations with respect and patriotism.

My deep appreciation goes to the majority and minority staff, especially Minority Staff Director Chris Bigelow, Minority Clerks Martha Foley, Bob Bonner, Jennifer Chartrand, Scott McKee, Matt Smith, Bob Joachim, Rita Culp, Stephen Steigleider, Faye Cobb, Jenny Neuscheler, Erin Kolodjeski, and Christina Monroe. I also want to thank my front office staff, Jason Gray, Raquel Spencer, Adam Wilson, Ryann Kinney, Alex Swann, Tom Tucker, as well as my communications staff Katelynn Thorpe and Ben Cowlishaw. This would not be possible without the hard work of Tyler Coe, Nora Faye, Jocelyn Hunn, Jackie Kilroy, Shannon McCully, Laurie Mignone, Farouk Ophaso, Stephanie Reed, Philip Tizzani, and Thomas Wilson. Their hard work, long hours, and dedication behind the scenes is what makes this possible.

And I also owe a great deal of gratitude to my personal office staff, including Becky Salay, Jack Rayburn, King Green, Caitlin Peruccio, Daniel Robillard, Harper White, John Myron, Sam Erickson, Diana Solares, Mia Villiavicencio-Eschinger, and Clay Vaughan.

Everyone I have just named keeps my name on the door. I thank them all.

Ms. LEE of California, as Ranking Member of the House State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, I am sorely disappointed with this outcome.

I have spent much of my time in Congress talking about the 3Ds of our national security--diplomacy, development and defense. Each of these has a role to play in keeping our country safe and secure, and creating a world where kids and grandkids can prosper.

The SFOPS bill is supposed to fund two of those Ds--diplomacy and development. But this package slashes diplomacy and development by 6 percent than 15 percent below what the President identified as the global need.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon gets a $27 billion increase--despite failing audits.

America needs the diplomatic and development tools in the SFOPS bill to prevent wars. I fear this package leaves America weaker and more vulnerable. This funding imbalance undermines both our values and our interests. I hope we can work together to get our priorities rebalanced.

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