Conference Report on H.R. Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019
Floor Speech
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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for his service in the U.S. Congress. He will be greatly missed by me and by many of us.
I would like to thank Ranking Member Lowey and the subcommittee chairs and the ranking members and all of their staffs for their hard work on this bipartisan legislation.
This bill makes robust investments in the Department of Defense, improving the readiness of our troops and, as has been pointed out, providing them with a well-deserved pay raise.
I am also pleased with this bill's commitment to the environmental cleanup of Defense Superfund sites, providing $184 million over the request for defense cleanup efforts. This is much needed.
The Labor-Health and Human Services portion of this package provides vital resources that will impact the lives of every American. A $2 billion increase to the National Institutes of Health will give our researchers the tools they need to find the cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes.
The community service block grants, however, did not receive the House level of funding but still got an increase. This is very important for families and communities that can use some of this funding, as they have come up with proven programs on how to make opioid recovery successful.
I am particularly proud of the inclusion of my amendment to allow individuals diagnosed with cancer to defer payments on their public student loans while they undergo lifesaving treatments.
I would like to thank Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Representative Perlmutter, as well as Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro, for their bipartisan leadership on this important issue.
With more than 70,000 young adults diagnosed with cancer each year, they will now be able to focus on what is more important: beating cancer and getting healthy, not worrying about making their student loan payments while receiving chemotherapy.
I support this spending package, and I look forward to the fact that we have a continuing resolution included in here so that the government doesn't shut down.
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