National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
The Labor-H bill reflects our priorities as a Nation. It touches our constituents at every single stage of their life, from birth to retirement, for their health, work, and education. It provides people with a better chance at a better life.
For years, the Labor-H bill has been shortchanged. Now, we are making up for lost ground. We fought the Senate to win crucial investments. The result: a hard-fought, positive bill with a net increase of 3.5 percent over 2019, or $6.5 billion more for the people of this country.
I first want to thank Congresswoman Nita Lowey, the full Appropriations Committee chair. Her leadership and dedication to Labor- H helped to ensure that this bill could create real opportunity for people. I thank our ranking member, Kay Granger, for her dedication and determination. And I acknowledge Congressman Tom Cole, my partner, the ranking member of the subcommittee. We have found common ground over and over again, which is rooted in our shared values about what is good for the people of this country.
Let me describe some of the investments.
Education: $550 million increase for Child Care and Development Block Grant; $550 million increase for Head Start and $25 million increase for preschool development grants; $450 million increase for title I, $400 million increase for special education, and a new initiative in social and emotional learning, including $65 million in innovation grants; $93 million increase for minority-serving institutions and a $150 increase to Pell grants.
Health: $2.6 billion increase for National Institutes of Health and $637 million increase for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including tobacco prevention, public health data modernization, and suicide prevention; full funding for a new HIV initiative to eliminate new transmissions of HIV over the next decade; and continued high funding for State opioid grants.
I am disheartened that the Republicans obstructed us from defending women's health from the administration's attack on the Title X program. We will continue that long fight, and we will win in the near term. All women's reproductive health must be on equal footing.
An incredible win was $25 million for evidence-based gun violence prevention research, the first time in 20 years that we have provided money and resources to look at research on trying to prevent gun violence. It follows our hearing on gun violence research that was the first hearing that we had.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. DeLAURO. The significance of the achievement cannot be overstated. It will save lives.
Labor: $48 million increase for worker protection, $30 million increase for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State grants, $25 million increase for Job Corps, and a new $40 million grant for community colleges to train people for in-demand jobs.
For too long, workers and families have been shortchanged. We fought hard. We are making up for lost ground. We can make opportunity real for people.
Let me thank the staff on this job, subcommittee staff Robin Juliano, Stephen Steigleder, Jen Cama, Jackie Kilroy, Laurie Mignone, Jared Bass, Philip Tizzani, and Brad Allen; my staff Letty Mederos, Liz Albertine, and Caitlin Peruccio; and the minority staff Susan Ross and Kathryn Salmon. As I say, our names are on the door, but they do the work for us.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source