Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. I applaud Chairwoman Lowey in her resolve to accomplish Congress' top Constitutional priority assuring the operation of the government of the United States and in record speed this year, despite a global pandemic. Today's bold Appropriation minibus, which includes State and Foreign Operations, Agriculture and Rural Development, Interior and Environment, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, reflects historic investments to meet the needs of the American people and strengthen our national resolve during an unprecedented period in American history.

Here are a handful of provisions that make this bill strong.

The bill prioritizes U.S. national security interests, including at liberty's edge in Central and Eastern Europe. It takes valuable steps to combat Russian aggression, it demonstrates our unwavering support for liberty in Ukraine, funds diplomatic exchanges between the U.S. and Poland, and protects Radio Free Europe's longstanding editorial independence.

Then with acute food insecurity exposed in the pandemic, this bill advances sustainable agriculture in this era of climate change. It provides much needed support to hungry Americans, while giving rebirth to an idea cultivated by the Greatest Generation, Victory Gardens so every American family can reconnect with the power of earth to sustain life.

As a lifelong resident of Toledo, Ohio, the distress from which our beloved Lake Erie and all our Great Lakes have struggled as a result of harmful algal blooms and invasive species like Grass Carp is a daily concern. For the last decade, we've lived with putrid green algae floating atop Lake Erie's Western Basin and tributaries, causing environmental, economic, and public health crises in the process. That's why I've fought to increase federal funding for projects like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which will receive $335 million in this bill and other fresh water sources.

This bill says thank you to America's veterans, from general healthcare and mental health services, to suicide prevention and homeless assistance. This legislation makes historic investments to improve the delivery of care, with extra focus on women veterans. It also, underscores the importance of the VA's workforce and makes recruitment and retention a top priority.

These examples are but a few of the worthy causes included in this effort that make America even greater.

Mr. Speaker, this legislative package demonstrates the good a unified Congress can achieve when we work together, even during a pandemic where much of our work has been carried out remotely. I would like to thank Chairwoman Lowey for her remarkable leadership throughout this process, as well as each of the subcommittee chairs for their dutiful work getting this legislation across the finish line. I urge strong bipartisan support.

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of further research, production, and use of PZP-22, native PZP, GonaCon, and other reversible fertility control to help reduce our country's untenable wild horse populations. Urgent action is needed to protect the wild horses and prevent further population increase.

I support and thank my colleague Representative Steve Cohen and those who joined him in the Appropriations amendment which calls for $11,000,000 for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program budget. This funding would be used to implement a humane fertility treatment such as PZP, which is a reversible fertility control. This specific funding is a necessary and immediate measure that addresses the bipartisan call for humanely managing the wild horse population.

In my district, the University of Toledo has led the way on research and production of PZP-22 for wild horse fertility control. BLM recently confirmed that PZP remains a necessary tool to control the wild herds. Unfortunately, BLM is not utilizing PZP or fertility controls to its fullest potential and is leaving research capabilities unutilized. BLM has a duty to continue the research, production, and use of proven contraception such as PZP-22, while also pursuing other efforts toward their goal of a vaccine that can be administered quickly and cost effectively. The Cohen Amendment draws critical attention to these measures.

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and the Bureau of Land Management to find a humane and effective solution to reversible fertility control. Until then, we must persist with proven reversible fertility vaccines to quell the unsustainable wild horse population.

I urge adoption of the Cohen Amendment.

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