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

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7608, a bill to provide Fiscal Year 2021 funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Veterans Affairs, among others. This package includes critical programs that help address important priorities such as helping our most vulnerable escape hunger and our veterans to receive the care and benefits they have earned.

Our country has been hit by an economic freight train and many families have been reeling for months and will continue to do so if the federal government does not step up in the fight against this deadly virus. Food insecurity was a challenge before COVID-19 but it has only gotten worse as tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs. We have seen long lines at food banks and pantries.

The bill before us ensures that SNAP can continue to help struggling Americans. It blocks ongoing attempts by the Trump Administration to force more people to lose food aid. It supports the WIC program to ensure that we help some of our most vulnerable pregnant women, infants and children.

It also increases funding for grants to help increase access to school breakfast, a priority for me. Unfortunately, too many kids begin the school day without a healthy breakfast and participation in school breakfast lags well behind school lunch. Studies repeatedly show that students who consume nutritious breakfasts have better health outcomes, and better educational outcomes. These dollars will help support innovative and proven interventions that can help increase participation.

I appreciate Chairman Bishop's leadership in helping to make sure that more families can keep food on the table.

Likewise, I appreciate Chairwoman McCollum's continued efforts to protect our environment and the Great Lakes. I am pleased that the committee provides a $15 million increase for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative which has been an unmitigated success in working to help our communities address some of the biggest challenges facing these valuable waters.

This bill also increases funding to help protect water quality. I thank the Chairwoman as well as Congresswoman Lori Trahan who worked with me to help push for greater funding to help address combined sewer overflows, which endanger both our waters and the public's health. A great number of CSO's are in the Midwest and Northeast and communities need all the support they can to help make the investments to reduce this threat to our waterways. The bill's investment of $57 million in regular appropriations and $400 million in emergency funding will go a long way in helping address this problem.

The bill also includes funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which are the main federal programs supporting investments in critical water infrastructure. Our communities are struggling to deal with aging infrastructure and the funds in this bill are sorely needed.

And I also appreciate Chairwoman McCollum's leadership in protecting and strengthening programs that help Native communities. For example, the bill would provide $6.5 billion for the Indian Health Service, including $66 million for Urban Indian Health.

And the State-Foreign Operations bill rejects a variety of harmful cuts proposed by the President that would further damage our diplomacy and development efforts. The bill also includes language to permanently repeal the global gag rule, rejects efforts to defend the UNFPA, invests in global health, education, and environment programs, including to address climate change.

It is critical that we invest in our international affairs budget and I applaud chairwoman Lowey for her steadfast leadership again in helping to protect these key programs. Sadly, this is her last appropriations cycle. While I wish her the best of luck in her retirement, she will be sorely missed.

Lastly, the MilCon-Va bill makes needed investments in health care for our veterans, supports increases for homelessness assistance grants, and to process and pay benefit claims.

This is a good package and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

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