Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am pleased to come to the floor to salute him for his leadership as chair of this very important subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations that makes things happen for us in the Capitol to do the people's business.

The United States Capitol has always been a beacon of freedom, liberty, and justice to America and to the entire world. Here, lawmakers and staff, institutional workers, the Capitol Police, and members of the press enable the functioning of our very democracy. It is vital that we ensure that this institution has the funding and resources needed to serve the people.

The most exciting part of it is when children come to the Capitol safely and curiously and excited about seeing where laws are made and what our Founders' vision was and what our men and women in uniform fight for as we see in their eyes their aspirations to the future which is our charge for the children.

That is why today I am proud to rise in support of the Legislative Branch appropriations bill which meets these needs. I thank the committee chairwoman, Ms. DeLauro, and subcommittee chair, Tim Ryan, for their leadership. This takes a lot of attention and a lot of specificity and meticulous attention to detail, and I thank the distinguished chair of the committee for his brilliant attention to all of that.

This funding bill not only funds the legislative branch, it strengthens it. It does so by advancing a more diverse and inclusive congressional workforce. It has long been a priority for many of us to ensure that the Halls of the Capitol reflect the beautiful diversity of our Nation at every level.

The bill provides for strong funding for paid internships to support more hardworking interns from middle-class families. This has been such a priority for many of us because these internships are an opportunity for young people. But if they are unpaid, they already self-select as to who can participate. We have seen this over time, where that opportunity cannot be taken advantage of unless there is funding for it.

It also provides funding for the Wounded Warrior program, which gives our heroes who served in uniform an opportunity to serve in congressional offices.

Proudly, it allows Dreamers to work in the legislative branch. Our Dreamers make America more American, and it is vital that their voices are heard here in the Capitol.

Most importantly, this bill is about security, and that is a moral imperative, funding and supporting our United States Capitol Police force, the heroes. In this legislation, we secured strong increases in funding for the Capitol Police force, which will provide for the hiring of over 2,100 sworn officers and 450 civilian members of the Capitol Police.

It also improves training and bolsters wellness support for the Capitol Police, many of whom are still suffering from the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol complex.

Just yesterday, we heard from four heroic members of law enforcement who suffered horrible injuries and trauma that day. That trauma continues, not just among the Capitol Police, not just among Members of Congress, not just among Capitol staff, congressional staff, but those people who maintain the Capitol, who make it all work for us, custodial and maintenance people in the Capitol.

Every hero of that day needs and deserves our support. Now that the Senate has announced their agreement on a security supplemental, we will work to ensure that the need of the Capitol and congressional community, as completed in the Honore report, and included here, are met. I thank the chairman for the work that was done on that supplemental.

Of course, what we sent to the Senate is much stronger than the response we will get from them, but we must start, and we must continue.

This legislation honors our heroes. It respects our values. It directs removal of statues or busts in the Capitol of Confederate traitors, as well as statues of white supremacists.

As I have said many times, the Halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy. The statues on display should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a Nation.

Removal of these statues is long overdue. That is why, as Speaker, I have led the passage of legislation now twice to do so. In fact, I took down the pictures in the Speaker's Lobby months ago as an example.

At the same time, this afternoon, we are considering the foreign ops bill. I call it the foreign ops bill. When I was the ranking member it was called foreign ops. Now it has a bigger name and a Democratic chairman.

The bill makes important investments to strengthen Congress and, therefore, strengthen America, and it should be passed.

In that spirit, I also support another appropriations bill to strengthen America, H.R. 4373, which advances our leadership in the world, as it defends our values.

As a former ranking member of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, I am proud of this bill, and I salute the chair, Barbara Lee, a lifelong champion of global health and human rights, including through her leadership on PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight Aids.

This funding bill makes clear that, as President Biden has said, ``America is back.'' It is a strong statement of America's leadership in the world.

With this legislation, America is once again taking the lead in the climate fight, with over $3 billion to address the climate crisis, including through first-ever appropriations to the Green Climate Fund.

We are setting an example for the world on public health, providing over $10 billion to support families' health around the world and prevent future pandemics, focusing on surveillance, detection, and response capabilities.

Also, in terms of public health, we are proud to be permanently repealing the global gag rule, a dangerous rule that deprives the poorest families in the world of basic healthcare and family planning services.

We are investing billions in initiatives for maternal and child health and fighting infectious diseases, including, still, HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR.

This funding honors our values by investing in human rights with the Global Equality Fund and other initiatives to support the LGBTQ community and support for disability rights, gender equality, and protecting persecuted religious minorities; humanitarian assistance, with billions for migration and refugee initiatives and disaster assistance; and protecting democracy and the rule of law around the globe. It contains billions in security and economic support to partners and allies to advance peace, prosperity, and stability.

We are proud of its strong support for Israel, which is in our national security interests.

We are also proud that this legislation helps implement the ALLIES Act, passed last week by the House to expedite Afghan Special Immigrant Visas.

The local Afghan partners who have worked shoulder to shoulder with the American military and our diplomatic personnel are heroes. They have been vital to the safety of American lives and the success of our mission. We made a promise, and now we are keeping it. We must be there for them as they were for us.

These two funding bills demonstrate and defend American leadership at home and around the world. I urge a strong bipartisan ``aye'' vote for both.

I thank the leadership of Rosa DeLauro, Barbara Lee, and Tim Ryan.

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source