Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding. I am just in awe of her virtuoso presentation of this legislation for the people.

I thank the chairwoman for the mastery of the subject matter, for the strategic plan that she had to bring it to the floor, for her collaboration with her subcommittee chairs as well as the chairs of the subcommittees of authorization. I congratulate and thank her. I thank her for the children.

Mr. Speaker, this package puts working families first. It does so by prioritizing jobs, laying the foundation to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, including by rebuilding the infrastructure, including surface transportation and water infrastructure to get the lead out; advancing the clean energy economy of the future; and launching workforce training for the 21st century. And it puts working families first by investing in our children.

Again and again, when people ask me what the three most important issues facing the Congress are, I always say the same thing, our children, our children, our children, and their health; their education; the economic security of their families; a clean, safe environment in which they can thrive; a world at peace in which they can reach their fulfillment.

This legislation addresses many of these priorities.

Mr. Speaker, children's health is protected with child nutrition initiatives, including SNAP and WIC, serving tens of millions of hungry kids.

I remember when the stories were written about the first community health centers, the person who was the leader in all of that was spending some health money on food, and the Federal Government said: That is supposed to be for prescription drugs and not for food.

He responded: Food is what makes our children healthy.

So I thank the gentlewoman for the nutrition sections in here.

The health of the family is also protected by support for public health initiatives for maternal and child health, as well as research to fight future pandemics and to head off future pandemics.

Our children's education is advanced by ensuring that K-12 schools have resources they need, including with historic investments in title 1, and higher education is advanced in Pell grants and other financial assistance and funding for minority-serving institutions, our HBCUs, our Hispanic-serving institutions, and our institutions that help our Native-American institutions of higher learning.

I think it is really important to note--and I thank the chairwoman for recognizing this--that when we talk about the investments we make in an appropriations bill, it is important to note that this is not increasing the national debt--nothing.

Mr. Speaker, economists will tell you nothing brings more money to the Treasury than the education of the American people. Earliest childhood, K-12, higher ed, post-grad, lifetime learning for our workers--nothing brings more money. So I thank the gentlewoman for this fiscally responsible initiative.

In terms of the economic security of our children and families, these bills make strong investments in rental, homeowner, and other housing initiatives, including low-income households, and in combating homelessness, and they address economic disparities facing families.

Indeed, this appropriation package puts justice and equity front and center. We are proud of its provisions to combat injustice and economic opportunities, pollution and the environment, health and more.

This package is also about our children's future in another respect. It confronts the climate crisis by expanding environmental enforcement efforts, creating a Civilian Climate Corps and launching a renewed focus on protecting our cherished scenic places and expanding local parks in communities across the country for our families to enjoy. It sets us on a course for an affordable, secure, and clean energy future by investing over $14 billion in clean energy and science which will also create thousands of green jobs.

Also, so importantly, this package honors our responsibility to our veterans, their families, and their caregivers. These bills contain robust funding for veterans' healthcare including women's health, women veterans' health, mental health, and homelessness assistance. It will help veterans transition to civilian life with economic opportunities worthy of their service.

We always say that we owe so much to our men and women in uniform and to our veterans. We owe them so much to meet their needs, but we also owe them a debt of gratitude by building a future worthy of their sacrifice. This bill also builds vital military infrastructure, including military housing, childcare centers, and VA facilities.

This week, as we advance these appropriations bills, Congress will continue our work to advance infrastructure and budget reconciliation bills that meet the needs of the American people separate from the appropriations bills. In all that we do, Democrats are for the people and building back better by investing in America with jobs, opportunity, and progress for families.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong vote for this important and impactful appropriations bill of which the Congress and the country can all be proud with great gratitude to Madam Chair, Congresswoman DeLauro, for her leadership and all the members of her team.

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