Further Extending Government Funding Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in reluctant opposition to the continuing resolution.

But first, I want to recognize our good friend, Carrie Meek, from Florida. I share the gentlewoman's sadness over her passing. She was a good friend. She was a great Member, and we will miss her, and I extend my condolences to her family.

For months, my friends on the other side of the aisle spent their time crafting their big tax and spend social welfare bill. In the end, they passed a bill that will most likely fail in the Senate because it represents the most radical change to the American social contract in history, creating generations of dependency on the backs of the American middle class. While they went back and forth, going further left with each version, the clock on funding our government ran out.

The most basic responsibility of this Congress is to fund the government, to ensure seniors and veterans receive their earned benefits on time. Yet, the majority pushed aside that basic duty in the name of radical social change. The CR before us represents their failure to govern.

As the ranking Republican on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, our committee has heard firsthand about the threats that face our country and our allies.

Right now, at this very moment, the Russians have amassed forces along the Ukrainian border, weeks after they purposely demonstrated their ability to destroy a satellite in high orbit. It is unbelievable.

A record number of Chinese military airplanes have flown that Taiwan airspace, and their naval forces continue to threaten freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

President Biden's abject failure in Afghanistan, which freed an estimated 7,000 hardened terrorists, has created more uncertainty for both us and our allies. And threats such as North Korea, Iran, and other nonstate actors remain as well.

We cannot continue to cripple our national security apparatus with CRs year after year. It is not only wasteful--this CR is going to cost the Department of Defense about $1.7 billion per month for nothing--but it allows our adversaries to continue gaining while we remain stagnant.

Now more than ever, we must give them the funding and tools they need to counter threats to the United States.

It is time that the majority focus on their most basic task: Do the work the American people expect of our government.

Our U.S. servicemembers, veterans, seniors, and the most vulnerable among us deserve better. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

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Mr. CALVERT.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just want to make a point. The Republicans on the Appropriations Committee want to increase our defense spending. We don't want to cut defense spending. Both the Republicans and the Democrats on the authorizing committee don't want to cut the defense spending. And both the Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate don't want to cut defense spending.

We have a national defense strategy that was laid down by General Mattis, which I think we should follow, which asked for a net increase of a minimum of 3 to 5 percent net of inflation. That is just to maintain some credible deterrent against China and a resurgent Russia. Until we get to those numbers, we will continue to be operating on a continuing resolution.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I think everybody knows, Madam Speaker, what the conditions are that have been pretty much publicized. National defense spending must go up and the balance of the appropriations has to come down; the legacy riders must come back in, and the poison pills have to go away. It is pretty simple, as far as I am concerned.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I am kind of a little confused. Last I looked, the Democratic Party controls the House, they control the Senate, and they control the White House. If they want to pass an omnibus bill, pass it.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to remind my friends in the majority, we don't run the House, we don't run the White House, and God only knows who runs the Senate.

But I do know this, that the gentleman that the majority leader referred to, the ranking minority member in the United States Senate certainly wants an appropriation bill, but I think he has made it quite clear, and I think we have made it quite clear--the gentleman referred to Mr. Cole--I think he has made it quite clear that the legacy riders, which need to come back in, the poison pills have got to go out, the dollars, by the way, which we have not agreed to in defense spending because, as you know, the Committee on Appropriations did not agree to a number that passed in the United States House of Representatives. It did pass by the authorization committee at a higher number, and in the Senate by a higher number, both Republicans and Democrats.

So I think we recognize that defense number has to go up and something else has to come down. If those things happen, I think we can have a serious negotiation. Until then, I am afraid we are going to be continuing to operate on a continuing resolution.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene).

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, as I said before, the fiscal year 2022 bills were drafted with little input from Republicans. And since then, we have not been able to find a path forward.

In years past, we have had an agreement in place that allowed us to negotiate final bills quickly. I am concerned that we cannot have a meaningful discussion on full-year appropriations without a similar understanding going in.

Madam Speaker, that is why, in a few moments, I will offer a motion to recommit. My motion would simply send this bill back to committee so that we can come to agreement on a process for addressing full-year bills.

Madam Speaker, to return to our strong bipartisan traditions, I urge support for the motion, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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