Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Ms. MENG. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this appropriations package.

As the ranking member of CJS, this may not be the bill I would have drafted if my Democratic colleagues and I were in the majority, but it is a strong, responsible compromise that meets the needs of the American people. I will be voting in favor, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I am proud that this bill increases funding for grants to State and local law enforcement, including for Community Oriented Policing Services programs and the Violence Against Women Act. These funds are vital for the public safety of all of our local communities and for victim services.

Earlier proposals, including the President's budget requests in the previous House bill, eliminated funding for the community violence intervention and prevention program. Thanks to Democrats' advocacy, we secured level funding to continue this important program in this bill.

Earlier proposals also zeroed out funding for grant programs to prevent hate crimes. I am proud that we ensured these programs will continue without cuts.

We secured strong funding levels for the Economic Development Administration and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, which both work to create and preserve good jobs in the United States.

We continued and funded three agencies that the Trump administration wanted to eliminate entirely: the Minority Business Development Agency, the Legal Services Corporation, and the DOJ's Community Relations Service.

This bill also resoundingly rejects efforts to cut funding for basic scientific research, technology development, and STEM education at NSF and NASA.

Importantly, this bill strengthens congressional oversight and control over funding for Federal agencies, to ensure that they spend this money as Congress intended rather than for their own political purposes.

Last but not least, every single one of the extreme, partisan policy riders contained in the previous House CJS bill has been removed from the bill before us today.

I am proud of the work we have done in this bipartisan package. I thank Chairman Tom Cole and his team, and our subcommittee Chairman Hal Rogers and his team, for their cooperation. I thank our ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro, and her team, for her leadership. I especially thank our Appropriations subcommittee staff, Bob Bonner, Jamie Wise, Nora Faye, and Faye Cobb, for their tireless work on this, and also Tom Dinegar and Rebecca Lee from my individual office, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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