Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027
Floor Speech
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Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend, Judge Carter, and the ranking member, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for giving us an example of what true bipartisanship looks like. I mean, to get a bill out of committee on a unanimous vote, as a fellow cardinal, I am a bit envious. I am not near naive enough to believe that my T-HUD bill is going to enjoy the same fate, but congratulations to them.
Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this MILCON-VA bill. It is a good day for the House, Mr. Chairman, and an even better day for the American people because we are considering the first full year FY27 appropriations bill in the month of May. Good for us.
This is what a return to regular order should look like. This is how the annual appropriations process is supposed to work. Committee members from both parties debating, negotiating, and working in good faith to fund bills on time and responsibly.
We wouldn't be here today without the leadership of our overall chairman, Tom Cole, and his ranker, Rosa DeLauro. Their dedication and commitment to re-engineering this process is paving the way for the House to pass all 12 full-year funding bills for fiscal year `26 and to do it on time. I sure hope the Senate is listening to this debate.
There is some unfinished business, and we will roll up our sleeves, and we will get this work done.
House appropriators have advanced five full-year funding bills through committee. This is a credit to the hard work, discipline, and bipartisanship of our committee.
Mr. Chairman, the bill I speak in support of today, the FY27 MILCON- VA bill, is a good bill, and I know it is going to go through the process here on the floor, and I hope the outcome is that we can get it finished, get it approved, and get it to the Senate. Its passage will set our military and veterans up for success while also sustaining our momentum to fulfill Congress' Article I responsibility on time.
Let's get a ``yes'' vote out of this thing. Congratulations to both of you.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.
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