Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3293, DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (House of Representatives - July 24, 2009)

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Mr. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule, and I commend the chairman and the staff for an excellent bill which reflects our noblest priorities as a Nation. It has been said that a society should be judged by how it treats it's least fortunate members. And with this bill, I believe we do our Nation proud. The goal of the bill has always been to make a strong investment in our future, to take seriously our responsibilities to the American public on the issues that affect people every single day, from our health, to our children's education, to scientific research that will unlock the cures of tomorrow, from protecting workers to providing the training that they need to succeed in today's economy.

Our bill does not disappoint. And, yes, to help States serve both the 14 million unemployed Americans and the many more millions of underemployed Americans, the bill provides resources for training, for supportive services to workers affected by mass layoffs and plant closures.

On worker protection, the bill provides an increase to key health and safety programs that protect the more than 140 million strong American workforce. On education, the bill restores critical funding to Title 1 so that disadvantaged children can continue to gain the educational skills that they need to thrive. On special needs education, the bill says to our States, the Federal Government is going to begin to make good on its promise, not leave you with an unfunded mandate to pick up the cost for special needs kids, but we are going to make a contribution to that, and we do so with a 25 percent Federal contribution.

I'm personally grateful to the chairman for continuing the funding for the Even Start Program. The bill makes real progress toward aiding college students with a significant increase in the Pell Grant, allowing us to raise the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550. And with regard to my colleague's comments on direct loans, yes, essentially what we're doing there is taking bank profit out of that equation and allowing for families to be able to get the kinds of loans that they need for their children without having to pay additional money to add to the coffers and the profits of banks.

In the area of medical research, the bill provides continued investment and lifesaving innovations at the National Institutes of Health, provides resources to lead us into the future of a new health care system. The bill insures that 7 1/2 million low-income households continue to receive home energy assistance. It supports the Community Service Block Grant. It allows States to expand critical services such as housing, home weatherization, parenting education, adult literacy classes and emergency food assistance.

Mr. Speaker, this bill not only reflects a commitment to our longstanding responsibilities, but this Congress' continued commitment to fiscal responsibility. In addition to the investments which are made, the program includes terminations, reductions and other savings when compared to last year totaling $1.3 billion and $3.3 billion when compared to what the budget request was about.

We will accomplish a lot of goodwill with this bill. I especially want to highlight and commend Chairman Obey for again including the Reducing the Need for Abortion Initiative, total investment of $7.8 billion for programs such as Title X and Healthy Start teen pregnancy prevention, adoption awareness, after school programs and child care programs for new parents attending college, just to name a few.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a member of this subcommittee. Its members and the work that we do every year, we live up to our moral responsibility to promote the general welfare, care and comfort the afflicted. It makes opportunity real for millions of Americans.

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