Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010

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Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for key provisions and amendment to H.R. 4899, the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. The bill provides a myriad of critical emergency funding for disaster relief in Haiti, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as fully paid for investments to meet domestic needs, such as education jobs and Pell Grants. Unfortunately, this bill also includes funding for the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in our nation's history.

While I am grateful to the men and women who serve valiantly in our Armed Forces, both at home and abroad, I strongly oppose any additional funding for the war in Afghanistan. This war has gone on long enough without a clear and sufficient exit strategy. My constituents and I can no longer bear to see more Americans die or remain in harm's way, for this fruitless war. The time is now to bring our troops home, stop the unnecessary spending and stabilize our economy. That is why I support the amendments offered by CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee and James McGovern, David Obey and Walter Jones.

I commend Chairwoman Lee for working diligently to bring her important amendment for a vote. I agree we must begin to end the war by limiting funds to the safe, timely withdrawal of US troops and military contractors from Afghanistan. The people in my district demand it, I morally oppose it, and time is of the essence.

I also want to commend the Chairman David Obey and the Members of the Committee on Appropriations for their hard work on the House Amendment to the Senate bill. In particular, I want to thank the Committee for including funding for school districts, like those in New York City, that are poised to receive high concentrations of Haitian child refugees. These children are more likely to settle in already overburdened school districts. Therefore, schools receiving these children will undoubtedly need extra resources to accommodate this new population. In April, I joined my colleagues on a letter to Chairman Obey, expressing this very concern. I am grateful that this language was adopted.

Additionally the Obey amendment provides major benefits to education for all Americans. It includes $10 billion in aid to local school districts avert massive teacher layoffs and $5 billion to help close the current shortfall in Pell Grants for college students--the absence of which would seriously imperil education funding for fiscal year 2011. This will affect thousands of teachers and students in my district and in the Greater New York area.

I strongly believe that H.R. 4899 is a key tool for Haiti's redevelopment. As the Representative of the second largest Haitian population of first and second generation Haitians Americans, I am greatly pleased that the bill includes $2.93 billion dollars for the U.S. participation in the Haiti disaster relief, $130 million above the President's request. The people of Haiti, its government, USAID and the Department of State cannot move forward in their recovery and reconstruction plans without the pledged financial support from our government.

Mr. Speaker, I support our troops, veterans, and military families, and in honor of them I voted to reunite our service members in Afghanistan with their families here at home. My heart also goes out to the people of Haiti and will continue to support our reconstruction efforts there. Lastly, I am proud that the advocacy efforts of the New York congressional delegation in pushing to save education jobs in New York City have paid off.

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