Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4754, Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes.

(Mr. McGovern asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to commend the chairman and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations, my good friends, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) for their hard work and cooperation in drafting the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005.

The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) took an absurdly low Presidential budget request, worked with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) to produce a decent allocation and made the best of a bad situation.

For example, I am pleased that the bill restores funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report cut the program by 60 percent to just $39.6 million, and the President's fiscal year 2005 budget requested $39.2 million for the program. The M-E-P program serves small businesses, and these small businesses would be severely hurt if last year's cuts were extended.

I have firsthand knowledge of the value and importance of the M-E-P program, because the Massachusetts M-E-P is headquartered in my congressional district. Earlier this year, I joined 157 of my colleagues in a letter to the Committee on Appropriations requesting $106 million for the M-E-P program. The restoration of this funding in this bill will help ensure the sustainability of our domestic small manufacturing industry and its high-quality jobs, and I want to again thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the ranking member, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) for working to support this important program.

But even though the entire fiscal year 2005 CJS appropriations bill provides $240 million above President Bush's overall request, still some serious deficiencies remain.

For instance, I am deeply concerned about the lack of funding for the Economic Development Administration. EDA is an agency that is chiefly responsible for providing assistance to urban areas for revitalization. Any cuts to this program, especially in these difficult economic times, will seriously jeopardize the revitalization efforts that are currently under way in urban areas, like Attleboro, Massachusetts, in my congressional district, as it continues to move through the legislative process and into conference negotiations.

I am also disappointed that this bill zeroes out funding for the Small Business Administration's 7(a) subsidy program and the SBA's Microloan Technical Assistance program. The microloan program helps low-income and unemployed individuals become self-sufficient. There is strong data showing that the household income for low-income recipients increased by 72 percent over 5 years and that more than half of these entrepreneurs moved beyond the poverty line during that time. The microloan program should be maintained, not sacrificed.

Additionally, Congress created the 7(a) program to help small businesses with the high costs associated with starting a new business. It is the largest SBA financing program and is a real lifeline for small businesses. The gentleman from New York (Ranking Member Serrano) offered an amendment in the Committee on Appropriations that would have restored funding for this important program. Unfortunately, it was defeated by a party-line vote. Later this afternoon, a bipartisan amendment will be offered to restore funding for this important small business program, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this effort on behalf of our small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I am extremely disappointed that this bill reduces funding for the COPS program and for State and local law enforcement grants. Although the fiscal year 2005 CJS appropriations bill provides $3 billion for these programs, it is $103 million less than last year's funding level. While this is an improvement, a vast improvement, over the President's request, which zeroed out many of these programs, I think we can still do better.

These grants are vital for the safety and the protection of our cities and towns all across this country. More than 118,000 officers around the country have been funded through this program. Community policing and neighborhood activism make a real difference in the battle for public safety. During these difficult economic times, our State and local budgets are very, very tight. It is critical that the Federal Government act as a partner in the area of public safety.

In my congressional district, for instance, the COPS program recently provided $3.75 million for 50 new police officers in Worcester, $225,000 for three new police officers in Attleboro, and $75,000 for an additional police officer in Seekonk. Homeland security starts with hometown security, and we should be doing more for the COPS program, not less.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a perfect bill, but it is a good one. The funding deficiencies in this bill I hope can be worked out in the conference, and I am confident that the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman WOLF) and the gentleman from New York (Ranking Member SERRANO), two Members who I have extremely high regard for, will work with the other body to provide the necessary funding for these important programs.

I want, once again, to commend the committee for its hard work, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

We have no other requests for speakers, but let me just close by again saying that while I wish the overall funding level for this bill were higher and I wish there was more money available for the COPS programs and for a number of other small business programs, I nonetheless want to again commend the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the chairman, and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), the ranking member, for really an excellent job. They have worked together in a bipartisan way, and the entire subcommittee deserves credit for the final product that is before us, a bill which I will support.

Let me also conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying something that I rarely get an opportunity to say, but I gladly say it today, and that is, I support this rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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