Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, first, I thank Chairman Murray for her exceptional leadership on this bill. It has been a real partnership, a bipartisan partnership, to deal with some very difficult issues. You see that with the chairman and ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, as well, and with the third bill that is before us today, where Senators Mikulski and Hutchison also worked together in a bipartisan manner. I think this is a template for how the Senate ought to operate, which we need to do more of.

I am also very pleased that we are bringing the appropriations bills before the Senate. I am hopeful we can avoid having some huge omnibus bill where no one is too sure of what's in it, who negotiated it, and how different provisions made their way into the bill. That is not a good way to legislate. Instead, bringing these bills before the Senate so the Senate can work its will on these important funding bills is the appropriate way to proceed.

I am very pleased to join my colleagues--particularly the subcommittee chairman, Senator Murray--as we begin floor consideration of these three bills. I am very pleased to serve as the ranking member of the Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Investment in economic development and infrastructure not only creates jobs now, when they are needed most, but also establishes the foundations for future growth. Just as important to our economic future, however, is reining in Federal spending. Getting our national debt under control must be made a priority governmentwide.

In setting priorities for the coming year, this appropriations bill strikes the right balance between thoughtful investment in critical projects in infrastructure and housing programs and fiscal restraint, thereby setting the stage for future economic growth.

Our bill makes critical infrastructure and development investments and meets our responsibility to vulnerable populations, such as our homeless veterans. At the same time, this bill delivers on the promise of a responsible budget and recognizes the fiscal reality of an unsustainable $14.3 trillion debt.

I can assure everyone that in this bill we are doing our part to establish more sustainable spending levels as quickly as possible. The proposed nonemergency funding levels for fiscal year 2012 are nearly $13 billion below fiscal year 2010. That is a reduction of nearly one-fifth in just 2 years. The significant savings represent an unmistakable movement in the direction of fiscal sustainability. Nevertheless, we have done our best to provide the necessary resources that are needed to support ongoing infrastructure investment and important safety oversight in the programs administered by the Department of Transportation.

For example, we provided funding for the TIGER Grant Program of $550 million. This will help to build infrastructure projects across this country that otherwise would not be constructed, and those infrastructure projects translate into real jobs and needed assets for communities across the country. We all know the link between essential infrastructure and jobs in economic development. After all, if businesses can't ship their goods or get their needed raw materials in an efficient, effective manner, then they are not going to be able to create and preserve jobs. That is why I see this bill, in many ways, as being a jobs bill.

In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration is provided adequate funding to improve the management of the air traffic control operations. There have been troubling recent reports of numerous operational errors by controllers which call into question the safety of our skies over some of our Nation's busiest airports. In response, our bill directs the FAA to implement data-driven performance standards to make certain that air traffic towers nationwide are properly staffed. By setting and enforcing these standards, the FAA can be more confident that air traffic controllers have the skills and discipline necessary to fulfill their critical duties.

In addition to improved safety oversight, this bill targets funds to the Nation's most critical infrastructure projects. I mentioned the TIGER Grant Program. In addition, through the Competitive National Infrastructure Investments Program, funding is provided to support projects nationwide that otherwise would not be built. In hopes of making this funding go even further, we have also increased the percentage of funding available to support credit assistance through the TIFIA loan program. On average, a TIFIA loan allows every $1 provided in Federal appropriations to leverage approximately $30 in additional transportation infrastructure investment. That is the kind of innovation in infrastructure finance we need to produce a greater return on our taxpayers' investment.

In addition to transportation oversight and infrastructure, our bill also provides critical economic development and housing investments through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As with the Department of Transportation title, balancing key investment priorities with fiscal responsibility required significant and sometimes very difficult reductions in programs that are worthwhile but which we simply cannot afford to fund at the level we would like.

Addressing the ongoing challenge of homelessness remains a core priority for our subcommittee. Chairman Murray and I share a commitment to combating homelessness, particularly for our Nation's veterans. I am very troubled by a statistic I want to share with my colleagues. In 1 year's time, there are more homeless veterans than there are individual military members who were killed during the Vietnam war. That is a disgrace. That is something we must change. This bill provides $75 million for HUD's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program--the so-called HUD-VASH Program--to provide housing assistance for an additional 11,000 homeless veterans.

I have seen the result of this program in the State of Maine in a wonderful apartment complex that has been built specifically to meet the needs of our homeless veterans. It is in Saco, ME, and it is making such a difference in the lives of those who have served our country and yet now find themselves homeless.

I also strongly believe in the importance of the Community Development Block Grant Program. This is such a popular program in communities throughout our country. It

supports economic growth strategies of communities and enables key investments in their long-term economic growth. It is programs such as the CDBG Program that lay the foundation for future prosperity. We were not able to provide as much funding, frankly, for this program as I would have liked and as Senator Murray would have liked. I hope we can continue to work on it once we get to conference.

As we head into fiscal year 2012, our economy continues to struggle with high rates of unemployment, with stagnant incomes, and with prices that, in some areas, are starting to rise. Unfortunately, this makes it very difficult for us to fund these programs that are meeting an ever-growing need. For this reason, it has been all that much more challenging to achieve lowered budget targets. To address this challenge, therefore, our bill includes several measures that are designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of programs at HUD.

This year, we took very seriously the alarming reports on oversight deficiencies under the HOME program. For example, in an effort to ensure that funding for the HOME program efficiently achieves its goal of delivering affordable housing to those who most need it, we worked with the HUD Office of Inspector General to improve the program's regulations to better monitor and assess risks. The bill also directs HUD to work with the Office of Inspector General to identify strategies that the Department can implement to address problems at certain troubled public housing authorities and to hold them accountable for mismanagement of taxpayer funds. With so many important programs under pressure to absorb reductions, it is more important than ever to ensure that HUD's programs are free from mismanagement, waste, fraud, and abuse.

I appreciate the opportunity to join with Senator Murray in presenting this legislation to the Chamber. If there is one theme that runs throughout our bill, it is practicality. We have tried to take a nonpartisan practical approach that asks tough questions but makes sure we are setting priorities for those programs that are most essential to the most vulnerable individuals and families in our Nation. At the same time, we worked very hard to make sure we were funding those programs that were absolutely essential in meeting economic and job-creation priorities. It is my hope our colleagues will support our bill.

I yield the floor.

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