Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2216, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; And Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2217, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in strong opposition to this rule, which aims to approve the House majority's inadequate appropriations allocation level for 2014, a level that is over $90 billion below that of the Senate and the President and violates the agreement that we all voted on a year ago, Democrats and Republicans, in the Budget Control Act to increase that funding above the number that they present to us today.

The budget reflects our values, reflects our priorities, and our responsibilities to the people that we represent. It is our job to make sure that that is the case. And yet for the third time in 3 years, this House majority has put forward a reckless and ideological funding level that ensures that our government cannot even meet its most basic responsibilities to the American people.

Under this House majority's plan, we will see cuts that are deeper than the indiscriminate across-the-board cuts. The funding for the Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services is drastically cut. And this rule accepts those cuts made to the program this year and then it multiplies that by four in 2014. What are those cuts? Where do they fall? And if enacted, the wrong choices will cause incalculable damage. They severely weaken these critical programs that protect public health and safety, that promote and develop our workforce, training programs, education, Pell Grants, Meals on Wheels, special education, and biomedical research so that people can live. It affects our seniors, our veterans, our middle class, and our most vulnerable families.

I, along with Congressman Van Hollen and others, have offered legislation that cuts $30 billion from the Federal deficit and replaces the deep and indiscriminate cuts for the next 2 years with a more balanced and a targeted approach. That's the direction we should be moving in--keeping up with our fundamental responsibilities to the families who have elected us to stand up for them.

Rather than going down this path, the House majority should appoint budget conferees and do its job and negotiate with the Senate. Our appropriations chairman claims to want to undo sequestration. Yet rather than showing leadership, the House majority fails to address the sequester and create conditions for another budget crisis down the road.

We hear so much talk from this majority about regular order. What does that mean? The House passes a bill, the Senate passes bill, they work out their differences, they get it to the President, and the President signs the bill. Well, Mr. Speaker, where is the regular order? It is autocracy.

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Ms. DeLAURO. No more games. I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this disastrous funding level. Let's work together to fix the sequester and get us back on the path to economic growth. This is our top priority. It must be our top priority. And this House of Representatives needs to show the American people that it can lead.

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