Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLE. Thank you for yielding, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Fiscal Year 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act. I want to commend my good friend, Chairman Latham, for making some tough choices, but making those choices in a manner that was fair, transparent, and rational. I also want to thank my good friend, Mr. Pastor, the ranking member on the other side of the aisle. He's always a pleasure to work with. He's always a delightful Member and he always contributes. I know while this bill may not be everything that he would like, he certainly added a great deal in the course of our deliberations.

The reality is that because of sequestration, the allocation this subcommittee was given is meager. The bill provides $44.1 billion in discretionary spending--a reduction of many billions below the fiscal year 2013 enacted level. But let's be clear: that reduction is due to the Budget Control Act and the mechanism of sequestration, not the Ryan budget, which simply recognizes the realities that have been agreed upon and passed into law. It's worth noting that our friend, the President of the United States, recommended the sequester, which we're trying to enact in this budget.

At the same time, even with these cuts, the bill has maintained funding for the FAA Contract Tower Program, a program which is vitally important to maintaining safe national airspace.

The bill also provides funding to continue assistance to all families anticipated to hold section 8 and public housing vouchers at the beginning of fiscal year 2014. I know that was a tough mark to make, Mr. Chairman, and one that I appreciate that you did make because you put people first.

Additionally, this bill fully funds the President's request for veterans housing vouchers at $75 million, a point that my friend, Mr. Pastor, made.

Mr. Chairman, I know Mr. Latham and every member of this committee would like to spend more money on infrastructure; but because of our $17 trillion crushing debt and because of unrestrained growth and entitlement spending, this is where we are and this is where we will be until we confront out-of-control entitlement spending.

Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle seem to reject this hard reality. Some believe we will never have to balance our budget. Some believe that trillions of dollars in additional tax increases are the solution. And some think that we don't need to make any changes in our entitlement programs. That approach, in my view, simply won't work.

The deficit we have is far too high, but it is less than half of what it was when Republicans retook the House in 2010. That's progress. But more progress will need to be made until America actually balances its books. And that, I believe, will set the stage for faster, more robust economic growth.

I pledge to work with my friends on both sides of the aisle to find a compromise that will allow us to make vitally important investments while still lowering the deficit, but that compromise must involve entitlement reform. Until then, we frequently will continue to see important programs, such as the ones in this bill, starved for investments that they need.

So we need to get on to that bigger deal that my friend, Mr. Latham, talked about. I think the product of that deal will be much more robust appropriations for this particular subcommittee.

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