Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 -- Motion To Proceed -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Madam President, today, this week, we have come together to consider an omnibus appropriations bill. That is a big mouthful--an omnibus appropriations bill--but I hope to lay out in plain language for our folks back home and for those in this Chamber why that matters, why I am excited about it, and why I support it.

This is first time since I joined this body 3 years ago that we have considered one, and it is a real step forward. The agreement we came to on the budget and the agreement I hope we will pass on this appropriations bill means no more shutdowns, no more crises, no more autopilot, at least not for this fiscal year. This bill helps us return to regular order and to the process that, once election day is over, it is our job as the representatives of the people, elected to come together to find common ground, to solve bigger problems together, and to move the Nation forward.

This appropriations bill is the result of a lot of hard work by Members and staff. I must begin first and foremost by thanking the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, Senator Mikulski, and the vice chair, Senator Shelby, as well as the House chairman Rogers, and the ranking member, Congresswoman Lowey, who showed great leadership and worked together on a very tight deadline to craft such a vast and comprehensive bill. Their work follows on the leadership of Senator Murray, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and Congressman Ryan, of the House Budget Committee, after they came together on a bipartisan budget that paved the way for the Appropriations Committee to reach this deal this week.

I applaud their leadership and thank them for the example they have set. As a member of both the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee, it has been a privilege to work with them to craft these bills and ensure we meet our Nation's needs.

The bill before us is, of course, a compromise. It is the essence of a compromise that it is not perfect by any means. There are many who can find fault within it or disappointments aplenty among choices made or not made. It doesn't include--for example, to pick one thing of great importance to my State--enough funding to make real headway on Amtrak's critical infrastructure improvements that I think are essential--just in dealing with the $6 billion backlog of investments needed in aging tunnels, bridges, and tracks.

So while this bill does provide adequate funding for Amtrak today, which I am very pleased about, it puts off those critically needed investments in repairing these essential elements of its infrastructure, which we will inevitably need to make. That is only one example, and in a bill this big there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of the tough tradeoffs that had to be made between House and Senate, between the appropriators, and between the majority and the minority.

But as we consider our vote on this bill and how it does or doesn't meet our own priorities or our State's priorities, we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We need to remember that at least in this case the alternative to this bill isn't our own individual or perfect vision of government--whatever view we might hold. The alternative is crisis after crisis, government that doesn't move forward with the country but treads water as the world passes us by in an increasingly competitive global environment.

What this bill does in a very real way is bring back some stability to our government, to our economy, and it allows us to make important investments in our country's growth. For instance, it takes a number of valuable steps for my home State of Delaware.

It funds meat and poultry inspectors, critical to Delaware's chicken industry and its 13,000 jobs. It funds the next stage of an Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen the Delaware River from 40 to 45 feet so that we are ready and can be competitive when the expansion of the Panama Canal nears completion.

It dedicates funding through the Victims of Child Abuse Act--and I am an original cosponsor of a bill reauthorizing the Victims of Child Abuse Act--for the three children's advocacy centers throughout my State. These centers are critical to delivering justice for the victims of child abuse without harming their healing process.

The bill maintains funding for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership, an initiative that has supplied Delaware police officers with nearly 1,000 bulletproof vests in the past 2 years. Two of those vests, I should add, saved the lives of two officers during a shooting at the New Castle County Courthouse only last spring.

These are only a few of the things for which I am grateful in this broad omnibus bill. Nationally, it also allows us to meet our key priorities of training our workforce for this century, making our communities safer, building a circle of protection around the most vulnerable in our society, and, in combination, making us safer, stronger, and more just.

The investments it makes in America's workforce by funding education programs can last a lifetime. Head Start Programs ensure kids don't fall behind before they have even had a chance. This bill increases that funding by $1 billion to serve 90,000 more kids this year.

There is a competitive grant program to help States and communities find innovative ways to provide high quality preschool options for low- and middle-income families that I am particularly excited about.

In Delaware, we saw the power of this program when we competed for--and won--Federal funding on a competitive basis for high-quality early education only last year.

The Department of Education's first in the world initiative will help colleges to measure--and thus improve--outcomes, and it brings down costs for students and families. This bill increased our investment in job training programs such as Job Corps and the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, which help everyone from low-income Americans who failed to get on their feet in the job market to veterans who stood for us around the world and have earned our support upon their return.

Next, this bill includes crucial funding that makes our communities safer. We are upping our investment in the COPS program--first championed on this floor by my predecessor Senator Joe Biden. It will put 1,500 more officers on our streets and in our neighborhoods, keeping us safe.

The Violence Against Women Act, which we came together in a bipartisan manner to pass last year, is fully funded. We are taking important steps to stop the scourge of gun violence that affects each and every community: a new comprehensive school safety program I am excited about, new investments to improve background checks, and new training to help local law enforcement react and protect the public from active shooters.

Of course, the second part of making our communities safer is ensuring that justice is delivered in our courts when crime does happen. Unfortunately, the sequester's cuts to our Federal courts cut the judiciary to the bone, imposing furloughs, and hurting our Nation's justice system by leading to layoffs of hundreds of experienced, seasoned, senior court staff.

Yet, thankfully, the bill before us reverses these and many other cuts and will minimize the delays of justice that resulted and that are unacceptable to our Nation.

Finally, this bill allows us to build and sustain what I like to call a circle of protection around the most vulnerable in our society that reflects our shared commitment to each other. Our most basic values: Investments in the WIC Program, for women, infants, and children, will make sure 87,000 more mothers and children will have the food they need at a vital early stage of development. LIHEAP--or the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program--ensures that low-income families don't freeze during the coldest months of the year, and this bill's funding increases will ensure 400,000 more houses have this critical assistance. And lastly, when we pass this bill, which I pray we will by week's end, we will reverse the sequester's devastating cuts to housing programs and, as a result, prevent more than 100,000 American families from becoming homeless.

Each of these investments in our workforce, in our public safety, and in protection for our most vulnerable, together make up the foundation of a safer, a more just, and a more inclusive society. But when we also combine them with investments in research and innovation and infrastructure, we lay the groundwork for growth and shared prosperity today and tomorrow.

After the last 3 years, which in my experience have been mostly defined by bipartisan gridlock--stopgap budgets, crisis governance--this bipartisan Appropriations bill allows us to create some stability for our Nation and our economy. I think it reminds us we are a nation that is at its best when we are determined to be open to each other's ideas, to hear each other's concerns and criticisms, and to find ways to work together.

Although there are plenty of areas where I disagree with my Republican colleagues, as I have gotten to know them over the past 3 years we have found many more areas of common good and common work. Let me briefly mention a few of them as I celebrate what I think is the most important aspect of this bill, which is that it is truly bipartisan.

Senator Marco Rubio and I were both elected in 2010 and came to this Chamber at roughly the same time, and we found ways to work together to invest in STEM education and to open pathways to college for young Americans. Senator Hatch and I wrote a bill together called I-Squared--and we are joined by Senators Klobuchar and Rubio--and this is a bill that helps bring high-skilled workers to our shores and helps invest in STEM education for American citizens. Senator Kirk and I have worked together to create a national manufacturing strategy that focuses our energy and resources on creating manufacturing jobs in America. And just this Monday Senator Roberts of Kansas and I announced our partnership on a new bill to make the research and development tax credit and its funding available to startups and to young innovative companies.

There are so many issues where we can work together to invest in our workforce, to protect the public, to sustain this storied circle of protection around the most vulnerable, to invest in long-term economic growth, and to lift up every community and every American.

I am incredibly thankful for the leadership of Senators Mikulski and Shelby and the way they displayed that leadership with action through this process, by putting aside their differences and finding common ground. I wish to also close with a note of personal thanks to the countless committee staff on both sides who worked tirelessly throughout the holidays to make this bill a reality. With this Omnibus appropriations bill it is my sincere hope we are putting an end to a cycle of manufactured crises and we are sending to the American people and to our markets and to our communities the message that we can and will work together to confront the many challenges that remain here and in the future.

With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.

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