Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding the time.

Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. I want to congratulate and thank Chairman Wolf and Mr. Fattah, the ranking member, especially, and all the members of the subcommittee and staff for bringing us a bill that I think we can be proud of and support entirely.

This is the third of the 12 appropriations bills that make up our work--and this is the third that we have brought to the floor this year. I think this bill, like the other two that passed, deserves our support. We are moving at a very fast clip in the committee. That should allow us to complete our appropriations work for the 2015 fiscal year on time. I promise that my committee will do everything it can to make that a reality.

As Chairman Wolf has said, the bill provides $51.2 billion for the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and related agencies. This very thorough piece of legislation, which was approved by the committee on a bipartisan basis, makes clear our priorities of keeping our Nation safe and growing our economy.

To achieve these goals, the committee has targeted precious tax dollars toward those programs with proven results and economic benefit.

For example, they increase the funding for the Department of Justice by $383 million over last year. Within that total, the bill targets FBI funding toward counterterrorism programs and programs that fight cyber intrusion, gangs, and human trafficking.

We also work to fight drug trafficking by providing the DEA with $2.4 billion. That includes $367 million to combat prescription drug abuse, which has quickly become our Nation's number one drug threat. Prescription drugs abuse is described by the Centers for Disease Control as a national epidemic.

The funding in this bill will also help to protect communities across the country from the risks of devastating natural disasters. We rejected the President's proposed cuts to the National Weather Service and have made sure that adequate funding is provided for hurricane forecasting and tsunami warning grants. We have also made investments in the future of weather forecasting technology.

In addition to the efforts in the bill to keep the Nation safe, we have also funded programs that will help our Nation prosper.

Within the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, the bill invests in programs that foster innovation and boost our economic competitiveness. This includes funding for programs that conduct research on manufacturing, cybersecurity, neuroscience, and STEM education, as well as $5 million in grant funding to encourage the repatriation of overseas jobs.

But, as my committee will do with every bill we bring to the floor this year, we have ensured that this funding is responsible, is reasonable, and will make the most out of every single tax dollar spent. By scouring out waste and trimming unnecessary or lower-priority spending, we have produced a bill that comes in nearly $400 million below the current year.

I would like to note that the committee did this in spite of the President's request, which had $800 million in false savings and offsets and underfunded a variety of critical programs. This bill rejects those gimmicks and makes sure that these programs have received funding levels that allow them to do their important work.

To make sure this good work does not fall to the wayside, the committee included several oversight provisions that will ensure our tax dollars are being spent responsibly.

In addition, the bill includes several provisions that will assure the life, liberty, and property of the American people, such as prohibiting the transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees into the U.S., protecting our Second Amendment rights, and preserving the sanctity of life.

Madam Chairman, before I close, let me take a moment to again thank the chairman, Frank Wolf; Mr. Fattah; and members of the committee and staff for all their hard work on this bill. This is a tough bill to put together, and the allocation they had to work with was not the greatest in the world. But they have, I think, fit the needs of the country into this bill.

I want to particularly draw attention to the chairman of this subcommittee and the author of this fine piece of legislation.

Frank Wolf has served in this House the same number of days that I have. We came together in January 1981. Over that 34 years of service in this body, Chairman Frank Wolf has been a stalwart, passionate, compassionate legislator, and a dedicated, conscientious Member of Congress and appropriator. His expert work on this committee can be summed up in the legislation that we have before us today.

I know that when he is gone, Frank Wolf's absence will be deeply felt by me, all of his colleagues, and I think by the country, because he has truly served America for all these years unselfishly and with hard work and with compassion.

So, Chairman Wolf, for all you have done for this bill, the Appropriations Committee, the House of Representatives, your native Virginia and the United States of America, we thank you, and we will miss you.

With that, Madam Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. My congressional district, Madam Chairman, encompasses rural parts of southern and eastern Kentucky. The region has historically lagged behind others in the Commonwealth and in the country. Particularly in recent years, as we have reeled from a crushing downturn in the coal industry that has cost my district some 8,000 good-paying mining jobs in just the last few months, we have had to think and act strategically to revitalize our economic engine. Creating jobs in a mountainous region without sufficient roadways or suitable water infrastructure might seem an unsurmountable challenge. But I have always encouraged my constituents and community leaders to ``plan their work, and work their plan.'' With the help of EDA, this is what we have been doing.

The Economic Development Administration is one of the few entities in our Federal Government uniquely qualified to address the needs of communities with chronically high unemployment issues or facing enormous setbacks due to natural disasters. EDA's grants, awarded in a competitive fashion, leverage over $10 from the private sector for every Federal dollar invested and are targeted at facilities that are essential for private industry to remain or locate in these underachieving areas. As a result of these targeted investments in water systems, workforce training centers, intermodal facilities, or broadband networks, struggling communities across the country have seen the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in just the last decade.

I wholeheartedly concur with the sponsor of the amendment that the role of the Federal Government is not to create jobs, but instead to create the conditions favorable for private sector job creation. By partnering with local area development districts, leveraging public and private dollars, and engaging the local workforce, EDA does just that.

This bill provides $247.5 million for the agency, which is already below the President's request; rejects the administration's request to shift funds away from vital public works programs; and supports a loan guarantee program to develop innovative manufacturing technologies that will keep rural areas competitive nationally and globally. With unemployment in rural areas around the country still hovering well above the national average, particularly in coal country, the victims of the war on coal, this is an investment we cannot afford to lose.

I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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