Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 912, I call up the bill (H.R. 6617) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act, which continues funding for Federal programs and services through March 11. I would have preferred to come before the House to pass a fiscal 2022 omnibus, but I believe we are very close to an agreement and I am eager to move this process forward. I have every expectation that we can finalize a framework in short order and then work together to fill in the details and enact an omnibus.
The American people deserve the certainty that comes with full-year funding bills. The transformative investments an omnibus provides will help create good-paying jobs and grow opportunity for the middle class. An omnibus will expand access to childcare, strengthen our public schools, make college more affordable, bolster job training, and help small businesses access the capital they need to thrive. And it will rebuild our public healthcare systems after the devastation of the pandemic.
An omnibus bill will confront the climate crisis by supporting environmental protection, land conservation, and clean energy development. It will protect our national security and restore America's place in the world.
An omnibus is the only way to unlock the full potential of the transformative funding in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, accelerating the rebuilding of our Nation's crumbling roads, bridges, water systems, and other critical transportation infrastructure.
Of great importance to the people we represent, an omnibus would enact Community Project Funding that both Republicans and Democrats requested for their districts, with strong community support. From rebuilding local health and transportation infrastructure, helping veterans to find jobs, supporting small businesses, and expanding educational opportunities, these investments will revitalize our communities and strengthen them for years to come.
Once we have a framework, I am confident that appropriators will work with great intensity to fill in the details so that we can enact an agreement that is worthy of the American people.
To provide the time to get that done, the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act continues government funding at current levels through March 11.
This legislation is straightforward and includes minimal anomalies, the most notable of which is $350 million in direly needed new funding to address water contamination from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii.
No one wins from additional continuing resolutions, which is why, after we pass this extension, we will finalize an omnibus that will deliver for our Nation.
Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the continuing resolution before us. I am pleased we came to an agreement, but it is only a stopgap. A bicameral, bipartisan omnibus bill must be passed to fund government for the remainder of fiscal year 2022.
Limping along from continuing resolution to continuing resolution keeps us from making necessary investments in critical programs, and it halts progress on new programs, including a number included within the bipartisan infrastructure law.
The infrastructure initiative makes historic investments in roads, bridges, public transportation, broadband, and much more, but without a full-year bill, formula funding is going to be restricted to fiscal year 2021 levels, and our ability to transform our Nation's transportation infrastructure will be limited.
For example, the newly created Carbon Reduction program and the PROTECT grant program to promote resilience can't be initiated. Restricting funding to fiscal year 2021 levels for some programs will delay contracts and grants.
A full-year Transportation-HUD bill would update our aging transportation infrastructure, remedy inequities in housing and transportation, prevent evictions, and make our infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and a changing climate.
We also spent months, Madam Speaker, vetting hundreds of Community Project Funding requests in a bipartisan manner for well-designed housing, transportation, and economic development projects. Without completing the annual appropriations process, none of these investments will happen.
Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of this CR today. I urge my colleagues to work together to meet Congress' most basic constitutional responsibility, funding our government and directing investments for the future. We must come to the table with a constructive path forward for fiscal year 2022 appropriations.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who is the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding.
Here we are again debating the most basic function of our democracy: funding our government. Yet, once again, here we are kicking the can a bit further down the road instead of passing a budget for a fiscal year that started 130 days ago.
As chair of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I know that we need a full annual appropriations bill for military construction projects that are critical to our national security and to make the needed annual investments in veterans' healthcare and benefits.
I have been in this Chamber many, many times when we came together for the good of the Nation, just like we recently did to pass the infrastructure bill that was bipartisan with at least some support from the other side of the aisle. We found common ground because infrastructure affects every corner of this great country. But the benefits of that landmark legislation cannot be fully realized until we enact the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills.
Some States are even putting off projects until we appropriate funding from the full-year budget. The Federal Railroad Administration can't hire the staff it needs in order to implement the infrastructure bill. New programs to reduce carbon emissions and to protect roads and bridges against the effects of climate change will stall. All our communities in blue and red districts cannot access these new programs until we do our job and pass the full budget.
Without full-year appropriations bills we risk upending the greatest year of job growth the Nation has ever seen. We risk knocking down ladders into our middle class. We risk our national security. We are close to a funding agreement thanks to our appropriations leadership. But we need time to finish that legislation in full. This continuing resolution gives us time to finish that vital work for the American people.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the CR, and I urge our colleagues in the entire House of Representatives to diligently work together to make sure we can bring this budget process in for a landing.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case), who is a member of the Committee on Appropriations.
Mr. Speaker, first let me join Ranking Member Granger in expressing my condolences at the unexpected passing of Appropriations Committee staff member Dave Raser over the weekend.
Not an hour ago--to my colleague and ranking member--I spoke with his father and expressed our condolences and our thoughts and prayers being with him and assured them that they are not alone and that they have a family here that mourns with them for the loss of Dave.
The gentlewoman from Texas so aptly described him and the promise for his future.
Our thoughts and our prayers are with him, with his family, with his sister, Emily, with whom, as my friend mentioned, he was very, very close, and his friends and his co-workers.
Again, I join Ranking Member Granger's sadness at this great loss for our committee.
Mr. Speaker, regarding the legislation before us, the American people need a government funding agreement to support working families, expand access to childcare, education, and job training. We need to be supporting small businesses. We need to rebuild our public health and transportation infrastructure, confront the climate crisis, provide care and benefits for our veterans, and protect our national security. That is what we need to be about.
Let us pass this continuing resolution. Let us complete an omnibus and let us get the job done for the good people whom we represent.
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