Ranking Member Cole Hearing Remarks on the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2471, H.J. Res. 75 and H.R. 6968

Hearing

As delivered during today's hearing providing for consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2471, H.J. Res. 75 and H.R. 6968:

Our hearing today covers three items. Our first item is a bill to ban imports of Russian oil into the United States and to impose additional sanctions following Russia's unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine.

While I will be supporting this measure, I cannot help but feel that the process that got us here is unfortunate. Over the weekend, Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate negotiated a bipartisan, bicameral deal on this bill. The original agreement was much stronger and would have been on an easy glide path to passage into law. In fact, Senators Wyden and Crapo have indeed introduced that agreement this evening in the Senate. But instead, we are faced with a weaker bill -- one that is watered down, one that does not take appropriate steps to remove most favored nation status from Russia and one that ensures a glaring loophole for Russian oil to enter the United States.

I do not understand why the Majority does not want to ensure a clear ban on Russian oil imports, just as I cannot understand why the president is asking every other country other than the United States to pump more oil to meet the current crisis. We could be addressing our energy needs right here, at home, with oil and gas produced in America. But instead, President Biden unilaterally canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline, canceled oil and gas production on federal land and told Americans worried about high gas prices to go buy expensive electric cars. Hardly the way to limit the pain experienced by American consumers.

I cannot help but feel that this is a half measure and a missed opportunity. This is a significantly weaker bill than the one we would have had if the Majority had simply taken yes for an answer.

We had a better option, Mr. Chairman.

Our second item is an omnibus appropriations bill covering the remainder of fiscal year 2022, and the third item is a short-term continuing resolution to ensure the government remains open while the omni is processed through Congress.

It has been a very, very long road to this point. Today, we are over five months into FY 2022, with the beginning of the FY 2023 appropriations process just around the corner. Nonetheless, as Vice Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee, I am encouraged that we are finally moving forward to complete our work -- albeit very late.

Beginning last spring, the Appropriations Committee worked in good faith to advance the FY 2022 process. The Appropriations Committee succeeded in passing all 12 bills out of committee and getting nine of them across the floor before the August recess. Unfortunately, these were partisan bills that advanced without any Republican support. But after much discussion, Democrats and Republicans were able to come together to find common ground.

In order to reach a full-year appropriations deal, Republicans made clear that four conditions had to be met. I'm pleased to note that this package meets all four of these conditions.

First, and most critically, historic legacy, bipartisan pro-life provisions needed to be restored. These include the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions, and the Weldon Amendment, which protects American doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from participating in or providing an abortion if they have a moral objection. Inclusion of these policies -- which have long received broad, bipartisan support -- was a necessity for this bill to have any hope of becoming law. Indeed, there was no chance of this bill passing both chambers without their inclusion.

Second, partisan policy riders that were included in the bills that passed the House needed to come out. Unfortunately, these bills included many policy provisions that both sides did not agree to. At the end of the day, we needed to reach consensus on these items in order to move forward, and I am pleased that each of these has been resolved.

The third condition was to increase the level of defense spending. In seeking to increase defense spending to meet our current defense needs, appropriators worked in concert with authorizers of both parties on the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee. Earlier this year, Congress passed the FY 22 NDAA, which authorized an increase of $25 billion. This increase is necessary to meet our national defense needs, including providing a 2.7 percent pay raise for our troops, funding additional ships for the Navy and ensuring the warfighters of tomorrow have the weapons and assets they need to succeed on the battlefield.

In the end, today's bill actually goes beyond this, ensuring an increase of over $25 billion dollars in defense spending.

In the past two weeks, we have all witnessed Russia's unjust and unprovoked invasion of its democratic and innocent neighbor, Ukraine. At this time of global crisis, we must ensure not only that our own military is at peak readiness in order to defend the homeland and our allies, but we must also ensure that we are prepared to assist friendly nations with their defense needs. Providing a robust funding level for defense is the critical key to doing so.

The fourth condition that needed to be met was the proposed levels of non-defense spending needed to come down. My Democratic friends sought to include a 17 percent increase in non-defense spending, and while that no doubt included many noteworthy and even laudable line items, Republicans generally felt that 17 percent was excessive. The bill before us increases non-defense spending by 8 percent, which will allow for increased investments in key areas, while also ensuring that we will continue to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Of course, this 8 percent increase means there are quite a few key provisions worthy of notice. I'm particularly pleased that the National Institutes of Health will receive a significant two and a quarter billion dollar increase, thus ensuring we will continue steady increases in funding to tackle research into infectious diseases, cancer and other critical health priorities. We will be funding ARPA-H, a key presidential priority, at a billion dollars in its first year of operation. This bill also provides for increased funding for TRIO and GEAR UP, two programs close to my heart that help first-generation students go to and succeed in college. It provides significant funding for hospitals and rural health, which will ensure the people of rural districts like mine will have the health care infrastructure they need when they need it. Every member in this body can point to provisions like these and find items of importance to their constituents and to their districts.

Before I conclude, I want to acknowledge the hard work of Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger. We certainly would not be here today without them, and I want to applaud their hard work over the past several months to get us to where we are today. I welcome them both back to the Rules Committee, and I look forward to hearing them testify today. Finally, I want to recognize the hard work of Appropriations Committee staff on both sides of the aisle. We would also not be here without them, particularly given the long and sleepless nights over the preceding weeks and particularly over this past weekend.

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