Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLE. 7148, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The legislation before us is part of the final chapter of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process. This is where months of hard work turn into results.

You see, we aren't here for just another stopgap, temporary fix. We are here to finish the job by providing full-year funding. Specifically, this package addresses core areas of national consequence: Defense, Labor-Health-Education, and Transportation- Housing and Urban Development.

These aren't abstract concepts on a page. They affect how Americans live, work, learn, and travel every day. That matters because behind every line is an impact: a military family with more certainty in their budget, a senior depending on a rural hospital, a student pursuing technical training for a good-paying job, and a traveler trusting that the plane they board will land safely. These bills were written with those priorities in mind.

Our Defense bill sends a clear message: America's military will remain the strongest in the world. It restores deterrence by strengthening readiness, modernizing capabilities, and reinforcing the defense industrial base. The bill also supports our servicemembers with a well-earned pay raise. Together, these investments ensure our forces can deter conflict and win decisively if deterrence fails.

The Labor-HHS title invests in the long-term strength of the country. We support lifesaving biomedical research, strengthen workforce training, and expand access to care, particularly in rural communities. These investments help students gain skills, workers find opportunities, and communities stay healthy.

Through Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, we keep America moving. From roads and bridges to ports and skies, the bill strengthens the safety and reliability of vital transit systems. It modernizes air traffic control, supports the hiring of needed controllers, and accelerates the deployment of new technologies. It also empowers local communities through programs that promote economic development and provide housing assistance to vulnerable Americans.

This package reflects a nation that is strong, prepared, and ready for the future. These are real deliverables and real wins.

This process has underscored a very important point: Congress can make tough decisions that are necessary to govern this country and chart a bold course with President Donald Trump.

Our objectives were clear, and we followed through. Republicans set out to spend less, and the total FY26 funding does just that. We committed to codifying DOGE cuts, and these bills cut waste and rein in government bloat. We promised to deliver America's agenda, which is why we put President Trump's priorities in place and end the Biden-era mandates. This is what responsible governance looks like.

I commend the detailed work of our chairmen--Representatives Robert Aderholt, Ken Calvert, and Steve Womack--whose stewardship ensured this package was both thoughtful in substance and built to deliver results.

I thank their accompanying ranking members--Representatives Rosa DeLauro, Betty McCollum, and James Clyburn--for their support and hard work.

I also want to recognize the dedicated staff whose work made this possible, particularly our chief clerk, Susan Ross.

This measure is the product of sustained engagement and serious legislating. It advances reforms, delivers full-year funding, and reflects a Congress doing its job.

I thank each Member for their time, and I urge all Members to support this bipartisan measure.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), my very good friend and distinguished chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I thank my friend from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for his gracious remarks.

Madam Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack), my very good and distinguished friend, the chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, and a person who is here at an extraordinarily difficult time to discharge his responsibilities to the United States.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), my very good friend and distinguished chairman of the Defense Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations.

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Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from California.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice), my very good friend, my fellow Oklahoman, and the distinguished vice chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Scott Franklin), my very good friend and the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7148 and the Defense appropriations bill as part of this broader spending package.

Last year, Congress failed our military by relying on a full-year continuing resolution. It froze funding at outdated levels, delayed modernization, disrupted training schedules, and undermined our ability to plan properly. With a yearlong CR, our military cannot adapt, innovate, and effectively deter our adversaries.

Congress did provide additional defense funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It addressed urgent needs and closed critical gaps, but one-time funding cannot replace stable, predictable appropriations. Strategic planning, force posture, training pipelines, and modernization all depend on certainty, and Congress has a duty to provide it.

We face real and growing threats. China continues its rapid military expansion and aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, while racing to dominate emerging technologies. Russia is determined to destabilize its neighbors and challenge the international order. Hostile actors continue to test American resolve. Recent missions in Venezuela and Iran underscore that these dangers are not hypothetical.

Maintaining our edge requires sustained investment in advanced capabilities, including artificial intelligence. AI is transforming modern warfare by accelerating decisionmaking, improving logistics, and enhancing force protection. Integrating these technologies responsibly requires long-term commitment, not short-term fixes.

This Defense appropriations bill provides the resources our military needs to train, modernize, and remain ready to deter and defeat our adversaries. Passing it sends a clear message: Congress will not allow budgetary dysfunction or uncertainty to weaken America's defense or embolden our adversaries.

Mr. Chair, we owe our servicemembers leadership, certainty, and the tools they need to keep America secure. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ellzey), my very good friend and vice-chairman of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations.
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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by thanking the gentlewoman, the distinguished ranking member of the full committee. There are a lot of things we disagree on, but we do not disagree on the importance of the power of the purse and the Article I responsibilities of this Chamber.

My friend has worked tirelessly and with great distinction and great effort to find common ground and to reassert the power of Congress and the appropriations process. We would not be at the point we are today without all of her hard work, all of her cooperation, and all of her toughness in negotiation as well, and the distinguished staff that she leads. Again, I just want to thank my friend for working with us to get to this point.

Mr. Chairman, I think these are excellent bills, and I think they have been written in a cooperative way between distinguished chairs and ranking members of each of these subcommittees. They know their subjects, and they work hard and well together.

My friend, the ranking member, and I have a common philosophy. We try to push decisionmaking as far down as we can, because I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, in each of the areas we have discussed today: Defense, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, and, of course, our third bill, Labor-HHS, in all those areas, our subject experts are in the subcommittees. They make the best decisions. Every step up you go from there, Mr. Chair, the less informed the decisionmaker is and the more political the decision becomes.

I thank my friend for working with me to make sure that most of these decisions were made by the members at the subcommittee level. Only very rarely did we have to intervene to solve issues between us.

Again, it is good work, it is important work, it is bipartisan work, and it is bicameral work.

I would also be remiss not to thank our cooperating partners in the other Chamber, Susan Collins of Maine, the distinguished chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and her working partner, the distinguished ranking member, Patty Murray, of Washington. All four of us worked well together, and that is why we are at this particular point.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. It is a good bill. It is a combination of three good bills.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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