Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Madam Chair, I rise in support of the measure before us today, which includes the Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Defense appropriations bills.
I will begin by thanking Ranking Member Betty McCollum and Ranking Member Jim Clyburn for their fine work on the Defense and Transportation bills, respectively. Both bills are remarkably strong agreements that serve as testaments to their tenacity as negotiators. I also thank Chairman Calvert and Chairman Womack and my counterpart on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Chairman Aderholt, for his partnership in reaching a strong agreement on our bill, as well.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible work of the committee staff. In particular, Stephen Steigleder, Jennifer Chartrand, Christina Monroe, Jackie Kilroy, Laurie Mignone, Philip Tizzani, Nora Faye, Ed Etzkorn, and Jason Gray.
Lastly, I express my appreciation for my friend and counterpart on the full committee, Chairman Cole, and the majority staff.
This package is a strong, bipartisan, bicameral agreement that rejects the Trump administration's efforts to eviscerate public services and reasserts Congress' power of the purse.
It rejects efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, instead providing $79 billion in funding for K-12 education programs, financial aid, support for students with disabilities, and much more.
It redoubles our efforts in investments in biomedical research, increasing NIH funding by $415 million, and supporting efforts to develop treatments and cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS, and other deadly diseases.
It provides more than $9 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect and promote our Nation's public health. It increases funding for SAMHSA to provide mental health support and to advance our battle against addiction.
This bill supports families feeling the squeeze from the cost-of- living crisis by investing in affordable housing and protecting funding for rental assistance as the cost of housing continues to climb. These and other efforts will prevent more than 4 million American households from being evicted.
Additionally, this package provides funding for a 3.8 percent pay raise for the brave men and women who serve our country in uniform. It increases funding for medical research by $1.7 billion, supporting research to develop treatment for diseases and service-related injuries. At a time of international uncertainty, this bill shores up support for our European allies and does not include any additional funding for operations in Venezuela or the Caribbean.
You can measure the success of these negotiations by the distance between what was initially proposed and what was ultimately agreed to. When you look at the numbers, it is astonishing.
In the Labor-HHS bill alone, we rejected more than $50 billion in proposed cuts. The Transportation-Housing bill provides $46 billion more than the White House had proposed. There are over 50 programs across these two bills that Republicans proposed to outright eliminate but are ultimately funded in this package. I consider that a success.
In addition, this package contains important provisions to rein in the Trump administration. It provides funding levels, removing ambiguity that the White House has sought to exploit in the past. It establishes deadlines for required spending, provides minimum staffing thresholds to prevent agencies from being hollowed out, and increases notification requirements to ensure the administration is complying with the laws that Congress makes.
I am proud of the work that was done on these bills, and I encourage my colleagues to support this package.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the distinguished ranking member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from South Carolina.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, before I introduce my next speaker, I will say that it is an honor to serve in this institution with Chair Womack, and he understands why we are here and what we are about. He has demonstrated that at great personal cost.
The gentleman said something about friendship. In this body, friendship needs to transcend whatever political difficulties or differences that we have, and he is an extraordinary individual, someone who I call my friend, and I am pleased to do that.
We all are in support of whatever his needs are now and for the future. He is an incredible human being, and I am proud to know him.
Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the distinguished ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel), the distinguished ranking member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs.
Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Chair, I rise today in strong support of the 2026 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. It represents a clear and moral statement of our national priorities, that we invest in people, in their health, in their education, and in their opportunity to work and thrive, and it lowers the cost of living for everyday people.
The legislation strengthens the National Institutes of Health with new funding for cancer research, Alzheimer's treatment, ALS breakthroughs, and women's health.
It keeps our promise to families with more help for childcare and Head Start, ensuring that parents can work and children can grow and learn in safe, nurturing environments.
It invests in mental health and substance abuse, boosting the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and expanding opioid response programs, because every life saved is worth the effort and investment.
It reaffirms our commitment to education, protecting title I schools, preserving Pell grants, and supporting career and technical education so young Americans are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, regardless of their ZIP Code.
This bill reaffirms Congress' power of the purse and our duty to the American people.
It is not just a spending bill. It is a values bill. It says the health and well-being of our citizens is imperative. It invests in America's greatest resource, our people, by funding cures, creating opportunity, and making the lives of everyday Americans more affordable.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this very good bill.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean), a member of the Appropriations Committee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Mrvan), a member of the Appropriations Committee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig), the distinguished ranking member of the Agriculture Committee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Tokuda).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, I am proud, really, to support this funding package because I think it reasserts Congress' power of the purse. I think the process of the Appropriations Committee over the last several weeks has indicated that power of the purse resides in the Congress, and the appropriations process is the implementation of that power of the purse.
I commend the chair of the committee. It has been an honor to work with him on reinstating the fact that the Constitution says that that power of the purse resides in the Congress and that, again, we are the implementers of that power. It rejects the Trump administration's attempts to eviscerate public services. It establishes guardrails to prevent executive overreach, and it protects important priorities that make our communities safer, healthier, and more prosperous.
As the affordability crisis continues to strain family budgets, this package provides $8.8 billion for childcare and development for that block grant, an $85 million increase. Despite efforts by the Trump administration to defund and dismantle health research, this bill boosts funding for the Office of Research on Women's Health by $30 million, a roughly 40 percent increase.
While the cost of housing climbs and rent prices reach untenable heights, this bill invests more than $66 billion in rental assistance programs, a forceful rejection of efforts by the Trump administration to slash this funding by 50 percent.
As we work to provide stable and affordable housing for all those who need it, this bill increases funding for homeless assistance grants by $366 million and protects important housing programs like the Continuum of Care program from being unilaterally dismantled by this administration.
This bill increases funding for medical research programs at the Department of Defense, including $1.3 billion for Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. These are research initiatives that help develop effective treatments for service-related injuries or conditions, as well as diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.
There are $1.2 trillion in Federal spending accounted for in these bills, and through lengthy, diligent, and worthwhile negotiations, Democrats and Republicans forged an agreement that both sides can proudly stand behind. In an era of polarization, this is no mean feat.
I am proud of my colleagues for their work on both sides of the aisle to craft this agreement. These are good bills, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support them.
I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Chair.
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