Full committee
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present H.J.Res. 117, the Continuing Resolution making appropriations for the first half of fiscal year 2013.
This 6-month CR will keep the government's doors open and its wheels turning until March 27, 2013. It's a necessary bill that ensures that the Congress is doing its job – even if this is not our preferred way of going about it. Funding the government in short increments – without addressing the details for each program – is not the right way to govern and not something that should be common practice. It is essential to our nation's financial future that the Congress complete these important Appropriations bills in regular order.
However, the Senate failed to act on any of the 12 Appropriations bills this year, instead choosing to default on their most basic fiscal duty in the name of election-year politics.
Today we will discuss the Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Security Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. To help us better understand the difficulties that this program has experienced, we welcome NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Suzanne Spaulding and Mr. Steven Caldwell from the Government Accountability Office.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman for yielding. We have before us the bill to fund the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies for Fiscal Year 2013. The members of the Subcommittee and staff have worked diligently to put forward a good bill that balances the realities of our dire fiscal situation with the need to protect our most vulnerable citizens in the face of these continued economic woes.
Overall, this bill right-sizes these departments and agencies, providing roughly $150 billion in funding, which is $6.3 billion below last year and some $8.8 billion below the President's request. Through Chairman Rehberg's keen eye, the Subcommittee has endeavored to fund proven and effective programs covering everything from workplace safety, to rural health care, to early childhood education. A lot of thoughtful work has gone into the discretionary accounts in this bill.
