Home
RECENT NEWS
WASHINGTON – Today, the full committee met to consider the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills for the subcommittees on Energy and Water Development and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The committee also considered technical changes to the subcommittee allocations, known as 302(b)s. Committee Republicans did not support reporting out these measures due to the total spending level and controversial policy provisions that are in the bills.
Madam Chair, thank you for yielding.
The revised spending allocations presented today contain only technical corrections to the initial allocations, which were adopted on a party-line vote two weeks ago.
Because there are no substantive changes from the initial allocations, I must once again oppose them.
They do not change the topline spending levels for any of the subcommittee bills – even though Members on my side of the aisle have consistently asked for bipartisan cooperation on funding levels.
These spending levels continue to short-change our national defense, while providing huge increases to domestic programs. Non-defense spending would increase by nearly 17% overall, and some agencies would receive unprecedented 30-40% increases above fiscal year 2021.
Underfunding our national defense while giving such extreme increases to domestic programs is unacceptable to Members on my side of the aisle.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for yielding.
First, I want to thank Chairman Price and Ranking Member Diaz-Balart for their work on this Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill.
This bill supports key transportation infrastructure and safety programs, including highways, rail, and ports.
The funding provided for airport infrastructure and air traffic control will be critical for the aviation industry as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
It is time for our investments in the F.A.A. to provide real benefits to the traveling public, so I am pleased to see that this legislation includes programs that move air traffic modernization forward.
Many of the housing programs in this bill provide a critical safety net to working families, the elderly, and the disabled.
