Aderholt Remarks at FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill Full Committee Markup

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  It is my pleasure to present the fiscal year 2026 recommendations of the subcommittee on labor, health and human services, education, and related agencies to the full committee. I would like to thank you, Chairman Cole, for your longstanding leadership on the Labor-HHS bill and express my appreciation for Ranking Member DeLauro, who tirelessly champions her priorities for this bill.  Ms. DeLauro and I may not always agree, but I very much appreciate her good faith efforts to work together wherever we can. The bill we present to the committee today balances the need for responsible fiscal stewardship while maintaining key investments in biomedical research, schools, and public health.  

As soon as the Trump Administration took office, they immediately set out to save taxpayer dollars by rooting out waste and abuse and by reforming outdated and inefficient ways of running the federal government.  We have endeavored to build on the President’s efforts to rein in out-of-control spending in our bill.  I must say that this has been a refreshing change in direction from the previous Administration that was repeatedly rebuked by the Federal Courts for attempting to illegally spend taxpayer funds that were not appropriated by Congress.  We have been fortunate to have new partners in DOGE, OMB, and the White House that want to work with us, rather than against us, to make fiscal responsibility a top priority again.

During last year’s campaign, President Trump clearly presented his vision to the American people to reform the federal bureaucracy and restore fiscal sanity.  The voters had a clear choice and voted for President Trump’s vision. Now we have a President who is keeping his word – promises made, promises kept. With the President’s leadership, we have taken a critical look at every program and in several cases had to make hard decisions on some “nice to have” programs.  Americans must prioritize resources at the kitchen table, and we should be doing the same here in Congress.  

While several programs are eliminated or reduced, the bill increases support for biodefense, rural hospitals, and school choice.  The bill also maintains support for Pell Grants and investments in early childhood education. The bill codifies President Trump’s efforts to terminate divisive D.E.I. policies put in place by the previous Administration that have been resoundingly rejected by the American people.  Building on the success of the big, beautiful bill, this bill eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood.  

It also protects the rights of women and girls to play sports fairly and not compete directly against men.  It prohibits any federal funding from going toward enforcing gender identity politics or social, hormonal, and surgical interventions to change a child’s sex. The bill maintains the longstanding Hyde amendment to ensure that taxpayer funds are not used for abortion-on-demand, and that no one is forced to participate in an abortion or refer for one under federal programs. This isn’t right wing extremism – this is mainstream public opinion.  

The bill also ensures that taxpayer dollars are not used to circumvent state laws that restrict access to abortion and ensures that tax dollars don’t support research using fetal tissue from an abortion.  The bill supports American workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs by including provisions protecting the rights of independent contractors and ending forced wage rates for agricultural workers.  

In addition to thanking Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro, I want to thank the committee staff on both sides of the aisle, for the majority:  

• Kathryn Salmon
• James Redstone
• Emily Goff
• Kirk Boyle
• Jaime Varela 

and for the minority:

• Stephen Steigleder
• Philip Tizzani
• Laurie Mignone
• Jackie Kilroy

I also want to thank all of the Committee members and their personal office staff for their hard work and input in crafting this bill and the amendments before us today.  We will all have different opinions about the policies in this bill, both as they relate to spending on federal programs and the provisions supporting the Administration’s efforts.  But I want to remind everyone, we all sincerely want to represent the views of our constituents respectfully – I look forward to our debate today.  

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I yield back.