Remarks

Good morning.  I want to welcome everyone to the Subcommittee’s Fiscal Year 2027 Member Day hearing. Member requests are the core of the appropriations process. Under the leadership of full Committee Chairman Tom Cole, and with the hard work of the Members of the Appropriations Committee and our colleagues in the House, in Fiscal Year 2026 we started to return to regular order. We enacted 11 of the 12 full-year Appropriations bills, including our National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs bill.

I would like to welcome everyone to today’s Energy and Water “Member Day” hearing. Today our fellow Members will have the opportunity to testify on issues under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee that are important to them.

Good morning, and welcome to this year’s Member Day hearing. Today, we welcome our colleagues to testify on their priorities for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation for Fiscal Year 2027.

Good morning. Today’s hearing is on the quality of life for our enlisted soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and their families. The five witnesses at the table represent the highest enlisted level of leadership for their respective branches. This group’s insight is critical. This hearing is a great opportunity to identify areas where we can be more helpful to our service members and their families.

Chairwoman Foxx, Ranking Member McGovern, members of the Rules Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today. I come before you today on H.R. 8029, the Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act. As we sit here, the Department of Homeland Security has been shuttered by Senate Democrats for nearly 50% of the fiscal year. That’s right, since last year, we are approaching one hundred days where DHS personnel and critical missions have been left in limbo, employees have reported to work without pay, and strain has been added to the very department charged with protecting the homeland.

Good morning Ambassador Waltz, Members of the Subcommittee, and others who have joined us today for this critically important field hearing on accountability and reform at the United Nations.  We are convened at the United States Mission to the United Nations, overlooking New York City and the UN Headquarters— a fitting vantage point to note that oversight of American tax dollars is non-negotiable.

Today, the Subcommittee will hold an open hearing, in which all Members of the House have been invited to testify on their priorities for the Fiscal Year 2027 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The Subcommittee receives thousands of Member requests per year.  Ranking Member McCollum and I carefully review these requests from both sides of the aisle. We take our constitutional responsibility to provide for our Nation’s defense seriously and will work to build the best bill in support of that responsibility.

Good afternoon and welcome to the fourth and final session of our public witness hearings for American Indian and Alaska Native programs. I want to welcome all the distinguished Tribal elders and leaders here today. Thank you to all our witnesses for appearing before the subcommittee to share your concerns and perspectives on these important topics.