Remarks

Good morning, everyone. The Subcommittee will come to order.

This morning we will markup the Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

I want to welcome all the Subcommittee Members to this morning's markup, including the distinguished Chair of the full House Appropriations Committee, Kay Granger, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Hoyer.

I know that we will not agree on all matters before us and that we will engage in spirited debate, but I am hopeful that in the end, we will produce an appropriations bill that will better serve all Americans and the nation as a whole.

However, and I have said this before, the budget process is broken, and the American people deserve better.

We must take this serious and work together to get the process back on track.

As we continue to move through markups, it is important to remember that this is not a normal funding year. Trillions of dollars were spent outside of the annual appropriations process during the last Congress, and we must re-evaluate our spending priorities.

The Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services bill reflects that goal – and ensures that misplaced spending is re-prioritized to meet our most pressing needs. As we seek to fully fund our national defense, veterans, and border security, unnecessary spending will be lower on the priority list.

I am pleased to see that the bill before us rejects significant increases in the President's Budget Request, and instead saves billions of dollars by:

Thank you, Chairwoman Granger. I appreciate your leadership and your continued support of our men and women in uniform.

I also want to recognize my friend, our Subcommittee's Ranking Member, Ms. McCollum. We have been each other's Chair or Ranking Member for many years now, and I appreciate our relationship.

The fiscal year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill provides $826.45 billion for the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.

This is $286 million above the President's request and $27.8 billion above the Fiscal Year 2023 enacted level.

The stated mission of the Department of Defense is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security." Our bill does exactly that by focusing on the DOD's most vital task – protecting our homeland and our national interests.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present to the Committee the fiscal year 2024 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

First, I'd like to thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member DeLauro for their leadership on this bill. I'd like to especially thank my Ranking Member, Ms. Kaptur, for being a tremendous partner throughout this year's process.

I thank all Members for their input and requests for this bill. We received almost 5,000 Member requests and worked hard to be as accommodating as possible within the overall priorities of the bill.

The recommendation totals just under $58 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion above fiscal year 2023 and a reduction of $2 billion below the President's Budget Request.

The defense allocation is $32.5 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion above last year.

I want to start by saying the work we did last week shows how we are able to reduce spending where we can and prioritize funding for our core responsibilities.

That includes our national defense, veterans, and the bill before us: homeland security.

I want to thank Chairman Joyce for his hard work on this bill.

It provides what is needed to protect our homeland and address the ongoing crisis at our border.

Specifically, the bill:

First, I want to thank the Subcommittee Chairman for his work on the Legislative Branch appropriations bill.

This bill is a great example of what needs to be done to reduce overall spending while funding our highest priorities.

This bill responsibly reduces funding for the Legislative Branch by 2%.

This is done without impacting the day-to-day operations of Congress or sacrificing the security of the Capitol complex.

It supports our brave Capitol police officers.

It also ensures that the House of Representatives can keep a close watch on the actions of this Administration.

This bill strikes the right balance, and I look forward to getting it passed out of committee today.

I want to close by thanking all the members and staff – majority and minority – for their hard work on this bill.

Thank you, Chairwoman Granger.

I would like to start by saying thank you to our Ranking Member, Mr. Espaillat. His cooperation and patience as we have moved through the process this year is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to the Chairwoman, Ms. Granger for your leadership getting the Legislative Branch bill to this point, and Ranking Member DeLauro for all your support of the Legislative Branch.

The Fiscal Year 2024 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill provides $5.313 billion – a 4.5 percent decrease from the fiscal year 2023 enacted House levels and a 2.2 percent decrease in total allocation when you add in Senate items.

Let me begin by thanking the Members of the Committee for their participation in the process of putting the Homeland Security bill together.

We made a concerted effort to address as many Member priorities as possible.

Our job on this Committee is to provide the resources required to keep our nation safe. This bill ensures that the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, who work tirelessly on our behalf, have the resources and tools they need to protect this great nation.

The bill before us today provides $62.8 billion within the Subcommittee's budget allocation, and $20.3 billion for major disaster response and recovery activities.

The total within the allocation is $2.1 billion above the Fiscal Year 2023 level.

Appropriations bills communicate priorities; we must invest in border security and immigration enforcement.