Remarks
Good morning. Thank you all for coming. This hearing today is critically important. This week, our national defense will face serious and dangerous sequestration cuts, as well as potentially damaging constraints if the current DoD funding structure is simply extended for the remainder of the fiscal year. While it is not within this Committee's power to solve sequestration at this time, it IS within our jurisdiction to try and help loosen the chains and allow the Department some funding flexibility in order to do its best with what it has.
The Committee will come to order.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first meeting of the Committee on Appropriations for the 113th Congress. I'm looking forward to a busy, successful year chock full of plenty of Appropriations work.
The main order of business today is the consideration and adoption of our Committee rules, subcommittee jurisdictions, and oversight plans.
Before we get down to the nitty gritty, I would like to make some general opening remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present legislation providing emergency supplemental funding for Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery.
The base bill totals $17 billion in crucial funding to meet immediate needs for the victims, businesses and communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Since this terrible storm hit, we have come to realize that recovery is going to take months and years – not days and weeks. This legislation puts the region on the path to recovery by providing the aid needed for immediate relief, while also beginning the process of meeting longer-term recovery needs.
Good afternoon, Chairman Sessions, Ranking Member Slaughter and members of the Committee. I am here before you today to present legislation providing urgently needed funding for Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery.
I am sure I don't need to explain to you why it is crucial we consider and pass this legislation, given the size and scope of the devastation caused by this storm. It's clear that recovery from this terrible hurricane is going to take months and years, not days and weeks, and thousands of victims are currently awaiting much-needed assistance.
To that end, this legislation will provide $17 billion in immediate relief funding to support the Disaster Relief Fund, transit and housing recovery, Army Corps of Engineers projects, and other emergency needs.
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.
Rep. Frank Wolf's (R-VA) prepared statement at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science regarding the final report of the William H. Webster Commission on the FBI, Counterterrorism Intelligence, and the events at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, 2009:
Today's hearing is on the Final Report of the William H. Webster Commission on the FBI, Counterterrorism Intelligence, and the Events at Fort Hood, Texas. I would like to welcome the witness, Mark Giuliano, the FBI's Executive Assistant Director for National Security. Thank you for your appearance today.
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.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 5856, the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Appropriations Bill.
This essential bill provides more than $519 billion dollars in critical resources for a strong national defense, supporting our warfighters and protecting the American people. This is an increase of $1.1 billion over last year and more than $3 billion more than the President's request. This is also more than $8 billion over what the Senate Democrats would like to provide.
This nation – with all the opportunities it provides and the rights it grants – would not be the bastion of freedom it is without the greatest defense system in the world. Freedom isn't free. As we continue to face threats to our safety and way of life, we must deal with the costs of war, keep our military at the ready, and stay constantly vigilant.
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.