Remarks

Welcome to the subcommittee markup of the fiscal year 2013 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill. I want to thank our colleagues, especially Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Dicks, for joining us today.

I also want to personally thank Mr. Moran and each of the Members for their active participation and the bipartisan spirit that continues to be a hallmark of our subcommittee's deliberations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to offer the THUD bill for Full Committee consideration today. I hope we can be brief. I'd like to thank Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Dicks for your leadership in getting this bill to Full Committee, and, we hope, to the floor in the near future. I think we stand a good chance of being successful in completing House consideration.

This bill does the important work of supporting a vibrant and safe infrastructure, while making the difficult but responsible cuts needed to get our budgets back into balance. This bill continues the thoughtfulness and restraint that have become the hallmark of this Committee over the last several years of budgeting. It prioritizes our nation's most critical transportation programs accordingly, creating an environment that fosters job creation and funds important repairs and improvements, and ensuring access to affordable housing options.

Thank you, Chairman Rogers for yielding.

We have before us today the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill and report for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies as passed by the Subcommittee on June 6th.

I think Chairman Kingston and his Subcommittee did a great job with their $19.4 billion 302(b) allocation in this Agriculture Appropriations bill. They cut spending wherever possible – saving $365 million from last year and more than $1.7 billion from what the President would have liked to spend.

Ladies and gentlemen of the House, we bring before the House today the 2013 appropriations bill for the Legislative Subcommittee. This is a bill that spends $3.3 billion, which is approximately 1 percent less than last year. That's a $33.4 million reduction from last year.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 5882, the fiscal year 2013 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill.

This legislation on the floor today provides funding for the Legislative Branch, allowing us to keep the doors of the Capitol open, the offices of our Members functioning, and our staff and visitors safe.

Madam Chair, it was 68 years ago today that more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed and wounded during the D-day invasion in Normandy, France. That courageous operation, as well as the sacrifice of so many brave individuals, serves as a sobering reminder that freedom and security are not free. It is with this solemn commitment to both freedom and security that I respectfully present to the people's House the FY 2013 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.