Remarks

I would like to thank Secretary Bessent for being here today and for his leadership and steady hand over the last several months. 

We are living in an increasingly complex world with no shortage of issues.  Whether it be taxes or tariffs, rightsizing regulation, or creating a regulatory framework for digital assets, the Department of the Treasury’s role is fundamental to their resolution. If we think about it, this is why the Department of the Treasury was created. The Department is central to maintaining a strong economy, creating jobs, and promoting economic growth both here and abroad.  

Before we wrap up, I want to offer this in closing: our authorizing colleagues are working on reconciliation bills that will provide significant investments in the President’s immigration and border security agenda, including funding to the Coast Guard to secure our maritime border. 

I commend them for their efforts to enable the Department to finish the wall, hire more agents and officers, and bring additional detention beds online. 

I know the Department hopes to be made whole with reconciliation, but in the meantime, you need to live within your means. 

It is our job as members of the Appropriations Committee to make sure the Department is appropriately spending the money Congress provides, as well as to ensure the Department has the resources it needs to execute its mission on an annual basis.

That work begins in earnest today, as we begin the Fiscal Year 2026 process.

I would like to thank General Hull for being here today. The United States Postal Service is a mainstay for most - if not all - our constituents and communities.  Its operations are vast with 640 thousand employees working to deliver millions of pieces of mail and packages daily. Yet, the Postal Service has faced significant financial challenges over the last several decades. Except for fiscal year 2022, the Postal Service has incurred losses in each fiscal year since 2007. 

The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning. I want to thank all of you for coming to today’s hearing to receive testimony from our colleagues. 

I look forward to hearing more about the projects and programs in the Agriculture Appropriations bill that are important to your district and to communities across the country. Your input will be critical as we work to fund the agencies under this subcommittee’s jurisdiction.  I look forward to working with Ranking Member Bishop and our subcommittee colleagues to accommodate these priorities as best we can as the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process moves forward.

Thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today and bring these issues that are important to your community to our attention. Ranking Member Bishop, I yield to you for any opening remarks you’d like to make.

The Subcommittee will come to order. The subject of today’s hearing is the Fiscal Year 2026 request for the Stennis Center for Public Service, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, and the Congressional Office for International Leadership. I’d like to thank Ranking Member Espaillat, Committee Members, and our agency Executive Directors for being here this morning.

While our smaller agencies do not traditionally testify every budget cycle, we wanted to invite you back to provide an introduction to the work you and your teams do for the new Members of our subcommittee. The Stennis Center for Public Service, while being the oldest of the three agencies here today, continues to submit a flat funding request for $430 thousand for Fiscal Year 2026.

This is the Fiscal Year 2026 Legislative Branch Subcommittee Public Witness Day Hearing. I’d like to thank Ranking Member Espaillat and Committee members for being here today.  

A special thank you to our witnesses for being here today. We appreciate your interest in the Legislative Branch and for taking time out of your busy schedules to testify before this subcommittee. In addition to our witnesses here this morning, additional witnesses have submitted testimony for the record, and their statements may be found online. 

I would also like to note that this hearing serves as a vehicle for the one Member of Congress who submitted testimony for the record, and her statement can also be found online. I now recognize Ranking Member Espaillat for his opening remarks.

Good morning. It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education for a hearing to hear from outside experts and the public.

This is our public witness day – an opportunity for members of the public to come before this panel and draw our attention to issues of importance to them.

I look forward to hearing from our public witnesses as we learn more regarding the challenges facing our constituents and communities across this country, and what this subcommittee can do to help them.

For our witnesses, a five-minute clock will count down on the microphone box in front of you, when you have one minute remaining the light will turn yellow, and you should begin to wrap up your testimony at that point. Remember that your full written statement you submitted to the Committee will appear in the hearing record.

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, said it best when they described the federal government as quote - “one of the world’s largest and most complex entities.” 

I have said for years that we do a lot of talking in DC about how much we owe – and rightfully so, with the national debt continuing to climb – but we do not do a good job of talking about what we own. The U.S. government needs a clear balance sheet to fully understand both our costs and our assets, and I am hopeful that GAO can assist in that process. 

To help Congress and the executive branch manage the federal government’s operations, GAO created a High-Risk List. This list, which is updated every two years, identifies areas that are ripe for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, or areas that need to be fundamentally overhauled.