Statements
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5854, the fiscal year 2013 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill.
The recommendation for FY 2013 provides $3.3 billion, excluding Senate items, which are traditionally left to the Senate to determine. This is a decrease of $34.4 million, or 1% from the FY 2012 enacted level and a decrease of $190 million, or 5.3% from the requested level.
Thank you, Chairman Crenshaw and Ranking Member Honda, for your comments and for your hard work on this Appropriations Bill. You and your staffs have put in a great deal of effort into drafting this legislation, and we appreciate it.
The recommendation for FY 2013 provides $3.3 billion, excluding Senate items, which are traditionally left to the Senate to determine. This is a decrease of $34.4 million, or 1% from the FY 2012 enacted level and a decrease of $190 million, or 5.3% from the requested level.
Thank you, Chairman Crenshaw and Ranking Member Honda for your hard work on the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2013. I wish to extend my congratulations to each of you and the subcommittee staffs on both sides who have put in long hours to craft this important piece of legislation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Before us today is the Subcommittee recommendation for the fiscal year 2013 Department of Defense budget. This recommendation includes base funding of $519.2 billion, which is $3.1 billion above the CBO estimate of the President’s request, and overseas contingency operations funding of $88.5 billion, the same as the request.
I thank the Chairman for yielding.
I want to begin by thanking Ranking Member Lowey for her continued dedication to the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee. Mrs. Lowey and I have a unique relationship. While we do not agree on everything, we do have a strong working relationship and I respect her very much.
Thank you, Chairman Young and Mr. Dicks, for your remarks and your laudable leadership on this Committee. You both, as well as our dedicated staffs, have helped craft an excellent bill that provides the necessary resources to keep our country safe and that will advance our important missions around the globe.
Thank you both for your remarks, and I congratulate you on producing a solid Appropriations bill and for bringing this bill to the Full Committee. It’s a sign of the important progress we have made in making the appropriations process more open, transparent and thorough.
Thank you, Ranking Member Bishop and Chairman Culberson, for your comments and for your hard work in crafting this bill.