Financial Services and General Government

"Welcome everyone to today's Full Committee mark up of the fiscal year 2012 Financial Services and General Government bill.

"The bill before us today matches the Subcommittee's discretionary allocation of $19.9 billion. This allocation is nine percent less than fiscal year 2011, 18 percent less than fiscal year 2010, and 22.5 percent less than the President's request. This reduction resulted in some very tough decisions, but they are necessary to reduce the Federal government's unsustainable level of spending.

"The funding priorities in the bill include the Small Business Administration's business and disaster loan programs, drug task forces, public safety and education in the District of Columbia, and Treasury's antiterrorism and financial intelligence activities.

"Thank you, Chairwoman Emerson and Ranking Member Serrano, for your remarks. We appreciate your hard work and bipartisan spirit on this Subcommittee.

"Today, we are considering the Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations bill that funds our Financial Services and General Government programs and agencies. The $19.9 billion in funding included is nearly $2 billion less than last year, and nearly $6 billion below the President's request. It's safe to say that the Subcommittee and its staff have ensured that we have found real, responsible savings wherever possible in this bill.

"Many of the agencies and programs funded within this legislation can withstand reductions, and so we've returned funding levels to below the pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels of 2008 – making the necessary steps to reduce spending to help get our budgets back into balance.