Financial Services and General Government

First, I want to thank Chairman Womack for his work on the Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services bill.

As I have said before, to fully fund our national defense, veterans, and border security, other unnecessary spending must be reduced.

This bill rejects significant increases in the President's Budget Request, and instead saves billions of dollars by reclaiming unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and preventing the I.R.S. from hiring tens of thousands of new agents.

This bill addresses requests from members to include important policy riders and prohibit funding.

This bill stops controversial programs and Executive Orders; regulations that harm businesses and consumers; and unnecessary climate change rules.

It also continues long-standing pro-life protections.

It is an honor to serve as Chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. I want to thank my friend—Chairwoman Kay Granger—for giving me this opportunity. Thank you, also, to Ranking Member DeLauro for her commitment to the work of this committee. And to my Ranking Member, Steny Hoyer, thank you for your leadership and friendship through the years. It's a real privilege to work with you. I know that despite our disagreements on matters relating to our work today, we have a shared passion for doing the work of the American people. I trust it becomes evident as we move through this process.

As we continue to move through markups, it is important to remember that this is not a normal funding year. Trillions of dollars were spent outside of the annual appropriations process during the last Congress, and we must re-evaluate our spending priorities.

The Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services bill reflects that goal – and ensures that misplaced spending is re-prioritized to meet our most pressing needs. As we seek to fully fund our national defense, veterans, and border security, unnecessary spending will be lower on the priority list.

I am pleased to see that the bill before us rejects significant increases in the President's Budget Request, and instead saves billions of dollars by:

Good morning, everyone. The Subcommittee will come to order.

This morning we will markup the Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

I want to welcome all the Subcommittee Members to this morning's markup, including the distinguished Chair of the full House Appropriations Committee, Kay Granger, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Hoyer.

I know that we will not agree on all matters before us and that we will engage in spirited debate, but I am hopeful that in the end, we will produce an appropriations bill that will better serve all Americans and the nation as a whole.

However, and I have said this before, the budget process is broken, and the American people deserve better.

We must take this serious and work together to get the process back on track.