Further Extending Government Funding Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, each year, the first and most important responsibility Congress has is to determine how taxpayer dollars will be spent on behalf of our constituents. The continuing resolution before the House will prevent a government shutdown and give us sufficient time to complete the full-year funding bills if the minority will finally come to the negotiating table.

Some friends on the other side of the aisle have suggested simply enacting a yearlong CR, which would effectively wash our hands of our constitutional duty. My subcommittee is responsible for drafting the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. If, as my Republican colleagues have suggested, we were to pass a full-year CR, DHS would lose critical increases in the House bill that are imperative to the security of the United States. This includes a historic 20 percent increase for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; funding to increase FEMA's capacity to respond to the growing frequency of disasters linked to climate change; a quadrupling of funding for trade facilitation and security at our ports of entry; a 6 percent increase for Homeland Security Investigations; and an 8 percent increase for critical Coast Guard operations.

Let's quickly approve this short-term CR and then roll up our sleeves and work together to fulfill our constitutional duty by negotiating full-year bills.

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