Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. 8294.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Over this last year, Congress began to restore our investments after the years of disinvestment that working families, the middle class, and vulnerable people believe was wrong. Spending has favored the biggest corporations and special interests, which got heard first in Washington. But hardworking Americans are still paying high taxes and have not seen a pay increase in years.
The spike in the cost of living, gas prices, and rent are blows to so many. That has guided our priorities, and it has guided these bills.
In the Appropriations Committee, we were determined to put together bills that ensure we offset the rise in prices produced by blocked supply chains, the greed of oil companies, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
H.R. 8294, the package of the six 2023 appropriations bills before us, provides the critical funding America needs. Instead of catering to big corporations and the wealthy, we uphold our commitment with this legislation that helps lower the cost of living, creates American jobs, gives working families a better shot, and supports small businesses. As we do so, we tackle our Nation's and the world's toughest crises.
We reach some of our most vulnerable Americans by funding the programs that keep roofs over the heads of millions and keep food on the tables of millions more. We strengthen nutrition assistance through WIC, food stamps, and child nutrition programs like school meals. We increase access to affordable housing with rental assistance programs and improve the safety and living conditions of those in public housing. We also expand opportunities for families with support for homeownership programs.
These bills help invigorate rural communities as we expand broadband, strengthen water programs in rural areas, and invest in single-family home loans.
We support Native Americans and honor the Federal Government's responsibilities to Native families by investing in strong and resilient Tribal communities, including through housing, education, and healthcare programs.
We also transform the ways we meet the needs of our veterans, who deserve and who have earned our support, including the 9.2 million veterans who rely on the VA for their healthcare, by increasing funding for medical programs. For the first time ever, we put VA medical care into its own funding category so that funding for veterans does not have to compete with other critical programs.
Supporting those who protect us also means protecting servicemembers and their families and communities all over our Nation. We invest in our national security and improve our military readiness through robust investments in critical military installations at home and abroad and in the well-being of our servicemembers and their families.
At the same time, we also make our communities safer by supporting victims while fighting crime, violence, and corruption.
This package strengthens our capacity to work for all Americans. We ensure the IRS has the resources to crack down on big corporations and the wealthy who do not pay their fair share and provide better customer service to families navigating the tax system. We protect consumers with more funding for critical consumer protection agencies by strengthening our food safety infrastructure, including oversight of the baby formula industry.
We do this while bolstering economic development in distressed communities and strengthening our economy and our economic growth by supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs as they pursue the American Dream. We create jobs and put Americans to work rebuilding our infrastructure. We help small businesses grow and thrive, foster the green energy jobs of tomorrow, and support a skilled and growing workforce.
We confront the existential threat of climate change and strengthen our resiliency on various fronts, including by investing in cleaner, safer, and more affordable American energy, advancing climate science, conserving our land and water, expanding environmental enforcement, and embracing stronger environmental justice efforts.
Finally, with inclusion of nearly 2,700 community project funding requests totaling over $6 billion, we are directly meeting the needs of Americans everywhere in ways that will have a profound and lasting impact.
When taken together, this package meets the moment at a time when so many want to see critical changes in our priorities. It reaches every corner of our Nation to give hardworking Americans, the middle class, and the vulnerable a better shot. I urge my colleagues to support these bills.
I thank the subcommittee staff, led by our clerks, for all of their work: Christina Monroe with the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; Martha Foley with the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; Scott McKee with the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; Matt Smith with Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee; Rita Culp with the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; and Jenny Neuscheler with the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
I also thank all the subcommittee chairs and ranking members for their efforts and their dedication to these efforts. Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair Pingree is not here today, but I specifically thank her for her work. This bill makes transformative investments in our environment, and this is in large part because of her relentless advocacy.
Madam Chair, I urge support for the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio.
These investments in the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation are critical to protecting and supplying communities in every district of our Nation.
Our bill increases funding for regional commissions which promote economic development in economically challenged regions and distressed counties across our country. Our bill will strengthen the foundational components that underpin every aspect of decent life in our Nation and represents a strategic investment in America's future, without question.
Madam Chair, I thank the staff who worked tirelessly to put this bill together: Scott McKee, Brian Smith, Will Ostertag, Daniela Todesco, Eric Lipka, John Howes, and Angie Giancarlo.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Before I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina, I would say that Chairman Price, this will be the last time he brings an appropriations bill to the floor of the House of Representatives. I think I speak for all of us when I say that his honesty, his integrity, his commitment to the legislative process and making it work for the people, not only in his district but all over the United States, is really pretty extraordinary.
I quote from Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman who was elected to the House of Representatives, when she said that public service is the rent you pay for space on this Earth. David Price has paid that rent over and over and over again.
Madam Chair, it gives me great pleasure to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Transportation, and Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Chair, I thank the chairwoman for those kind and generous words. And I do rise in strong support of this critical legislation. As chairman of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, or T-HUD as we call it, I first thank my partner and ranking member, Mario Diaz- Balart, for his cooperative and collaborative relationship this year and for many years prior, including when our roles were reversed.
Madam Chair, the bipartisan work we do in assembling our subcommittee bills reflects an earlier era when the Appropriations Committee presented a united front throughout the process. That era, regrettably, has passed, but the cooperative work remains at the subcommittee level. What we have done has made this a better bill, and hopefully will help us achieve agreement eventually and finalize T-HUD and other bills.
Division A of the bill, the T-HUD section, represents our continued commitment to upgrading our aging transportation infrastructure, addressing our Nation's affordable housing and homelessness crises, bolstering our resiliency in the face of climate change and natural disasters, remedying inequities and disparities in our housing and transportation systems, and prioritizing safety--whether that is eliminating hazards in public housing or improving the certification of aircraft.
Overall, the bill includes $90.9 billion in discretionary funding; that is an increase of $9.85 billion over the current year.
The bill also provides $77.6 billion to fully fund programs that utilize the Highway Trust Fund as part of last year's historic and bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
For housing, we continue to ensure housing stability for five million people by fully renewing all Housing Choice Vouchers and meeting the renewal needs of public housing, homeless assistance grants, and several other initiatives. This is coupled with new investments, including more than 140,000 new tenant-based vouchers for low-income families and people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, over 5,600 new affordable housing units for seniors and people with disabilities, and more than 6,700 new vouchers for veterans experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care.
The bill also provides an 8 percent increase for the HOME program, an 11 percent increase for NeighborWorks programs, and a historic 29 percent increase for Choice Neighborhoods, a program that, like housing for the elderly and for people with disabilities, our subcommittee has brought back into production after they were on life support.
I was able to see some of these life-changing investments firsthand in my own State in Winston-Salem, where I toured a Choice Neighborhood with my colleague, Kathy Manning. And there are more to come.
Importantly, the bill provides, for the first time, a major investment in our Nation's manufactured housing, by providing $500 million for a new program to preserve and revitalize this essential form of housing that has been too long overlooked. Many of these communities have faced significant infrastructure and resiliency challenges. This bill recognizes the opportunities that will come from direct investments in manufactured housing, a portion of our housing stock that provides for over 20 million people.
On the transportation side, the bill upholds the commitment to respond to transportation needs across all modes: highways, transit, rail, aviation, bike and pedestrian projects, and ports. It invests in the safety and reliability of our passenger and freight rail systems, including a combined $1.2 billion for the CRISI program and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail. That has been and remains a signature emphasis of our subcommittee.
I am particularly proud of this aspect of the bill as we build out the Raleigh to Richmond corridor, the next step in the Southeast Corridor from Washington to Charlotte and eventually Atlanta. These regional corridors represent the future of passenger rail in this country, and they are critical to reducing congestion and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill also provides robust funding for our transit infrastructure, including $3 billion for Capital Investment Grants, or New Starts, to create new transit routes nationwide, and $646 million for Transit Infrastructure Grants to help transit agencies innovate and improve public transit.
Madam Chair, before closing, I, too, thank our staff for their immeasurable contributions to this bill and for guiding the Members and staff on both sides of the aisle through this process.
Starting with our wonderful chief clerk, Christina Monroe, as well as Josephine Eckert, Winnie Chang, Xavier Arriaga, Samhita Subramanian, and Rachel Keyes, along with Leigh Whittaker on my personal staff, and Doug Disrud on the minority side.
Since this is my last time presenting the T-HUD bill, I also want to mention all of the staff who helped me and my colleagues through the subcommittee process since I took on the ranking member and eventually the chairman's role. That includes three previous clerks: Kate Hallahan, Joe Carlisle, Matt Washington; and it includes Angela Ohm, Sarah Puro, Becky Salay, Jenny Neuscheler, and Gladys Barcena at the subcommittee, as well as Laura Thrift, Kate Roetzer, Sean Maxwell, and Nora Blalock from my own staff. A hearty thanks to all of you.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, this year's T-HUD will make forward-looking investments in our housing and transportation infrastructure while bolstering safety and uplifting vulnerable populations. It will benefit communities across America and lay a strong foundation for economic growth and resiliency.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who is the chair of the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8294, the appropriations minibus for fiscal year 2023.
I really want to start out my remarks, Mr. Chair, by saying what a joy it is to work with my counterpart, Judge Carter, as our ranking member. He and I really worked hand in glove. We are personal friends, and we worked very closely together, along with the ranking member, Ms. Granger, and Ms. DeLauro. In a very divisive process, it is really nice to have met and befriended someone like Judge Carter. I wish him the best.
By now, we all know President Biden's wise words: ``Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value.''
This minibus truly reflects our values, the values of promoting progress and opportunity, and protecting those who most need it. That is why I take tremendous pride in this bill as the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee chair. It is a statement of principled values, especially with its strong support for veterans, servicemembers, and their families.
We steer $15.1 billion to critical military infrastructure, such as new barracks and child development centers, and focus on ensuring that family housing is clear of mold, lead, and contaminants. We invest in climate and energy resilience projects and devote $200 million to PFAS contamination cleanup at closed installations.
We provide more to NATO security and support the infrastructure necessary for wartime, peace, and deterrence operations by bolstering requirements to confront Russian aggression and protect our European allies.
This bill improves the quality of life on military installations and honors servicemembers and their families once they leave these facilities by ensuring veterans receive the care and support they earned. We do it by providing the Department of Veterans Affairs with $135 billion to boost medical research and fully fund medical care. We make major investments in women's health, mental health, suicide prevention, and homelessness programs, and we tackle the disability claims backlog.
The bill also tackles two issues close to my and many Members' hearts. It includes a prohibition on the painful scientific testing on dogs and cats, and it also makes permanent VA's authority to offer a full range of fertility treatment. That means expanding eligibility to include partners in addition to spouses, removing discrimination against same-sex couples, and allowing the use of donated sperm and eggs in IVF.
Outside of MILCON-VA, the Energy and Water bill appropriates a record $407 million for Everglades restoration. The river of grass is the lifeblood of south Florida, and the chance to make this level of historic progress is hugely significant toward our restoration efforts.
I am proud that this bill makes it a priority to reduce the number of injuries and deaths associated with pools and spas. We will save lives by increasing funding by pool safety grants to $2.5 million. Drowning poses a significant public health risk to our Nation's children, remaining the number one cause of unintentional death for children younger than 5 years old in this country.
Additionally, the Interior bill reflects the importance of protecting our coastlines from greedy oil companies by prohibiting the Department of the Interior from conducting offshore oil and gas leasing activities along Florida's coasts.
It also funds valuable community projects, and in my district, that means critical infrastructure, clean transit, and improved water quality in Hollywood, Southwest Ranches, and Sunrise.
Finally, our values are reflected by how Congress confronts the dramatic rise in highway fatalities. New data shows we lost ground in our fight to end drunk driving, the leading cause of highway deaths. But this bill directs the DOT to take immediate steps to save lives by requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a rule requiring all new passenger vehicles to be equipped with advanced alcohol monitoring technology. This technology will save an estimated 9,400 lives a year. For reference, airbags save 3,000 lives annually. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, this may be the most significant motor vehicle safety rulemaking ever undertaken in terms of the lives it can save.
We have a chance to enhance, improve, and save millions of lives by passing this minibus, and I respectfully urge my colleagues to support these cherished American values.
Lastly, Mr. Chair, I thank my incredible staff for all the work that they did to bring this remarkable piece of legislation to the floor.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley), the chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, first, let me just say, I thank the ranking member (Ms. Granger) for her commitment and her dedication to the Appropriations Committee and the process, a place where she has spent a number of years in the various subcommittees, and it is an honor to work with her in this effort.
I applaud the funding bills that help the middle class, working families, and small businesses, in what are desperate times. And that is what these bills do is to provide that kind of assistance to these families. I am proud to support these bills.
I listened to my colleagues about inflation, what they failed to mention, which has been really demonstrated, is that we are looking at oil companies who have consolidated; and what they are doing is buying back their stock, instead of lowering the price of gas.
They now have 26 million acres of Federal land in which they could deal with extraction, and they have the permits, but they refuse to do it. They are in the business of buying back their stock, thereby increasing inflation by keeping gas prices high.
We have the same situation in the meat industry with meat, poultry, and pork, which is continuing to raise the price because of the consolidation.
I would just mention one other thing. In the recommendations to vote ``no'' on this package, it just is interesting to look at what my colleagues view as not wanting to do; that is, to provide an increase for the Internal Revenue Service. Why is that money provided to the IRS? It is really to look at those corporations who are not paying their fair share of taxes.
So they are not much interested in seeing them pay their fair share of taxes, or the wealthiest of individuals who don't pay their fair share of taxes.
They also do not want to provide money for women, infants, and children for food. They don't want to provide money for food security, for people who are on the food stamp program.
They don't want to do anything for domestic manufacturing on clean energy, which could lower the cost of energy. So, there is a bit of disingenuousness on what we are doing with the cost.
I am proud to support these bills. I urge my colleagues to support the six-bill appropriations package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), the chairwoman of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
While I have offered this en bloc amendment for the purposes of legislative efficiency, I strongly oppose it. This en bloc amendment makes severe and harmful cuts to the minibus.
The draconian cuts are indiscriminate, they are harmful, and they seek to overturn long overdue investments. I urge all Members to oppose this en bloc amendment.
Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley), the chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to sit up and take notice of this. This is quite an amendment--quite a radical amendment.
It indiscriminately would cut a total of 36 percent from programs in Transportation and Housing without any regard for the merits of the programs, just indiscriminate whacking away.
This is only in the T-HUD section of the bill, and I will limit myself to that. I can't imagine that Members would dream of supporting this amendment.
Investments in our transportation and housing infrastructure will stall. Jobs will be lost. Some of our most vulnerable people, including veterans, children, will be harmed.
This amendment will result in a reduction--I want to stress--in the very programs Republicans profess to support. Let me give you some good examples.
The FAA's Contract Tower Program that enjoyed strong bipartisan support, critical to air safety--whacked away.
NeighborWorks, which supports local solutions to expand affordable housing, increased housing counseling assistance, and strengthens economic development. We increase NeighborWorks under bipartisan urging--slashed.
Community Project Funding. Republicans and Democrats alike have requested these appropriations to address transportation and housing challenges in their local communities. Believe me: If we don't do it, no one will. Those would be drastically cut.
Port infrastructure, another Republican emphasis--cut.
The amendment would even cut the small amount of defense spending included in the T-HUD section of the bill: That would be directed to critical maritime security programs.
Here is what else this amendment would mean the eviction of tens of thousands of low-income households, half of which are elderly or disabled, a growing backlog of roof, elevator, and other critical health and safety repairs to public housing; thousands of homeless veterans, survivors of domestic violence, youth out on the street; and a halt in the production of affordable housing, which already is in short supply.
Roads, bridges, aviation, transit, rail, and port systems across rural and urban communities--having their repair and upkeep halted or slowed, becoming less safe.
The bill before us helps us make progress in rebuilding and restoring our infrastructure. This amendment would take us backward.
It is strange, isn't it, that deficits only seem to matter when it comes to helping people keep a safe roof over their heads and creating a more resilient infrastructure that can withstand the next tornado or earthquake or flood, something every one of our districts benefits from.
This isn't just a run-of-the-mill amendment. I suggest that Members look carefully at what is in it and what it would do and what kind of totally justified criticism they will be subject to if this amendment even comes close to passing. I urge its defeat.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, if my colleagues on the other side were so interested in really reducing inflation, I would hope that they would be supportive of the child tax credit, which none of them have supported, which, in fact, the majority of the people using the child tax credit are dealing with food, with clothing, with school supplies, with rent, but all of these expenses have gone up, and the money has run out.
They can't find their way clear to support a child tax credit, and that lack of action from the Congress to renew the child tax credit is trouble, it is big trouble for these families, especially as the costs of life continue to swell due to inflation.
Let's look at the cost of inflation and why we have inflation and take a look at what the oil companies are doing with price gouging. What we ought to do is to do a windfall profits tax on people who are making money hand over fist and refuse to lower the price of gasoline at the pump because they are buying back stock to take care of themselves and their stakeholders.
That is a portion of what is causing inflation and the rise in the cost of living. If you were genuine about that, you would look at these matters as well as just talking about inflation and not looking at the root causes of it today.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 45 seconds. The en bloc amendment includes a number of proposals offered by my Democratic and Republican colleagues. I urge my colleagues to support the important proposals contained in this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), the chair of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 45 seconds.
The amendments en bloc includes a number of proposals offered by my Democratic colleagues. It reflects our shared values of investing in the American people to create good-paying jobs, grow opportunity, and provide a lifeline to the vulnerable.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Miss GONZALEZ-COLON. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of amendment No. 66 included in En Bloc 3 and sponsored by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez of New York. I am a cosponsor of this amendment, which supports an increase of $1 billion for the Nutrition Assistance Program in Puerto Rico for Fiscal Year 2023 . Unlike the 50 states, the U.S, Virgin Islands, and Guam, Puerto Rico does not participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. Instead, we have the NAP block grant, which provides capped funding and serves over 1.4 million of my constituents on the Island.
Due to limited funds, NAP does not automatically adjust to increases in demand These are most common in the aftermath of natural disasters, like we saw after the hurricanes in 2017, and most recently the COVID- 19 pandemic. Because of this, we have had to turn to Congress on multiple occasions to advocate for additional emergency NAP funds, included in various disaster supplementals.
The most recent allotment, provided due to COVID-19, was expended last month, meaning Island residents who rely on this program have already noticed a significant reduction in their monthly benefits as we continue managing the challenges related to the pandemic and the rising costs of food. Additional funds are needed since, for many, NAP is the main program that secures their access to a healthy diet.
Mr. Speaker, the true remedy to this issue is a transition to SNAP. Currently, NAP beneficiaries in PR receive far less in monthly benefits than their counterparts in SNAP, and don't have access to programs like D-SNAP. which is a vehicle to get expedited disaster assistance without depending on supplemental legislation. As such, I have introduced H.R. 5220, the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, which transitions Puerto Rico from NAP to SNAP, and I continue working with stakeholders to gather additional input on this issue moving forward.
Still, there is an immediate need at hand. As such, I support this and every effort that seeks to secure additional funds for NAP and underscores the need to transition to SNAP
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I oppose these amendments en bloc. Davis-Bacon is a pretty simple concept and a fair one. What does the Davis-Bacon Act do? It protects the government as well as workers in carrying out the policy of paying a decent wage on government contracts.
The Davis-Bacon Act requires that workers on federally funded construction projects be paid no less than the wages paid in the community for similar work. It requires that every contract for construction to which the Federal Government is a party, in excess of $2,000, contain a provision defining the minimum wages paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics.
The House has taken numerous votes on this issue, and on every vote this body has voted to maintain Davis-Bacon requirements. We should not be attacking working-class people, men and women who work every single day for a decent paycheck, and their wages haven't been increased with the cost of inflation. We should defeat the amendment before us today, and we should move on to more important matters.
Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Norcross).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies for appropriations.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, I strongly oppose this amendment. It seeks to waive longstanding prevailing wage requirements that are contained in the Davis-Bacon Act.
This act ensures that workers are paid decent wages while preventing contractors from undercutting competitors by offering wages or setting wages below prevailing levels.
Davis-Bacon helps protect workers. It helps protect the government. Davis-Bacon applies government-wide, but it does particularly apply to the T-HUD sections of the bill. Hence, I strongly oppose it.
I often noted immodestly over these last years when everybody was talking infrastructure--and ``Infrastructure Week'' almost became a punch line--that while everybody else was talking about it, we were doing it. We were doing it on the T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee and in the Congress, year after year, plugging away at our infrastructure needs.
And that is what we have done. We have actually made investments in the annual T-HUD bill, and these investments are practically synonymous with construction. That is what they are about. Construction. Construction workers.
There are countless transportation formula and competitive grant programs, as well as affordable housing programs in the bill that follow Davis-Bacon requirements--have done so happily and productively over many years--and they would suddenly face new standards.
Davis-Bacon has helped construction workers in all trades all throughout the Nation since 1931, and there is no need to abandon it now--although Republicans have been trying to abandon it for a good number of those years.
Instead of actively trying to reduce wages, we should be working to lift up workers and increase wages. The Congress has rejected similar amendments in the past because there is a strong bipartisan support in this body for fair labor standards for construction contracts.
So it is my hope that we stop disrespecting working people. Stop disrespecting working people. Stand up for working people. Defeat this amendment before us today.
Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to oppose the en bloc amendment.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I just remind my colleagues, this body has rejected this amendment on a bipartisan basis time and time again.
Speaking about inflation, we know that wages have not kept up with inflation, and working people are struggling, living paycheck to paycheck. Why are we dealing with an amendment that would try to curtail wages and prevailing wages for workers every day who go on a job and put forth all of their efforts to be able to get a decent wage to take care of their children, to be able to deal with inflation?
It speaks loudly of my colleagues who refuse to believe that we need to have wages increase to help people fight inflation.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume in closing.
Mr. Chair, while I have offered this en bloc amendment for legislative efficiency, I strongly oppose it.
The en bloc amendment makes severe, harmful changes to the bills that are under consideration. Included in the en bloc amendments there is a limitation on the Environmental Protection Agency to be able to hire new employees and detrimental efforts to the environment; it limits access to voting; and, in particular, infringes on a woman's access to healthcare. These amendments do not move our country forward, they really are harmful to all Americans.
Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 45 seconds. The en bloc includes a number of proposals offered by my Democratic colleagues. It reflects our shared values of investing in the American people to create good-paying jobs, to grow opportunity, and provide a lifeline to the vulnerable.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley), who is the chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss).
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership, and the ranking member, as well.
Let me say that America is going to get not a payday but an investment.
Unlike how my colleagues like to characterize the hard work of the appropriators and our chairwoman, this is about good-paying jobs, $90 billion in transportation.
This is about tackling hunger and agriculture, some $27 million.
This is about helping Houston with its horrible and yearly confrontation with flooding.
Yes, this is about the issues of Energy. As well, with Financial Services, this is about helping our consumers. Of course, in Interior, I want to say that this is about helping the work that I am doing on the Emancipation Trail.
I am delighted that I also rise to support all the en blocs. I have amendments in all of them. Particularly, I want to emphasize the work that is being done through my amendments on oversight over the General Land Office that has tackled Houston, Harris County, and the region after Hurricane Harvey like they are at odds. Our Federal money, $4 billion, was supposed to go to Harris County and Houston. Houston ultimately got zero amount at a certain stage, and they only gave Harris County $800,000 when we are suffering with loss of housing and with major flooding.
My amendment will talk about major oversight over the GLO and their treatment of local jurisdictions. This plays across America when States get money, and they don't believe that it should go to the local communities.
Let me also indicate I am glad that my human trafficking victims bill is in. That provides for SNAP resources and to clarify that if you are educating a human trafficking victim that is not documented, you can clarify for them without looking like you are recruiting or selling SNAP to let them know that they are eligible for it, which is extremely important.
Also, I-45, the President of the United States issued an equity policy that whenever you do major infrastructure projects, you should look at how it impacts historic neighborhoods and how it impacts the minority neighborhoods and urban neighborhoods. I-45, a major Federal project, has not even perceived that to be important. My amendment indicates that that should be the case.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 1 minute.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for her graciousness.
That is an ongoing issue that we have in our community, where the communities are not taken into consideration when the houses are leveled and when the flooding is increased by an infrastructure project that we now have a title VI proceeding under that is funded by Federal dollars.
Let me also express my appreciation for amendments dealing with the Federal Railroad Administration. Everyone that knows it has trains. We know that it provides part of the supply chain. But in our communities, there are the crossings, there are the sounds, and there are the horns. All we want to do is work harmoniously in the oversight over the Federal Railroad Administration to deal with safety and operations in our communities. That is particularly important.
I also want to express appreciation for the work my amendments will do and that they have been accepted dealing with the issue of historic preservation, which will include places like Freedmen's Town, Independence Heights, and, of course, the historic Third Ward where Emancipation Park is.
Again, the underlying bill is a bill that will invest in America. I support this legislation and the good work of the Appropriations Committee.
Mr. Chair, I ask everyone to support that and the amendments included in the en bloc.
Mr. Chair, I rise to speak in a strong support of H.R. 8294, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act.
H.R. 8294 makes key investments in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, expanding research innovation, combating climate change, and honoring the sacrifice and commitment of our nation's veterans.
The diligent work that produced this comprehensive legislation will make a very positive impact on so many sectors and activities throughout American society.
Mr. Chair, I also want to voice my strong support for En Bloc Amendments No. 2, 3, 6, and 7, which incorporates Jackson Lee Amendments.
I thank the Rules Committee and Chairman McGovern for making these amendments in order and the Appropriations Committee and Chairwoman DeLauro for including it in this En Bloc Amendment.
The Jackson Lee amendments are in the following Divisions of the bill:
Division A--Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Division B--Agriculture
Division E--Interior and the Environment en bloc #2
Jackson Lee Amendment #46 supports the work of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) by making a $2,000,000 increase in funding to that office for the purpose of supporting agriculture research programs particularly at 1890s Institutions, which are land grant colleges at 28 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as well as Hispanic-serving institutions, and other educational institutions that benefit underrepresented communities.
This amendment promotes NIFA's work with agricultural experiment stations, cooperative forestry, and other innovations to improve our nation's food production through agricultural research, economic analysis, extension, and higher education.
The NIFA was created at the time of the industrial revolution to ensure that the nation would have a sufficient number of working farms to provide a reliable supply of domestically produced food.
One of ways NIFA achieves its mission is by providing research grants to education institutions, which include 1890s institutions created by the Morrill Act of 1890.
Today, land-grant colleges and universities can be found in 18 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The list includes:
Alabama A&M University
Alcorn State University
Delaware State University
Florida A&M University
Fort Valley State University
Kentucky State University
Langston University
Lincoln University
North Carolina A&T State University
Prairie View A&M University in Texas
South Carolina State University
Southern University System
Tennessee State University
Tuskegee University
University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of the District of Columbia*
University of the Virgin Islands
Virginia State University
West Virginia State University
HBCUs annually enroll 40% of all African American students in 4-year colleges and universities. HBCUs are prominent among research institutions in fields such as:
animal sciences
sustainable agriculture and agriculture economics
toxicology and waste management
conservation and environmental management
business and industrial development
biomedical science
In particular, Jackson Lee Amendment #68 is necessary to make clear that providing victims of trafficking access to information about their eligibility to receive SNAP benefits does not constitute the type of SNAP recruitment activities or ``advertising'' of the SNAP program prohibited by the bill and by Section 4018 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 (Public Law No: 113-079).
Trafficking in humans, and especially domestic child trafficking, has no place in a civilized society. Those who engage in this illicit trade should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This House made that clear again in 2021 when it passed H.R. 3530, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which contained my Sense of the Congress amendment added during the Judiciary Committee markup.
That means we need to ensure that state and local law enforcement agencies have the tools, resources, and training necessary to identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals who ruthless traffic in children and young persons.
And one of the most effective resources in bringing criminals to justice is the cooperation and assistance of their victims.
Perpetrators of crime know that they are more likely to evade detection and punishment when their victims refuse to assist or cooperate with law enforcement. That is why they make it a point to instill fear in their victims--for their own safety or that of family and loved ones. en bloc #3
Jackson Lee Amendment #19 increases and decreases HUD's Office of Inspector General account by $1,000,000 with the intent to support the OIG's oversight of the Texas General Land Office to track the accounting of Emergency Supplemental Disaster Appropriations for Hurricane Harvey Mitigation and Recovery that Congress approved for the 2017 disaster.
food and nutrition
plant and social sciences
international development
Agricultural research programs at HCBUs assist people living in densely populated areas to learn ways to eliminate food deserts, increase public education about farming, bolster appreciation for our nation's farmers, and provide new avenues to careers for those graduating with degrees in agriculture who seek to enter cutting-edge agricultural research.
This amendment promotes NIFA's work with agricultural experiment stations, cooperative forestry, and other innovations to improve our nation's food production through agricultural research, economic analysis, extension, and higher education.
The funds provided by the Jackson Lee amendment would support research and education for helping urban and suburban communities maximize their green space by turning it into productive farming resources to support access to affordable foods.
Jackson Lee Amendment #47 provides a straightforward, important contribution to the bill for a goal shared by every Member of this body: ending the scourge of human trafficking. This amendment provides that:
None of the funds made available by this Act for ``DOMESTIC FOOD PROGRAMS--Food & Nutrition Service--Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program'' may be used in contravention of section 107(b) of Division A of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)).
The effect of this amendment will be to make clear that nothing in this bill restricts the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture or any federal agency head from providing assistance and benefits to victims of trafficking under current law as authorized by 22 U.S.C. Sec. 7105(b) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (114 Stat. 1464, Pub. Law 106-386).
Jackson Lee Amendment #20 provides an increase of $1,000,000 in assistance to address challenges faced by historically disadvantaged communities and areas impacted by persistent poverty not included in decision making when major highway construction threatens their homes, businesses, and culturally significant structures.
Jackson Lee Amendment #21 increases and decreases by $1,000,000 the Community Development Fund and the Community Development Block Grant program to address the fairness in the use of Community Development Block Grant Disaster funding to repair or replace single family homes damaged during Hurricane Harvey to ensure that multi-generational homes can house families at documented pre-disaster capacity.
Jackson Lee Amendment #22 increases and decreases by $1,000,000 the Federal Rail Administration Safety and Operation's account to emphasize the need to provide dedicated funding to address community engagement on safety issues related to railroad crossings in urban areas.
Jackson Lee Amendment #23 prohibits the Department of Transportation from using funds for Section 106 Transportation construction projects in urban areas that have not been determined to meet the statutory and fiduciary obligations of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 USC 306108). en bloc #6
Jackson Lee Amendment #57 increases and decreases funding for Environmental Programs and Management by $5 million to highlight the need to support culturally competent federal, state, and local public health and environmental protection efforts to address cancer clusters impacting overburdened communities in the gulf coast region. en bloc #7
Jackson Lee Amendment #56 increases and decreases funds for the Historic Preservation Fund by $3,000,000 with the intent of enhancing activities for the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of nationally significant sites, artifacts, and structures through competitive grants at the local, state, and federal levels focusing on projects involving HBCUs, sites and stories linked to the Civil Rights movement, landmarks associated with communities that are historically underrepresented, and sites related to the histories of Indigenous peoples.
The Historic Preservation Fund is vital in working to preserve nationally significant sites, structures, and artifacts. We want the environment to be safe, but we want the historic environment to be preserved for those who are a valuable part of the historical story of America.
It is crucial to the Freedmen's Town community in Houston, but it is also crucial to the Tulsa story in Oklahoma, the story of Chicago, Savannah, New York, and many other States where we have systematically ignored the historic preservation of our Nation. Who will tell our children the story? I am fighting in Houston. Others are fighting elsewhere. This amendment is to create the historical record, the legislative record that we are committed to.
I urge all Members to vote in support of En Bloc #2, 3, 6, and 7, and the Jackson Lee Amendments.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Torres of New York) having assumed the chair, Ms. Wild, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 8294) making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, and for other purposes, and has come to no resolution thereon.
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