[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9040-H9047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 6157, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS
ACT, 2019
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1077, I
call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 6157) making
appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2019, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rouzer). Pursuant to House Resolution
1077, the conference report is considered read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
September 13, 2018, at page H8258.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Frelinghuysen) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) each will
control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is my honor this afternoon to present the conference
report for H.R. 6157. This conference report provides full-year funding
for the Department of Defense and for the Department of Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. It also includes a
continuing resolution through December 7, 2018, for Federal Government
programs and agencies not covered by the enacted appropriations
legislation.
Congress has no greater duty than to provide for our common defense.
This legislation fulfills this constitutional responsibility. The
Department of Defense is now set to receive its full funding on time
for the first time in over 10 years.
[[Page H9041]]
Providing this stability and predictability to our military leaders
is a necessary and welcome step as we rebuild our Armed Forces. For far
too long, their dedication to duty has been weakened by declining and
uncertain budgets.
Congress has turned that around, beginning with significant
investments in last year's omnibus and continuing this year with an
additional $17 billion in base funding for the Department of Defense.
In total, the conference report provides $674.4 billion for our Armed
Forces, consistent with levels that are authorized. This funding
ensures our troops have the resources they need to defend our Nation
and succeed in their global missions. This includes funding to sustain
ongoing overseas contingency operations and to support increased troop
levels.
It also ensures our warfighters have the training, readiness, and
other resources needed to prepare for their missions, and a pay raise
of 2.6 percent.
This conference report also replenishes our military might, investing
$148 billion in new and modernized equipment and weapons platforms and
$96.1 billion for research and development to improve the lethality,
effectiveness, and safety of our defense systems.
In addition to this critical funding for our national defense, this
legislation also includes funding for vital domestic programs. The
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill provides $178 billion for programs that protect the
health, education, and labor standards that all Americans deserve.
Funding is directed to programs that have wide national benefit, in
particular, the National Institutes of Health, which receives a $2
billion increase to bolster its lifesaving research.
Notably, funding to fight the opioid abuse epidemic receives historic
funding levels, totalling $6.6 billion. This will support treatment,
prevention, research, and other efforts to end this national crisis.
Another top priority is increased funding to keep our children safe
in schools. This includes funding for mental health and other
protective measures.
Lastly, the Labor-HHS bill invests in our future, creating economic
opportunity and helping students get ahead and be part of a well-
trained 21st century workforce.
In addition to these two appropriations bills I mentioned earlier,
the conference report includes a continuing resolution through the
remaining areas of the Federal Government not covered by this or
previous bills that have already been signed into law. This will ensure
that the government, indeed, stays open for business.
Upon enactment of this legislation, Congress will have provided full-
year funding for three-quarters of the Federal Government, but there is
more work to be done on the remaining appropriations bills.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is yet another step forward to our goal
of returning to what we call regular order and fully funding the
Federal Government for the fiscal year. It is a product of months of
hard work on the part of our conference committee, led by Chairwoman
Kay Granger and Chairman Tom Cole, along with Ranking Member Peter
Visclosky and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro.
I thank them, of course, and I especially thank my counterpart, the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), my ranking member, who has
worked with me through this process as well as earlier bills. We have
had a friendship for well over 20 years of service jointly on the
Appropriations Committee.
And, yes, I thank our Senate counterparts for helping us complete
this work as well.
This conference report would not be on the floor today without the
Appropriations Committee's dedicated professional and associate staff.
I extend to all of them my deepest gratitude for their dedication,
service, and hard work.
In the front office, as we call it, Nancy Fox, my staff director;
Maureen Holohan; Shannon O'Keefe; Jason Gray; Tammy Hughes; Rachel
Kahler; Jennifer Hing; Marta Hernandez; Parker Van de Water; and Tom
Doelp; and in working closely with us in the minority, Shalanda Young
and Chris Bigelow, and others. I am grateful to all these men and women
for their professionalism and dedication.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the conference
report, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I join Chairman Frelinghuysen in strong support of this
bipartisan legislation. The Defense and Labor-HHS-Education bills carry
out some of Congress' most important constitutional responsibilities.
We should all be pleased that we have completed our work on these bills
on time.
This conference report provides ample resources for our armed
services and strengthens military readiness. It also upholds our
commitments to our servicemembers and their families, more funding to
repair Department of Defense schools, additional resources to assist
victims of military sexual assault, and more support for military
medical research.
Turning to the Labor-HHS-Education division, I am pleased that
Congress has resoundingly rejected President Trump's budget and
restored $10 billion in proposed cuts that would have hurt working
families. Instead, we have won increased funding for a number of
important priorities.
This bill boosts biomedical research at the National Institutes of
Health, expands opioid abuse treatment and prevention programs, and
launches new initiatives for maternal and child health.
The bill increases funding for Head Start, childcare, and after
school programs on which working families rely. It lifts the maximum
Pell grant to help more students access postsecondary education, and it
invests in the 21st century workforce with more support for registered
apprenticeships and career and technical education.
Finally, this bill stands up to President Trump's cruel family
separation policy, with more transparency and oversight of child and
family detention.
Just as important is what this bill does not include: the unnecessary
partisan riders that caused House Democrats to oppose the Labor-HHS-
Education bill in the Appropriations Committee. And while it is
unfortunate that we have no choice but to include a continuing
resolution for many important Federal programs, I look forward to
completing our remaining appropriation bills when Congress returns in
November.
I appreciate the hard work of Chairman Frelinghuysen, Chairwoman
Granger, Chairman Cole, Ranking Member Visclosky, Ranking Member
DeLauro, and our Senate counterparts to get us to this point.
Of course, we appreciate our hardworking staff. We couldn't get to
this point without them.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and sending
it to the President for him to sign.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Texas (Ms. Granger), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on
Defense.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the
FY19 Defense and Labor-HHS Appropriations conference agreement.
Congress' number one responsibility is to provide for the defense of
this Nation. This agreement enables us to fulfill that most fundamental
constitutional duty.
Since becoming chair, it has been my goal to ensure that this bill
reflects the needs of our defense and intelligence experts so that they
have the resources needed to combat the threats of today and in the
future.
I want to thank Members for their participation throughout this
process. Their input on how we can best address the needs of our
military has been invaluable. This agreement includes many of their
ideas and priorities by taking into account the over 6,600 requests
submitted by Members.
With this agreement, we will be able to do something that has not
been done in a decade: provide our military with the funding they need
on time so we can rebuild our Armed Forces.
This is an agreement we can all be very proud of. It provides
Secretary of
[[Page H9042]]
Defense Mattis with the resources he needs to implement the new
National Defense Strategy and restore our military.
{time} 1500
This conference agreement includes major investments in air
superiority, shipbuilding, and the ground forces, including strong
support for the National Guard.
This bill provides 18 C-130 aircraft, including 8 for the Air
National Guard; 24 F-18 Super Hornets; 58 Black Hawk helicopters; 66
Apache helicopters; 93 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; 13 V-22 aircraft; 13
Navy ships, including 2 Virginia-Class submarines, and 3 Littoral
Combat Ships; upgrades for 135 Abrams tanks, and $1.3 billion for
additional National Guard and Reserve equipment.
This agreement also invests in the research and development needed to
maintain our technological superiority, including critical investments
in space, hypersonics, nuclear forces, and missile defense, including
the Israeli cooperative programs.
Finally, this agreement strongly supports our servicemembers and
their families by funding the largest pay raise for our troops in 9
years;
Growing the force by fully funding the authorized increase in end
strength; and,
Investing in the defense health program, including critical medical
research.
I would like to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen. This is his last
defense bill, and we are thankful for his leadership on our national
security.
I would like to thank Ranking Member Visclosky for being a great
partner on this bill.
I would also like to thank the members of the Defense Subcommittee,
as well as the staff, for their many hours of work on this bill.
On our majority staff: Jennifer Miller, Walter Hearne, Brooke Boyer,
BG Wright, Allison Deters, Collin Lee, Matt Bower, Jackie Ripke, Hayden
Milberg, Bill Adkins, Sherry Young, and Barry Walker.
On our minority staff: Becky Leggieri, Jennifer Chartrand, and Chris
Bigelow.
On my personal staff: Johnnie Kaberle and Spencer Freebairn; and on
Mr. Visclosky's staff, Joe DeVooght.
In closing, I, again, urge my colleagues to support this agreement
and fund our national security. It is vital that we pass this agreement
this week and have it signed into law. The men and women of our Armed
Forces deserve no less.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the ranking member of the Defense
Subcommittee.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.
Fiscal year 2019 starts on October 1, and it is wonderful to be here
in September considering a conference report on two additional
appropriation measures.
I would like to commend Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member
Lowey for bringing a semblance of order back to the appropriations
process. Along with their Senate counterparts they have managed to
navigate an upset political situation that has completely stymied the
process for years. When this two-bill package is signed into law, it
will be the first time in 22 years that there have been five
appropriation bills enacted before the start of the fiscal year.
I actually wish we had seven more bills conferenced and ready for
enactment, but it appears those will have to be deferred until
December. I hope that maturity, bipartisan cooperation, and responsible
governance will also apply to their consideration and prompt enactment.
Timeliness is as important as final dollar determinations.
I also would like to recognize and thank the Chairwoman, Kay Granger.
She has been a joy to work with and a fine leader. She, along with
every member of our subcommittee and our tremendous subcommittee staff
and associate staff, have conducted themselves in a professional,
bipartisan and collegial manner. As a result, this bill reflects the
will of Congress.
Specific to the Department of Defense, this will be the first time in
a decade that our military will not begin the fiscal year under a
continuing resolution. Having timely appropriations should improve and
stabilize budgeting at the Department, the services, our allies, and
contractors.
I expect that this certainty will also allow the Department to better
adhere to congressional direction, to spend the funding as
appropriated, to increase transparency for budget exhibits, and to
improve the quality and timeliness of communications to the committee,
as has been referenced on pages 8, 9, 10, and 21 of the House Report.
Again, I thank my colleagues, Chairwoman Granger, and her wonderful
staff.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), chairman of the Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee on
Appropriations.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, today marks a victory in the return to regular
order on the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. I am
proud of the hard work that brought this bill to us, and I want to
highlight just a few of the many provisions in the Labor, Health and
Human Services section of the bill that all Members can be proud of.
First of all, I want to note that, while the Defense portion of the
bill is up $18 billion, the Labor-H portion of the bill is actually
only up $1 billion. It is no secret that our friends on the other side
wanted a $5.5 billion increase. Our friends in the Senate version
actually got a $2.2 billion increase. In the end, the Labor-H bill
allocation actually only increased by $1 billion. In fact, almost
three-quarters of the bill in front of us is dedicated to defense.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education portion of the
agreement boosts funding for the National Institutes of Health by $2
billion, continuing our quest to cure diseases like Alzheimer's and
cancer, and unlock the secrets of genetic conditions like Down
syndrome. We have provided increases to help our Nation prepare for
public health emergencies, and included $6.7 billion to fight and,
hopefully, end the opioid abuse epidemic, including $1.1 billion of
grants to States.
I am also proud to say that the agreement includes $50 million for a
new Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund. The fund will not
only save American lives, it will save money too. By banking resources
now that only can be used in the event of a future infectious disease
public health emergency, we will provide the Secretary of Health and
Human Services with immediate access to the funds to respond to a new
outbreak, without waiting months for Congress to pass a costly
supplemental bill.
The conference agreement also increases funding for education and
training programs, including a $70 million increase for career and
technical education, a $60 million increase for TRIO and GEAR UP
programs to help more students obtain solid workplace skills and a
career of their choosing.
We increased funds for Impact Aid and charter schools, and provided
funds for our veterans to integrate back into the workforce.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weber of Texas). The time of the
gentleman has expired.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield the gentleman
from Oklahoma an additional 1 minute.
Mr. COLE. We invested in TRIO and GEAR UP, and also in early
childhood education.
We have increased programs to help people with disabilities live
independently, and to fund early intervention and education services
for children with disabilities. We have increased school safety and
mental health programs, and increased funding for graduate medical
education to train more primary healthcare providers.
Finally, the bill continues the existing pro-life riders, including
the Hyde and Weldon amendments. We didn't give an inch on pro-life
matters in this bill.
This is a good agreement. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle, particularly Chairman Frelinghuysen, and my good friend,
Ranking Member Lowey. I also want to acknowledge my working partner and
good friend, Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut, and all the Members that
participated in the process.
[[Page H9043]]
But I particularly want to thank the outstanding staff that made this
possible: Susan Ross, Jennifer Cama, Justin Gibbons, Kathryn Salmon,
and Karyn Richman and Lori Bias on the majority staff; and minority
staff Stephen Steigleder and Robin Juliano for their diligence in
bringing this across the finish line for the first time in 22 years.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield the gentleman from Oklahoma an additional
15 seconds.
Mr. COLE. So I look forward to the floor passage and the President's
signature.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished ranking
member of the Labor-HHS Subcommittee.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference report
which includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education
appropriations bill.
The Labor-H funding bill for 2019 makes important investments in
health, education, and in our families. It is a $1 billion increase
over 2018, leaving us to deliberate $178.1 billion. Especially when I
view that the Trump administration is pursuing the fundamental
hollowing out of our Federal agencies, we secured critical investments
in Democratic priorities that boost the middle class.
First, let me talk about health. This bill includes an increase of $2
billion for NIH research. It also includes increases across the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services
Administration, particularly to address health threats to pregnant
women and babies.
We also secured increases for our country's youngest children and
their families, including an increase of $50 million for childcare and
$200 million for Head Start, including $50 million more for Early Head
Start.
Turning to education, we won an increase for after-school programs
and a raise in the maximum Pell grant, $100 for $6,195, to help
students afford the rising cost of a college degree.
The bill also eliminates two longstanding riders. They had prohibited
school districts from using education funding for transportation to
address segregated schools.
So, from health, to childcare, to education, we achieved several
great wins for the American people.
Importantly, the bill before us maintains the bipartisan amendments
that House Democrats introduced to condemn the administration's policy
of separating families, to demand a reunification plan, and to ensure
that HHS upholds the highest standards of care for children in our
custody.
I am proud of what we included. I am also proud of what we kept out.
We held the line and kept out harmful ideological riders that would
have sabotaged the Affordable Care Act, undermined women's health, and
overturned the Flores settlement to allow the administration to keep
kids in cages indefinitely.
All that being said, the bill is not perfect. For example, I am
disappointed we missed an opportunity to say, once and for all, that
the authors of the Every Student Succeeds Act never intended for
Federal dollars to arm teachers, which, as I understand, is current
law.
And I believe the Labor-HHS bill continues to be shortchanged. Based
on the overall increase of $18 billion for non-defense discretionary
spending, this bill should be receiving an increase of $5.5 billion.
Nevertheless, on the whole, this bipartisan, bicameral compromise is
a positive result that helped provide the American people a better
chance at a better life, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
I also take this opportunity to say a thank you to my working partner
and good friend, Chairman Cole. I also want to say a thank you to the
ranking member of the full Appropriations Committee, my colleague,
Congresswoman Nita Lowey, and to the chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, Rodney Frelinghuysen. I thank him for the great work on this
effort, and we know you will not be joining us again next year, so
thank you for helping us get this across the finish line.
For the Democratic staff: Stephen Steigleder, Robin Juliano; to my
staff: Leticia Mederos, Liz Albertine, Caitlin Peruccio, Will Serio,
Kris Fetterman; to the majority staff: Susan Ross, Jennifer Cama,
Justin Gibbons, Kathryn Salmon, Karyn Richman, and Lori Bias.
Mr. Speaker, our names appear on the doors of the congressional
offices, but it is the labor every single day of these outstanding
staff people that help us put these bills together on behalf of the
American people.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to
the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), chairman of the State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, my predecessor.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I simply want to add my
appreciation and thanks to the chairman and ranking members that you
have just heard from for this momentous agreement before us today. And
I would like to especially commend our big chairman, Frelinghuysen, for
the work he has done on this bill, but, more importantly, the work he
has done throughout his career in this body.
Mr. Frelinghuysen, you are a great friend, a great Member of this
body, a great leader, and you will be missed.
{time} 1515
Once again, we are demonstrating that the Appropriations Committee
can and will do everything in our power to get the job done. I
especially appreciate the committee's continued commitment to address
the addiction crisis.
This bill maintains a comprehensive focus on prevention, treatment,
and education, following the holistic model of Operation UNITE in my
congressional district, and it provides a record $6.6 billion toward
those programs.
You have all heard me talk endlessly, if you will, about the
devastation brought by opioid abuse touching so many lives around the
country over the last 20 years. Chairman Cole has been a truly
incredible leader and partner in combating this epidemic, and I am
confident that this bill will bring substantial relief to our
communities in need.
I would also like to thank the conference committee for their work to
ensure that the Department of Defense not only receives the funding it
needs, but that its funding is finalized before the beginning of the
fiscal year to allow them to plan.
For too long, some say 22 years, we in Congress have not delivered
this bill in time to allow the Department to operate as it should with
its full allotment of funding on October 1.
When combined with the Energy and Water and MILCON-VA bills that are
already law, this bill does exactly that and provides the Department of
Defense with the funds it needs to defend American interests and values
around the world, including a well-deserved pay raise for the men and
women in uniform who serve bravely under our flag.
Thank you again for your collective leadership. This is a great
agreement, and I urge its support.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the ranking member of the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Committee.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman
Frelinghuysen for his service in the U.S. Congress. He will be greatly
missed by me and by many of us.
I would like to thank Ranking Member Lowey and the subcommittee
chairs and the ranking members and all of their staffs for their hard
work on this bipartisan legislation.
This bill makes robust investments in the Department of Defense,
improving the readiness of our troops and, as has been pointed out,
providing them with a well-deserved pay raise.
I am also pleased with this bill's commitment to the environmental
cleanup of Defense Superfund sites, providing $184 million over the
request for defense cleanup efforts. This is much needed.
The Labor-Health and Human Services portion of this package provides
vital resources that will impact the lives of every American. A $2
billion increase to the National Institutes of
[[Page H9044]]
Health will give our researchers the tools they need to find the cures
for diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes.
The community service block grants, however, did not receive the
House level of funding but still got an increase. This is very
important for families and communities that can use some of this
funding, as they have come up with proven programs on how to make
opioid recovery successful.
I am particularly proud of the inclusion of my amendment to allow
individuals diagnosed with cancer to defer payments on their public
student loans while they undergo lifesaving treatments.
I would like to thank Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and
Representative Perlmutter, as well as Chairman Cole and Ranking Member
DeLauro, for their bipartisan leadership on this important issue.
With more than 70,000 young adults diagnosed with cancer each year,
they will now be able to focus on what is more important: beating
cancer and getting healthy, not worrying about making their student
loan payments while receiving chemotherapy.
I support this spending package, and I look forward to the fact that
we have a continuing resolution included in here so that the government
doesn't shut down.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the chairman of the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on
Appropriations.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the fiscal year 2019
Defense Appropriations and Labor-Health and Human Services
Appropriations conference report.
First, I would like to take a minute to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen,
who has led the effort to return the Appropriations Committee to
regular order. He knows too well the crippling impacts of a CR on the
Department of Defense, and today he delivers on a promise to ensure our
men and women in uniform are provided funding on time.
Personally, I am grateful to the chairman for the many years of
friendship. His steady leadership will be greatly missed.
I also want to commend Chairwoman Granger for her good work in
getting this bill here today and, certainly, Pete Visclosky, the
ranking member, for his work in getting this bill here today, and also
Ranking Member Lowey, the full committee ranking member, for her great
work.
We are all here today, together, in a rare moment of bipartisanship
to fund our military and to fund Labor-Human Services, which hasn't
been passed here for some time.
I served on the House Appropriations Committee for many years, and
providing for our men and women in uniform is a privilege and one of
the most important things that we do.
This conference report provides vital funding for the armed services,
including a 2.6 percent pay raise. This bill is an investment in our
future superiority on land, air, and sea.
I might point out that, yesterday, Secretary Mattis made comments at
VMI that, when he took the helm of the Department, he asked for the
strategy, and he was told there was none. Well, thankfully, under
General Mattis' leadership, not only does the Department have a clear
strategy, but the roadmap to achieve that strategy as well. It requires
Congress to do our part, which we are going to do today.
We are in a unique time in history that depends on U.S. leadership
throughout the world. A strong U.S. military with our allies creates
stability.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to
the gentleman from California.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, the security of our Nation and the peace of
the world depend on a strong U.S. military, and I urge my colleagues to
support the conference report.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the ranking member of
the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding.
I, too, join my colleagues in commending Ranking Member Lowey and
Chairman Frelinghuysen for their stewardship of the appropriations
process in the House. We are moving in the right direction. We have
partial regular order, and, hopefully, with every passing fiscal year,
it will get better and better. But, truly, it is an accomplishment.
I also want to commend Subcommittee Chairwoman Granger and Ranking
Member Visclosky for producing a Defense Appropriations bill that
provides the resources necessary for our armed services to perform the
critical role of securing our Nation.
Additionally, I thank Subcommittee Ranking Member DeLauro and
Chairman Cole, my dear friends, for their hard work on the Labor-Health
and Human Services-Education funding bill.
The bill before us funds both the assets our armed services need and
invests in our servicemembers. It provides for a much-needed 2.6
percent increase in military pay.
The bill also includes over $1.4 billion for congressionally directed
medical research programs, including $130 million for breast cancer
research, a personal issue to me.
I am proud to say this bill retains my language protecting access to
lifesaving mammograms, particularly for women between 40 and 50 years
old, and provides $5 million for my ongoing initiative, the Breast
Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or the
EARLY Act, which will continue to help increase the quality and
quantity of life for young women with breast cancer.
The bill increases funding for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention by $125 million and funds programs that fight the spread of
the Zika virus, as well as combats the use of tobacco.
It also provides vital funding that will benefit seniors, and it
includes $5 million to help Holocaust survivors and their families.
Mr. Speaker, I represent one of the largest Holocaust survivor
populations in the United States, and with every passing day, they are
getting extremely elderly, and we are losing more and more of them each
and every day. Honoring them and allowing them to live with dignity in
the last years of their lives is critical.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this bill will help us
shine a light on an inhumane family separation policy perpetrated by
this administration. This legislation--and I very much appreciate
this--includes my amendment to allow Members of Congress immediate
access to immigration detention centers. We must remain committed to
seeking justice for families that have been needlessly torn apart at
our borders.
The administration, actually, repeatedly stopped Members of Congress
from being able to immediately access these detention centers to
conduct our proper oversight role, and this amendment, when it is
signed into law by the President, will allow us to conduct that
oversight as a coequal branch of our government.
Mr. Speaker, more importantly, before yielding back, I just want to
take a moment to thank Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen. It has really
been an honor to serve with this gentleman, in the truest sense of the
word. He has done a remarkable job serving his constituents. It has
been fun being a member of the Appropriations Committee both while he
was a chairman, a ranking member, and now the chairman of the full
committee. We will miss him, and I know his constituents will miss his
service.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this appropriations bill.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter), the chairman of the Homeland
Security Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Mr. CARTER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
conference report.
I have been honored to be able to serve on the Defense Appropriations
Committee and also to represent Fort Hood, the great place, the tip of
the spear of our United States Army land forces.
I am very proud of what we are doing for those men and women who
stand in
[[Page H9045]]
harm's way on our behalf. We are giving them a 2.6 percent pay raise
for all of our troops, wherever they may be. And they have earned this
money because they stand in harm's way on our behalf. We are taking
care of our military families that are just as important a part of the
fight as our warriors, and this is a long time coming. This is the
largest pay raise in 9 years.
This bill contains accelerated efforts to modernize our armored
brigade combat teams, including modernizing a significant number of
Abrams tanks and Strykers so they can meet the needs of future war.
They are the tip of the spear. This is good for us and good for those
who stand in harm's way on our behalf
We are particularly proud of the fact that we have stood up the Army
Futures Command in Austin, Texas, which is just south of my home, and
we are going to learn about how to fight the next generations of wars
through the Futures Command.
I am very proud that we have support for General Mattis' goal of
ensuring our military is ready to fight the next fight--and fight it
tonight, if necessary.
Critically, this bill provides this funding on time, ensuring money
can be spent in its most efficient, effective way and that we are able
to accomplish our goals accordingly.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank everyone both in the majority and the
minority who were involved in this bill and this conference, and I
thank them on behalf of the men and women who stand in harm's way on
our behalf and who live in my district.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), a member of the Appropriations
Committee.
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Ranking Member Lowey for
yielding, and I want to thank her for her leadership that she provides
in the Appropriations Committee.
I also want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen. As Ms. Wasserman Schultz
said, we are going to miss you. We appreciate your leadership, and we
thank you. You are a decent human being, and we really appreciate your
friendship.
I also want to thank the staff and the Members on both sides of the
aisle who have worked in a very bipartisan way to address these issues
that are important.
Every year, we have to pass the appropriations bill. It is the train
that has to pass every year. And I certainly want to thank Mrs. Lowey,
the chairman, and the folks responsible for making this happen.
First of all, let me talk about defense.
I certainly agree with the Members that this provides billions of
dollars to make sure that we restore critical military readiness
programs. We have to make sure we have a strong military, and with this
funding, we will. I certainly appreciate the sacrifice that the men and
women make to protect our country, and this is what this appropriation
bill does.
We also fully fund the 2.6 percent pay raise for our military
families because, again, we have to make sure that we support them
because they are under very difficult times.
There are a lot of other things in the Defense Appropriations bill,
whether it is the assistance that provides $50 million for specialized
counseling programs to meet the unique needs of military children or
whether it is the National Guard's counterdrug program to help reduce
the illegal drugs from coming into the United States. Those are areas
that are strong for our military.
{time} 1530
Let me move over to the Labor-HHS bill. There are so many things that
both Chairman Cole and Ms. DeLauro also provided that they worked so
hard on; let me just highlight a couple of them.
The Pell grant is so important because we increased the amount by an
extra $100. Now the maximum amount is $6,195. You have to have Pell
grants so that we can have our young students go off to college.
$10 billion for Head Start. There was a $200 million increase. I want
to thank our folks for adding that money.
The Federal TRIO program and the GEAR UP program are moneys that we
added.
I certainly want to say thank you also for the $907 million for
senior nutrition programs to help our seniors.
The title I grants for school districts, $15.9 billion that we added.
And the last thing I want to talk about is the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program, we have increased the funding to provide that type
of assistance.
So, again, I want to say thank you to the chairman, to our ranking
member, Mrs. Lowey, and all of the staff on both sides, I thank them
for a job well done.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to thank both the
chairman and chairwoman of the full committee and all of the chairs and
ranking members for their outstanding job, particularly on bringing us
to this point, though much work needs to be done.
I am going to speak as fast as I can, but I am very grateful for the
$7.9 billion in the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, which will include many
of us who have suffered from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, but, more
particularly, will help those who are suffering with much devastation
after Hurricane Florence.
I am grateful for the 2.6 percent raise of our military personnel,
and the $40 million for the historically Black colleges and
universities that we have worked on, and minority serving institutions
for basic research programs.
And then I worked on the issue dealing with triple-negative breast
cancer, and I am pleased with $374 million for cancer research and $130
million for breast cancer research, being a breast cancer survivor.
And particularly, though, I would have wanted the Violence Against
Women Act to be on the floor and pass the full bill. I am glad for the
$35 million for continued implementation expansion of the Sexual
Assault Special Victims Counsel Program under Defense.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Texas.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. And I am grateful for the death gratuities for
troops in the case of a government shutdown.
And the funds prohibited to use outside of the War Powers Resolution
in Syria and Iraq.
But, most importantly, my constituents are suffering from a lack of
healthcare because of the undermining of the Affordable Care Act that
we are still fighting for. So I am very grateful for the $39.1 billion
for the National Institutes of Health; $4.4 billion for programs that
respond to the opioid crisis; $7.9 billion for the Centers for Disease
Control, and, of course, what is so important to our constituents in
Houston and Texas is that our community health centers that are our
first line of defense to those who don't have healthcare; $678 million
for a maternal and child health block grant--we have some of the
largest numbers of maternal death in Houston among African American
women; $10 billion for Head Start; and then specifically I want to talk
about the unaccompanied children, $1.3 billion, but I am grateful for
the language that demands of this administration to tell us who is
there that has not been reunited with their families, and then the
12,000 that are in the jurisdiction of HHS. We have got to get those
individuals united with their families and we have got to be able to
have ICE arrest the sponsors. Finally, Mr. Speaker, $10.3 million for a
domestic violence hotline.
In any event, this bill speaks to education and healthcare, and I
want to ask my colleagues to recognize that more work has to be done.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of
my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend from New York for
her leadership. I also thank Mr. Frelinghuysen for his leadership, and
I wish him well in the next chapter of his career.
While this combination of a CR and a minibus is a half-measure by
definition, I certainly urge its adoption in
[[Page H9046]]
order to avert what would be the third government shutdown just this
year. As a representative of northern Virginia, I do not share the
President's idea that there is ever such a thing as a good government
shutdown.
I look forward to working with the committee to complete the rest of
the appropriations bills for fiscal year 2019 in order to address
pressing issues, especially providing our hardworking Federal employees
with a raise.
Again, I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for
including in the defense appropriations bill an authorization for the
Secretary of Defense in the event of a government shutdown to make
military death gratuity payments to families of fallen servicemembers.
I have made this a cause of mine for a number of Congresses now. I am
so glad this is finally going to be enshrined in law, and I thank the
Appropriations Subcommittee and full committee for their cooperation in
including this provision.
I commend the committee for including this overdue provision, and I
know the families of the fallen appreciate it. It was shameful that
Congress would ever allow the government to shut down and allow
grieving military families who made the ultimate sacrifice to go
without this small, but very important, measure of the country's
gratitude and recognition of their loved one's ultimate sacrifice.
Again, I thank the leadership of the committee, the subcommittee, and
their staffs for providing this bipartisan bill. I certainly urge its
passage and look forward to supporting it.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of
my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a senior member of the
Appropriations Committee.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first, I thank our ranking member for yielding,
but also for her tireless work, day and night, to really help shape
this bill to be, in many ways, a bipartisan bill, but also, each and
every day, looking out for the American people and making sure that the
American Dream is real for everyone in this country. So I thank again
Congresswoman Lowey.
Also, to all of our ranking members and to Leader Pelosi, I want to
just say that the input they have received from all of us on our
staff--and I want to thank our staff and the phenomenal work that they
have done--it has been just amazing.
As a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education
funding subcommittee, I am pleased to see many good provisions in this
bill. This bill eliminates hundreds of poison pill riders ranging from
efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, eliminate teen pregnancy and
title X to dismantling of critical labor and consumer protections.
The bill also includes $60 million for a competitive grant, which we
have been working on for years, for computer science funding for young
girls, young people living below the poverty line, and people of color.
I thank Mr. Fleischmann and others for helping us work on this, because
this truly is a bipartisan effort. We included robust increases in job
training, education, and childcare, as well as for historically Black
colleges and universities. Now, my State of California has the highest
number of students coming to HBCUs, so I am very grateful for those
increases.
Even with these increases, Mr. Speaker, this conference report still
falls short of what we need to just return to the funding levels before
the sequester 8 years ago. Adjusted for inflation, we are still way
below the 2010 levels for domestic spending.
What is worse, while underfunding our needs here at home, the bill
includes an increase in $19 billion in defense. This includes a $2
billion increase for the overseas contingency fund, which really I
think should be part of our base budget for the Pentagon funding. We
know that the Pentagon doesn't need this excessive increase in funding
to ensure our national security.
A Washington Post report in 2016 exposed a report detailing $125
billion in waste, fraud, and abuse, yet we are increasing this by $19
billion, not to mention that much of this funding is dedicated to
continuing the endless wars that we are waging around the world, wars
that, I might add, Congress has still not debated or voted on.
Put simply, the defense spending will be the single largest increase
for the Pentagon since the beginning of the Bush so-called war on
terror. Enough is enough, Mr. Speaker. We need to really make sure that
our defense spending ensures our troop readiness and our national
security, but we also need to work on the American people and stop
these outrageous increases to defense funding.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of
my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.
Mr. Speaker, should the President sign this package into law, three-
quarters of all base discretionary spending will be enacted prior to
the start of the fiscal year. While Chairman Frelinghuysen and I would
have preferred to finish everything, we should be proud of the work
that we have done--all the members of the committees working together--
and it is a testament to the chairman's leadership.
For me, it has really been an honor and a privilege to work with him.
I know we have a little more work to do. But I thank him again for his
hard work and commitment to doing the right thing in serving the
American people.
I also thank the staff for their work, including Rebecca Leggieri,
Jennifer Chartrand, Stephen Steigleder, and Robin Juliano of the
minority staff, along with clerks Jennifer Miller, Susan Ross, and the
rest of the majority staff.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill, I urge support, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to correct the record. I introduced Judge
Carter as the chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. I want to
acknowledge his former chairmanship of that committee and his able
leadership of the Military Construction Subcommittee.
And also I forgot to recognize my personal staff, Katie Hazlett, and
the wonderful people in my office--which is I think true of all of our
offices--that make us look as good as they possibly can.
And lastly, as we gather here this afternoon, we recognize that so
many young men and women are serving around the world, leaving their
families on multiple deployments. We honor their service and sacrifice.
They are truly doing the work of freedom.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the Joint
Explanatory Statement to the Conference Report to accompany H.R. 6157,
the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019, and Senate Report
115-290 which provide an additional $30 million in funding for Defense-
Wide Manufacturing Science and Technology Program's Advanced
Manufacturing within the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation,
Defense-Wide Account. These funds will allow the Department of Defense
to establish a Microelectronics Cybersecurity Center.
Microelectronics support nearly all Department of Defense activities,
enabling capabilities such as the global positioning system, radar,
command and control, and communications. Ensuring secure access to
leading-edge microelectronics, however, is a challenge. The changing
global semiconductor industry and the sophistication of U.S.
adversaries, who might target military electronic components, require
us to update our domestic microelectronics security framework.
Defense-Wide Manufacturing Science and Technology is an investment
mechanism that allows the Department of Defense to advance state-of-
the-art, defense-essential, manufacturing capabilities through the
development of technologies and processes necessary to produce defense
systems. This funding increase will allow the United States to achieve
a rapid modernization of domestic state-of-the-art foundry operations,
through the use of not-for-profit public-private-partnerships, to
produce trusted microelectronics.
I support rapid modernization of domestic state-of-the-art foundry
operations that produce trusted microelectronics and thank the
conference committee for all their work on the issue.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the conferees on H.R. 6157
for rejecting a proposal by the Trump administration to use this
appropriation measure to impose a new
[[Page H9047]]
$700 fee for businesses in the Northern Mariana Islands that employ
foreign workers under the Commonwealth Only Transitional Worker (CW)
program.
Working with Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Grijalva, and other
colleagues here in the House of Representatives, I was recently able to
enact the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act, Public Law 115-
218, including a new requirement for employment of those workers: the
U.S. Department of Labor must first certify that no U.S. worker is
able, willing, and available for the job that would be filled.
This is the same kind of certification required prior to issuance of
an H-2B visa for temporary foreign workers, but which is free for that
purpose. In my view the certification should be free to employers in
the Marianas, as well. I can understand that the Department may face
new costs in standing up and operating this service for the Marianas CW
program. The Department, however, had the opportunity during the
drafting of the U.S. Workforce Act to ask for the authority to levy a
fee. They did not nor is it likely I would have agreed.
Nevertheless, it is in the interest of our businesses and the
Marianas economy that the new certification requirement be initiated
without delay. The conferees have ensured that will be the case by
providing in Section 118 of H.R. 6157 for the rescission of $8.25
million in unobligated funds from the H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner
Account to be used in fiscal year 2019 for processing applications for
foreign labor certifications, including activities related to wage
determinations and associated tasks, submitted by Marianas employers.
Again, I thank the conferees for adopting this win-win solution.
I wish also to record my support for extension of the Violence
Against Women Act in the Continuing Resolution through December 7,
although, of course, a reauthorization for a multi-year period is still
wanting. I was an original cosponsor of the reauthorization in 2013 and
included a provision in Section 201 that doubled funding allocated to
the Northern Mariana Islands for the Sexual Assault Service Program.
And Section 809 allowed women who petition for status as victims of
human trafficking or violence to count the time lived in the Northern
Marianas as time present in the United States, so they can more quickly
adjust to a permanent immigrant status. I am also an original cosponsor
of reauthorization of VAWA in this Congress, H.R. 6545.
Lastly, I strongly support the 2.6 percent pay increase for our
uniformed services, mandated in H.R. 6157. Our country asks so much of
these brave men and women and we owe them, at the very least, a wage
that keeps pace with costs.
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Conference
Report to Accompany H.R. 6157, the Defense and Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education Appropriations Act for FY2019.
I commend Ranking Members Nita Lowey, Rosa DeLauro, and Pete
Visclosky, as well as Chairmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Tom Cole and
Chairwoman Kay Granger and our Senate counterparts for coming together
on this bill. And I would be remiss if I did not recognize the
outstanding efforts of both the majority and minority LHHS subcommittee
staff--Susan Ross, Jen Cama, Kathryn Salmon, Justin Gibbons, Lori Bias,
Stephen Steigleder, and Robin Juliano--for their dedication,
professionalism and responsiveness to staff on both sides of the aisle
throughout the entire appropriations process.
While I wish the bills had come to the floor separately under regular
order to give proper time to debate and discuss all the issues, I am
pleased that the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies bill is getting a vote on the floor for the first time
in more than 10 years.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It rejects the draconian cuts the
Trump administration proposed and strengthens our commitment to our
constituents by funding critical programs. It also ensures our national
defense remains strong in a dangerous world.
I am particularly pleased that HHS programs received such robust
funding in this Conference agreement.
The bill increases funding for three of my top legislative
priorities: fighting underage drinking, supporting newborn screening,
and reducing maternal mortality. At a time when this country is
experiencing the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in
history, this bill restores both the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
and all Title X Family Planning dollars that help our teens gain
critical access to reproductive health care and education. And as this
country faces a growing demand for health care providers, the
conference report reinstates the Health Careers Opportunity Program to
increase workforce diversity and restores funding for the Community
Health Centers and the Nursing Workforce Programs to their FY18 funding
levels.
As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, I was
particularly pleased that the bill includes amendments from our markup
to protect unaccompanied migrant children, including allowing Members
of Congress to access facilities funded by the Office of Refugee
Resettlement for oversight visits. Finally, I am glad that we were able
to maintain funding to help separated children deal with trauma.
Among Education and Labor programs, I am glad the maximum Pell award
will get an increase, which I called for during our committee markup. I
am also pleased we were able to work together to provide modest
increases to Head Start and TRIO programs to serve students with the
highest needs. Finally, the bill provides modest increases in funding
for apprenticeships and maintains language that directs those funds to
proven registered apprenticeships.
In the Defense section bill, I am pleased that we maintained the 2.6
percent military pay raise and that we express support for a civilian
pay raise as well. The bill also ensures that families can receive
death gratuities during government shutdowns. Finally, I am grateful
that we were able to continue to show bipartisan support for assisting
survivors of military sexual assault.
Mr. Speaker, this bill funds vital programs and ensures that our
government will remain open through December. I am proud to vote in
support of the bill, and I encourage my colleagues to join me so that
we can safeguard the health and well-being of the most vulnerable in
our country and keep our nation secure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1077, the previous question is ordered.
The question is on adoption of the conference report.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question
are postponed.
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