00:00I recognize the distinguished ranking member of the committee, Ms. DeLauro, for her remarks.
00:06Thank you very much for yielding. It's a pleasure to be here with you today. I'm very proud to serve
00:11with Chairman Rogers, Chairman Cole, Ranking Member Meng, and all of the subcommittee members.
00:16And I also want to share my appreciation for the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle.
00:22In particular, I want to call out Bob Bonner, Nora Faye, Faye Cobb, Jamie Wise for their work.
00:28I oppose the bill before us today, which defunds federal law enforcement and threatens public safety,
00:37continues Republican senseless attacks on America's scientific supremacy,
00:43promotes waste, fraud, and abuse, and hurts the middle class and working class in our country today.
00:51We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
00:55President Trump promised to lower costs on day one.
00:58But instead, he and the Republicans are making the cost-of-living crisis even worse.
01:03The big, ugly bill is handing massive tax breaks to billionaires and the biggest corporations,
01:11while Americans continue to struggle with the cost of basic necessities.
01:16And while President Trump brags about the money, he is siphoning out of Americans' pockets
01:21and from small businesses through his chaotic and senseless trade tariff agenda.
01:29Today, we are considering another House Republican bill, which will raise costs for struggling American families.
01:35Gut support for rural communities undermine our efforts to ensure our trading partners play by the rules.
01:43We are holding this markup in a completely unprecedented time, with Congress's authority being challenged by a lawless administration.
01:53Since taking office, President Trump's administration has stolen resources appropriated by Congress for programs and services across the federal government,
02:04including several in this bill that help to lower costs for middle-class and working families,
02:10keep America safe and our economy fair, and ensure America is at the forefront of scientific innovation and discovery.
02:19President Trump has frozen programs that provide seniors, veterans, rural families, and people with disabilities
02:26with the skills and tools that they need to access the Internet,
02:29as well as emergency funding to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA,
02:38procure weather radars and satellites that help create life-saving forecasts.
02:44Over $4.5 billion in the Department of Justice grant money,
02:47including COPS grants, Office of Violence Against Women grants,
02:51has been frozen, stolen from the communities that are counting on this funding
02:56to approve their own law enforcement capabilities.
02:59Funding that supports re-entry initiatives and violence prevention,
03:04that helps prevent hate crimes, provide services for crime victims,
03:08and support underserved communities.
03:11Stealing this funding makes the American people less safely
03:14and more likely to become victims of crime.
03:18They have fired hundreds of scientists,
03:21including scientists who monitor extreme weather
03:23and who do advance our scientific goals in space.
03:30Why on Earth are we forfeiting America's scientific supremacy?
03:37What would you do differently if you were America's adversary
03:42and wanted to undermine everything that made us a superpower?
03:47They have turned the Department of Justice
03:49into the president's personal law firm,
03:53wielding law enforcement power to silence
03:56and intimidate critics of the administration and its agenda
04:00and to protect President Trump's criminal allies.
04:04For all of these frozen and terminated programs
04:08that Congress enacted and appropriated funding,
04:13we appropriated funding.
04:15It is the law of the land.
04:17They are substituting Congress's decisions and judgments with their own,
04:22turning Article I of the Constitution on its head.
04:26These cuts are not numbers on a page.
04:29They are not only felt in Washington, D.C.
04:31They affect all of our constituents.
04:34At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA,
04:39the Trump administration has dismissed
04:41National Weather Service forecasters
04:44and other critical employees,
04:46endangering American communities.
04:48As a result of funding and employee cuts within NOAA,
04:53we have fewer forecasters,
04:56fewer weather balloon launches,
04:57and less reliable weather data
05:00and forecasts that our families, businesses,
05:03and state and local governments rely on
05:05to stay safe and to stay open.
05:09In Connecticut, with the National Weather Service,
05:12has been critical for saving lives
05:15through everything from wildfires
05:17to visits to blizzards to floods.
05:21Bill Turner, Connecticut's State Emergency Management Director,
05:25said, and I quote,
05:27it's a very fragile house of cards right now,
05:30and we need them to continue.
05:33It could be catastrophic in a lot of ways for our states
05:37if they go down the path of stopping
05:40the National Weather Service and their functionality, end quote.
05:45Weather forecasts are not waste, fraud, and abuse.
05:49And I ask my colleagues,
05:53did anyone come to your town halls
05:54and complain that the Weather Service
05:57has too many meteorologists,
05:59too many people issuing advisories,
06:02watches, and warnings on severe storms?
06:05I don't think so.
06:07I know the chairman of the full committee
06:09has worked to impress upon the administration
06:11the importance of weather monitoring institutions in Oklahoma,
06:15but National Weather Service offices are needed across our country.
06:21We cannot leave critical weather monitoring capabilities
06:23to the benevolence of the president.
06:26That is why funding is appropriated by the Congress,
06:29not the administration.
06:32Unfortunately, this bill doubles down
06:34on Republicans' pro-billionaire, pro-corporations,
06:37anti-science, and anti-rule of law agenda.
06:40This bill turns its back
06:42on the Republicans' promises to rural communities
06:45underfunding programs to create jobs
06:47and revive economically distressed communities,
06:52especially in rural America.
06:54While the president declares a trade war
06:56against our allies and biggest trade partners
06:59that will raise prices,
07:01this bill cuts funding
07:02for the International Trade Administration
07:05by nearly 30 percent,
07:07severely hindering our government's ability
07:09to fight other countries' unfair trade practices
07:12and help America's businesses
07:15expand their access to international markets.
07:19This bill makes families, women, children,
07:22and all of our communities less safe.
07:24They slash funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
07:28the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces,
07:31and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Explosives,
07:35limiting federal efforts
07:37to help state and local law enforcement
07:39combat gun violence, drug trafficking,
07:43and organized crime
07:44by slashing these legal services,
07:47violence against women,
07:49juvenile justice grants,
07:51community violence intervention prevention grants,
07:55hate crimes prevention grants,
07:56and other resources that prevent violence.
07:59And why on earth does this bill
08:02slash the Department of Justice's
08:04Office of the Inspector General by 30 percent?
08:08What are you afraid of?
08:10What might be uncovered
08:11in Pam Bondi's Department of Justice?
08:14Does this administration want to eliminate waste,
08:18fraud, and abuse, or not?
08:20Our government's Inspector Generals
08:21are absolutely critical nonpartisan offices
08:25that help Congress and the American people
08:27eliminate and prevent fraud and corruption,
08:31and why this administration has directly undermined
08:34and even removed over a dozen of these officers
08:38across our government.
08:40Americans expect few things about their country,
08:45a fair economy, safety for their families,
08:48and respect for the rule of law,
08:50consequences for corruption.
08:52This bill fails to deliver on every one of those fronts.
08:57Americans cannot keep up
08:58with the ever-increasing cost of living,
09:01but instead of working with Democrats
09:04to make investments can help lower their costs,
09:07keep Americans safe, and our economy fair,
09:11Republicans have put forward a bill
09:12that favors billionaires and corporations,
09:16a bill that does not fight waste, fraud, and abuse,
09:20but embraces it.
09:21I cannot support this bill, and I yield back.
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