December 19, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 206 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       APPROPRIATIONS BILLS FOR FY 2020, H.R. 1865 AND H.R. 1158

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 19, 2019

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, this week the House passed two bills that 
will fund the federal government through Fiscal Year (FY) 2020.
  The first package, which I voted in support of, includes a number of 
provisions which I strongly support.
  First, I am proud to have worked in conjunction with Senators Merkley 
and Wyden as well as Rep. Schrader to ensure that this package forgives 
a multi-million-dollar interest burden owed by Oregon's Pacific 
groundfish fisheries. This burden was created solely by bureaucratic 
incompetence, and the inclusion ofthis provision is a huge win for 
Oregonians.
  The bill also increases funding for programs that hundreds of 
Oregonians depend upon, such as YouthBuild, JobCorps, and Senior Corps. 
I led the charge to secure an additional $13 million above FY 2019 
levels for the Senior Corps program, ensuring volunteers earn an 
increased stipend which will allow them to take hundreds of more 
dollars home a year. It also increases funding for Pell Grants--easing 
the way for more people to afford an education. It also included record 
investments for early childhood education programs, more funding for 
rural broadband, and a reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools 
program through 2020. In addition, it includes the highest funding 
level for the Land and Water Conservation Fund in 15 years.
  The bill makes robust investments to support our nation's veterans, 
including funding for suicide prevention, homeless assistance programs, 
rural health initiatives, opioid abuse prevention, and funding for the 
VA's electronic health record initiative to ensure our veterans get the 
care they have earned and deserve.
  The package also includes $25 million for gun violence research at 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH)--the first time in more than 20 years. The 
bill secures record-level funding for life-saving healthcare research 
at the NIH and CDC, and it extends funding for vital community health 
centers, the National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health 
Centers.
  Unfortunately, I am deeply disappointed that this bill included a 
provision that would extend market exclusivity rights to Big Pharma for 
certain medicines, allowing these companies to price-gouge consumers 
for longer periods of time without competition from more affordable, 
generic drugs.
  The second appropriations bill also includes a number of provisions 
that I strongly support, including a 3.1 percent pay raise for both our 
men and women in uniform and federal civilian employees, as well as 
robust funding for the STOP School Violence Act, legislation that would 
give students and teachers the tools they need to help prevent school 
shootings. It includes increased investment in election security, the 
National Guard Youth Challenge, the National Science Foundation, and 
the Census Bureau, so that it can effectively and accurately carry out 
the 2020 Decennial Census.
  I also led the fight to include funding for esophageal cancer 
research, which I am pleased to report was incorporated into the bill 
as part of $110 million for the Department of Defense's Peer-Reviewed 
Cancer Research Program (PRCRP). I strongly support the robust funding 
included for numerous other defense health and cancer research programs 
as well.
  Unfortunately, despite including provisions I strongly support, I 
voted against this second bill because it also contains several 
objectionable provisions.
  For example, this bill once again increases funding for an already-
bloated Pentagon budget, including a massive increase to the Pentagon's 
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account--a fiscally irresponsible 
slush fund that is not counted in the budget, has no congressional 
oversight, and gives a blank check to fund endless wars that Congress 
hasn't authorized. For years, Congress has continued to increase the 
Pentagon's budget despite overwhelming evidence of its waste and abuse 
of taxpayer money. I believe this legislation could have made 
responsible cuts to our defense budget without jeopardizing the safety 
of our troops, preventing a pay increase, or undermining our national 
security.
  I am also extremely disappointed that this final bill stripped out a 
repeal of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force and a 
provision to block funding for the U.S.'s involvement in the Saudi-led 
coalition's involvement in Yemen's civil war--both of which were 
included in the House-passed defense appropriations bill earlier this 
year. This is yet another example of Congress abdicating its 
constitutional authority to finally put a stop to the endless wars that 
have cost countless lives and taxpayer money.
  This legislation fails to effectively check the Department of 
Homeland Security's border policies and spending. The bill includes 
funding for President Trump's wasteful and ineffective border wall, 
lacks appropriate restrictions to prevent the Trump administration from 
raiding funds from other agencies to spend on immigration detention and 
the wall, and does virtually nothing to provide necessary oversight 
against enforcement-only immigration policies.
  The Trump administration's policies have resulted in cruel family 
separations, record levels of detained immigrants, especially children, 
in cruel conditions, and the death of at least two dozen immigrants 
while in federal custody. Instead of enacting strong, enforceable 
oversight mechanisms, this bill largely maintains the status quo. That 
is unacceptable. Congress needs to be a check against the executive 
branch's authority.
  For these reasons, I opposed this second appropriations package. I 
will continue to fight against Republican efforts to hand billions of 
dollars in taxpayer money to a bloated and wasteful Pentagon and work 
to rein in the Trump administration's cruel enforcement-only 
immigration agenda.

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