Norman D. Dicks: “I thank my friend, Ranking Member Price, for yielding. I would like to express my appreciation to Chairman Rogers…”

“I thank my friend, Ranking Member Price, for yielding. I would like to express my appreciation to Chairman Rogers, Chairman Aderholt and Ranking Member Price for their work on this bill, and to the committee staff that has worked long days and many late nights to produce the bill for our consideration today. I would also like to commend the majority's effort to accommodate many of the concerns of Members on the Democratic side. And I would also like to thank Chairmen Rogers and Aderholt for bringing this bill to the floor through the regular order and working with us to bring it to the floor with a rule that allows Members to offer their amendments. At the outset, let me state for the record that I believe the allocation for this bill is too low. The bill is about $1.1 billion below the FY11 enacted level and $2.9 billion below the President's request, and it would represent the second straight year of a declining Homeland Security budget. Some parts of this bill are very good, and I commend the chairman for providing adequate funding for the frontline employees of the Department of Homeland Security to continue to conduct critical operations along our borders, protect our airports and seaports, and to respond to the series of natural disasters we have experienced this spring. However, some serious gaps remain. My colleague, Mr. Price, has already described in great detail the dangerous reductions in our support for the Nation's first responders.…”