I speak today regarding section 131 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015. This section is a very important provision that requires the Treasury to report to Congress each month on the number of…

First, I would like to commend Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Kaptur for bringing this bill to the floor. I am a proud member of this subcommittee. Their work is quite remarkable. And it is one of the subcommittees that tries to…

I have an amendment at the desk, Mr. Chairman. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 29, line 2, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced by $25,000,000) (increased by $25,000,000)''. The…

I am particularly pleased to see section 401 in this bill, which requires the Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission--currently Allison Macfarlane--to notify the other members of the Commission and the House and Senate Appropriations…

Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your understanding of the importance of this debate. I ran a simple calculation. If we are going to consider this an important jobs bill, that is $233,000 per job that we are about to spend. That is a…

Today marks the 2,104th day since the original Keystone XL pipeline application was filed at the U.S. State Department, as required by law. For 5 years, this administration has either just been completely incompetent or has, for political…

I appreciate all of that. Mr. Chairman, by the way, I would disagree with the last speaker on whether or not there would be no environmental oversight. The State Department has over 10,000 pages of environmental studies that were done…

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Nebraska will be postponed. Amendment Offered by Mr. Grayson

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following: Sec. _. None of the funds made available in this Act…

I thank both the chairman and the ranking member for this respectful dialogue. These are tough judgment calls. I understand that. In my judgment, the risks do not outweigh the potential rewards here. Until we have a strong, significant…

I believe this amendment is absolutely consistent with the underlying portions of the bill that reaffirm that the policy of the United States should be that we will not enter into armed conflict in Syria. Madam Chair, along the…

Recent crises in Iraq and Ukraine are reminders of how dangerous, volatile, and unpredictable the world can be.

Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. All the other issues.

There's a lot at stake for us.

This is a defining budget that will begin adapting and reshaping our defense enterprise for years to come.

It is up to the people of Afghanistan to make these decisions--their military, their new leadership that will be coming in as a result of their new government.

Did we not anticipate this? ... it is likely that, specifically, ISIL may well take territory in Iraq.

If Congress blocks these changes without adjusting current budget caps, or if sequestration remains the law, it will jeopardize the readiness and capability of our armed forces.