Political Quotes

“It is my distinct honor to bring the fiscal year 2018 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill before you today as part of the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act. I do want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for his commitment to the annual appropriations process. Under his steadfast leadership, the House is scheduled to vote on all 12 appropriations bills, which is an extraordinary achievement. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Lowey and Ranking Member Bishop for their cooperative spirit. Mr. Bishop is the new ranking member for the Agriculture Subcommittee, and I have enjoyed working with him over the past several months as we have moved forward to try to help rural America and rural communities. The Agriculture Appropriations bill responsibly targets funds to national programs that provide the most benefit to the American people and to the United States economy. The bill received bipartisan support throughout the process, even though much of the funding and policies reflect a conservative policy. The overall total for both discretionary and mandatory spending in the bill equals $144.9 billion. That is $4.1 billion above the President's request and $8.6 billion below the FY17 enacted level. The bill includes $20 billion in discretionary budget authority, which is $1.1 billion below the FY17 enacted level when adjusting for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.…”