Steve Womack

The proposed legislation also incorporates the bicameral and bipartisan Care for COFA Veterans Act, which will provide improvements to medical care access to veterans in the Freely Associated States.

The VACANT Act is a straightforward and common sense piece of legislation that will strengthen congressional oversight of the Veterans Health Administration's leadership selection process and ultimately improve care for veterans.

I thank the chairwoman. Chairwoman Miller-Meeks, Ranking Member Brownley, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for considering my bill, H.R. 693.

I am a strong proponent of the FAA contract tower program.

I am not a fan of CRs. I am not a fan of government shutdowns.

I am glad we are having the conversation up here today about the prospects of a continuing resolution, because you can probably count me as pessimistic about this committee's ability, for a lot of reasons, to get responsible legislation…

Thank you, sir. Appreciate your service to our country.

I have four airports in my district that use this very successful public-private partnership, and I believe it enhances aviation safety.

Frankly, many of my constituents in Arkansas think that way too much money goes to the big city transit agencies and this proposal would only increase that amount.

I do not think anybody with a straight face can project that ridership is going to reach pre-pandemic levels.

We need to get away from the pandemic mindset as I call it.

We want the Department to be aware of that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And prayers for the Cole, Oklahoma, region devastated by a tornado last night.

640,000 people would lose housing if we went back to fiscal year 2022 levels.

I can't support a massive increase for the FTC's budget, especially given the Commission's recent track record and given the Nation's current fiscal outlook.

But would it not be important for there to be an experience factor?

Simply put, the sheer size and magnitude of our government is too large, and the SEC's budget is a prime example.

The fiscal year 2024 budget request for the SEC is $265 million above fiscal year 2023 enacted levels.

The Nation's economy remains in a precarious position. The banking sector is in a state of unrest.

I am happy to work with anyone to go after this, because these programs need to be there for hardworking Americans who need the stopgap between jobs and should not be taken advantage by fraudsters, and, frankly, big criminal organizations…

I will not be able to support the level of spending included in the President's budget.

Excessive Federal spending, in my opinion, does contribute to inflation.

I don't necessarily subscribe to that notion that we have to be like the rest of the world.

It is my belief that the President's 2024 budget falls short of the deficit reduction needed to put our country on a sustainable path.

Stabilizing the national debt should be a top priority, not just this administration, but I think there is a clarion call around the country for us to do something about this unsustainable trajectory that we are on.