Barbara Lee: “First of all, let me thank Chairwoman Lowey for yielding. Also, I must thank her for her tireless work, day and night…”

“First of all, let me thank Chairwoman Lowey for yielding. Also, I must thank her for her tireless work, day and night, on behalf of the American people. Also, let me thank our Homeland Security chairwoman, Lucille Roybal- Allard, for her brilliance and her hard work. She pushed hard for a bill that reflects our American values, and I appreciate her leadership. The phenomenal work of Chairwoman Lowey, Chairwoman Roybal-Allard, all the members of the conference committee, and all the Appropriations chairs and ranking members has just been amazing. I really do salute them for that. This has been a very, very difficult negotiation, but they all did it. This legislation, of course, Mr. Speaker, is not perfect. It is not the bill that I would have written or chosen. And, yes, I have serious concerns with several of the provisions, which I will discuss. But let me tell you, this bill will keep the government open. It will prevent another shutdown, which caused so much misery for Federal workers and their families. And it provides funding for humanitarian assistance, which is desperately needed at the border. Once more, the package of bills includes funding increases for six other spending bills, including housing for people living with AIDS, transportation grants for low-income communities, increased funding for homelessness, and Section 8 vouchers.…”