On the recordSeptember 6, 2017
Let me thank the gentleman for bringing up this amendment. He has worked awfully hard, and I am a huge admirer of his. Here is the problem: in the committee, we have actually gone line by line to identify cuts in salaries and expenses at HUD and DOT, and as a result, most administrative accounts are at or below the 2017 levels. By the way, that is one of the ways that we achieved $1.1 billion in savings, again, below the 2017 budget. When you do it across the board, it could affect safety programs, it could actually have unintended consequences. So while I am grateful for the chairman's hard work, I would urge a ``no'' vote at this time, and I look forward to continuing to work with the gentleman to make sure that his concerns are addressed in this bill and in future bills. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
