Hal Rogers: “I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. I want to, at the outset, congratulate him on a great job on this bill.…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. I want to, at the outset, congratulate him on a great job on this bill. He and his terrific staff have worked long and hard, along with the subcommittee members, to produce, I think, a star of a bill. So, on your maiden voyage, Mr. Chairman, congratulations on a good job. To Mr. Bishop and the minority members of the subcommittee, including my distinguished cohort, Mr. Dicks, the ranking on the full committee, we've all worked together on this, and we appreciate the collegial atmosphere, as Mr. Bishop has said, that has governed this proceeding. I rise in support of this act. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that our Nation's servicemembers, their families and our veterans deserve the greatest quality of care and support for their service and their sacrifices. This bill funds their most pressing needs in a timely manner while also acknowledging the urgent need to rein in Federal spending at a time of historically high and dangerous deficits. This legislation provides $72.5 billion in discretionary funding for military construction projects, veterans' programs and other agencies that support the quality of life of our warfighters, veterans and families. This funding level represents a $615 million cut from last year's level and a $1.2 billion reduction from the budgetary request.…”