Steny Hoyer: “I rise to express my very serious concerns about the funding levels for Superfund, section 8 housing vouchers, and space…”

“I rise to express my very serious concerns about the funding levels for Superfund, section 8 housing vouchers, and space sciences in this bill. Once again, the appropriations priorities of this majority are shortchanging America's communities by underfunding efforts to clean up our environment, provide safe housing for our seniors and poor children, and make our neighborhoods better places to live. I am particularly concerned by the cuts to Mission to Planet Earth, a critical NASA program which has great potential for helping predict weather and climate. The ability to better predict natural disasters will save both money and lives. Moreover, our capability to forecast up to a year in advance will yield tremendous benefits for agricultural and natural resources productivity. The subcommittee's mark includes $1.149 billion for Mission to Planet Earth. Regrettably, this is a reduction of $220 million from the President's budget request. If the allocation for this appropriations measure was not so constrained, I would offer an amendment to add that $220 million to the bill before us.”