David Price: “I thank our committee chair, and I am happy to rise in strong support of the section of this bill with which I have had…”

“I thank our committee chair, and I am happy to rise in strong support of the section of this bill with which I have had the most to do--namely, appropriating for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development for the next fiscal year. It will make vital investments on behalf of the American people. I thank my partner, Mario Diaz-Balart, who formerly was chairman of this subcommittee, for his continuing cooperation and his collaborative approach. Of course, I also want to express appreciation for our full committee chair, Mrs. Lowey, and for our ranking member, Ms. Granger, for their cooperative approach to the kind of collaboration that inevitably must go into these appropriations bills. I am pleased to report also that, in serving the interests of Members of this body, we were able to accommodate 90 percent of the Member requests from both sides of the aisle. Division E of the measure is what we are talking about, and that is the so-called T-HUD section. It seriously invests in America's infrastructure. It makes transportation and housing safer. It demonstrates our commitment to the most vulnerable among us. It mitigates and responds to the impacts of climate change. Our bill includes $75.8 billion in discretionary funding. That is an increase of $4.7 billion over the 2019-enacted level and a $17.3 billion increase above the President's totally inadequate budget request. Mr. Chair, our Nation is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis.…”