Mr. Chair, if there ever were a case of overheated campaign rhetoric overtaking responsible governing, then we are seeing that case here today. Far from continuing to fund the government through to the end of the fiscal year, this measure would dramatically slash the investments in our economic recovery and undermine our national security in the process. I don't know why we even call it a continuing resolution--I guess to avoid a markup in the Appropriations Committee. But it's a brand new appropriations bill, and a very destructive one at that. It's a job-killer of all kinds of jobs but most especially of national security jobs. Let's talk about firefighters. We rely on our firefighters as our preeminent first responders. They arrive at the scene of all types of emergencies--attempted bombings, security incidents, medical, fire emergencies, all kinds of emergencies. But this bill eliminates the SAFER firefighter staffing program, guaranteeing that thousands of firefighters will lose their jobs this year, according to the Fire Chiefs Association. SAFER has enabled our local communities to avoid firefighter layoffs in tough economic times, to keep their fire departments at full strength. This Republican continuing resolution would just simply remove this protection. {time} 1500 Let's talk about law enforcement, funded in the Commerce-Justice appropriations bill.…
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This is something, and we have talked about this many times, Madam Chair, where we need sustained, annual, above-inflation increases.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this continuing resolution. But I want to make clear: This is a stopgap measure, necessitated by Republican refusal to work with Democrats on a bicameral, bipartisan basis to find a path forward for the…
First of all, the case you make for the authorization--the permanent authorization or CDBG-DR, we do need that.
But those days of when we do not recognize the strengths of those who come from different places, different lands, different experiences, and our need to embrace them is critical in terms of our children and moving forward in education.





