Jeff Fortenberry: “First of all, let me thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for all of his dedicated, hard work on this bill and his leadership…”

“First of all, let me thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for all of his dedicated, hard work on this bill and his leadership through many years of service. We are really grateful for the gentleman's mentorship and all of his exhaustive efforts to make America truly a much better place. In that regard, Mr. Speaker, while I was on my way over here, I was reflecting on something. The dome of the Capitol that connects our two bodies here continued to be constructed during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was encouraged to stop it, given all the other demands of the crises all around him. He refused. He said that, one day, that dome will unify our Nation once again. Here we are with the legislative branch bill. Even though it is the smallest of the appropriations bills, I believe it does capture the richness of the American experience and captures the heart of the narrative of our Nation. In that regard, we have worked very closely, of course, with the former chairman, Kevin Yoder, as well Ranking Member Tim Ryan, as well as the United States Senate to develop a very good bill here. The final product, I believe, is solid and reasonable. The legislative branch division provides about $4.8 billion in funding, and that is a 2.8 percent increase over last year. But the priorities, Mr. Speaker, were placed on security, transparency, and maintaining fiscal responsibility. The bill provides about $1.2 billion for the House of Representatives, which is a 2.7 percent increase.…”