Donald Payne: “We cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs of our first responders.”

I hope the witnesses here today will help me understand why the Department rushed to reorganize--without Congressional authorization--at a time when permanent leaders were in place in only one of the impacted offices.

I am pleased that our Senate counterparts advanced bipartisan rail safety legislation yesterday which addresses both blocked crossings and long trains.

Damage from the 2017 natural disasters broke records and made last year the costliest year for disaster-related damage in American history.

I have introduced legislation (H.R. 3613, the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2017) to address neighborhood violence and keep weapons off the streets.