José E. Serrano

Let me briefly, just because my time is going to run out--on the public defenders, one of my favorite folks that I talk about, how much did the 2015 budget make up some of the pain they have suffered before?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I want to clarify something.

For over 50 years we have had this policy on Cuba which seems to be thawing now, and I certainly have been on the side of ending it totally.

I always put in the fact that territories should be treated equally, notwithstanding the fact that they are not States.

My time is up, but I hope that we can work together for the part that NASA plays in keeping Arecibo open.

I will be a Member of this committee that will push for that because I think those are wonderful programs.

I too hope that we have immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform by the time, certainly hopefully before the next 2020 Census.

I admire, respect, and love my ranking member, but he almost gave me a heart attack when he said asteroids were not important.

I am in support of keeping it open.

Thank you. And thank you, Madam Secretary, for being here today and for your work.

I think there will also be some agricultural opportunities now and banking opportunities.

As the responsibilities of the IRS grow, we simply cannot keep pretending the IRS can do more with less.

I appreciate the work.

I mean, I don't expect you to, of course, say you know, what human nature will be like, or human behavior will be like.

This change in Cuba policy is historic. Some of us thought it would never happen.

But some of the criminals are tax preparers.

I would appreciate that. I would imagine it is with ASCAP or one of these agencies. But we are talking about a lot of money for over 50 years that not a cent has been sent because we couldn't send money over there.

I applaud your efforts to restore IRS funding to more sustainable and effective levels.

What could go wrong if we do not fund properly the Affordable Care Act? I mean, it is the law of the land.

For every dollar this subcommittee cuts from the IRS last year, the country lost almost $6 in tax revenue that is owed to it.

had it not been for that last airdrop from the Senate on our bill, you might have seen a different behavior on our side on our bill, which would have been historic in recent times.

The results of these cuts are predictable.

I think the underfunding of the IRS is shortsighted and damaging to one of the important institutions of any democracy.

If the majority party, as I think it will, does something about immigration reform before 2016 election, there will still be even more people paying taxes.

These cuts make no sense because eventually we hurt ourselves.