Political Quotes

“My colleague from North Carolina, David Price, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, was unsuccessful in his attempt at the Rules Committee to restore full- year funding for this bill. I authored an amendment to strike two very controversial provisions--one to strike a rider related to swaps under the Dodd-Frank law, the other to strike a provision raising contribution limits to political parties. These provisions are divisive and unnecessary. They should be removed. The 11 other spending bills included in this package are a mix of wins and losses. I was very pleased that most of the worst riders were dropped, including those on the Affordable Care Act, the Clean Air Act, and those preventing full implementation of new reforms to the Federal school lunch program. Statutory budget caps essentially kept all discretionary programs at a hard freeze, but I am pleased we were able to prioritize a few key items, such as the National Institutes of Health and food safety at the Food and Drug Administration. Another very modest but very important increase is provided for afterschool programs, many of which suffered steep cuts under sequestration and have still not made up those shortfalls. I am also pleased the final agreement provides $500 million for the Department of Transportation's TIGER program to fund major surface transportation projects, including bridges, transit, and passenger rail.…”