Nita Lowey: “Congress' misguided rush towards austerity has hurt our economy, slashing critical investments that create jobs and make…”

“Congress' misguided rush towards austerity has hurt our economy, slashing critical investments that create jobs and make us more competitive. Discretionary spending, which represents only one-third of the budget, has borne a disproportionate share of cuts. The December budget agreement and this bill set us on a path to fulfilling our basic responsibility of annual spending bills. {time} 1445 Chairman Rogers, I commend your leadership. It has been a delight working with you, and I too look forward to a holiday season where we won't be in constant contact. Thank you. It has been a pleasure. This bill makes key investments that will bolster job creation and economic growth. We should not have Federal furloughs again this year. Education, Head Start, new pre-K initiatives will help working families and restore teaching slots, and infrastructure investments will support construction jobs and safety upgrades. Other vital priorities fell short. It is incredibly disappointing this package doesn't restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. In addition, I was very pleased that we received $1 billion more than last year for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, but it is still funded below the 2012 level, forcing scientists to shelve promising research.…”