Nita Lowey

I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished whip from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the distinguished ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

I just want to thank my friend, the gentleman, Mr. Kingston, for making a good case for the Affordable Care Act. You want to turn it back over to the insurance companies who are raising these rates in your district and my district. I'm…

I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the outstanding ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations.

The sexual assault epidemic plaguing our military has taken hold at the academies, which reported 80 cases of sexual assault last year--a 23 percent increase--and these are just the cases that were reported. My amendment would require the…

I just want to make a point to my friend on the other side of the aisle: the bill before us today is a bipartisan bill. There was strong support on both sides of the aisle. The chair and the ranking member worked together in a collegial…

So, my colleagues, with a balanced deficit reduction plan, we could establish an alternative allocation that would sufficiently fund our priorities and allow us to follow regular order for the appropriations process. Instead of my friends…

I hope you are looking carefully at how these rules will be imposed, really understanding some of the aggregation, food hubs...

I would hope--and I will conclude, Mr. Chairman--that the FDA would consider prioritizing its oversight.

I certainly hope, Mr. Chairman, we can continue to work together to resolve this huge challenge.

That is unacceptable.

The repercussions of congressional inaction to replace the sequester are clear at the FDA.

We must replace reckless, indiscriminate cuts with a renewed focus on jobs, economic growth, and a balanced fiscal package.

I just hope that a lot of your research is also looking at some of these ideas that in some ways go back to old ideas or old practices that good farmers used.

I do hope we can work together on both sides of the aisle to resolve the sequester, because to see the potential impact on people who really cannot take it is devastating.

Why is the administration considering such binding resolutions rather than nonbinding technical consultations?

And I would say, just to follow up on that, I know, you know, one of the issues that you have been certainly doing some work on, but it is not completely solved, is farmers markets themselves being able to take SNAP cards and the…

To follow up on somewhat of a different perspective on the SNAP program, I was really pleased that one of the USDA's key performance measures for fiscal year 2013 was to increase the amount of SNAP benefits redeemed at farmers markets.

The resolution of trade disputes is critical to industry, but the integrity of those standards is imperative to consumers.

If a solution is not found to turn off the sequester, and I sincerely hope we can do that together, do you foresee a situation similar to one that the Department is encountering with its rental assistance program for the WIC program where…

I am deeply concerned about the future of the Department of Agriculture.

However, you come before us today with a budget that again would consolidate state and local grants into a large pot with little direction without authorization from Congress and expressly against the wishes of this subcommittee.

I want to welcome you, Secretary Napolitano. It has been my pleasure working with you over the past four years to secure our borders, prevent acts of terrorism, improve cyber security, and provide our first responders with the equipment…

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I am concerned that efforts to consolidate these grants in such a way could result in diluting crucial terrorism funds from the areas most at risk of attacks and leaving transit and port security in the Nation's most densely populated…